Washington Redskins' Positional Battles Continue Against the Buffalo Bills

For teams across the NFL, injuries, poor performances, outstanding performances, and even player conditioning begin dictating a team’s actions throughout the preseason and, therefore, the regular season.

Peyton Manning has knee surgery, and his absence reverberates through the Colts' training camp. His leadership in practice is missed, but how will it affect the team?

For the Baltimore Ravens, injuries to their starting offensive tackles have meant an extreme shuffle along the offensive line.

Signing a free agent, who was pouring concrete just two weeks ago, and immediately inserting him as the team's starting left tackle speaks to the effects injuries and an overly-small 80-man roster limit will have a team's ability to sign and keep worthwhile players on the roster.

No offense to Chad Slaughter, but there was a reason he’s been out of football for a year.

For the Redskins, it’s no different, and it was no surprise that the Redskins made adjustments to their roster following last week’s Hall of Fame Game, the Redskins' preseason opener.

A lackluster performance from free-agent signee Stuart Schweigert cost him an opportunity to even make the team, as he was cut on Monday. Injuries to both backup offensive tackles, second-year player Stephon Heyer and veteran Todd Wade, opened up additional playing time for young linemen to get noticed and, hopefully, earn a roster spot.

Last week, we took a close look at the Redskins' roster battles taking place, and what players we should watch. This week, the Redskins play their first home game of the 2008 season against the Buffalo Bills. Has anything changes from last week? It sure has.

For one thing, we know just a little bit more about several of the Redskins' draft picks. Each one who was able to play, receivers Devin Thomas and Malcolm Kelly couldn’t play due to injuries, put together solid performances, quarterback Colt Brennan and safety Chris Horton in particular. Horton, in fact likely played just as large a role in Schweigert’s release as he did in the game.

Horton made sure everyone knew who he was on the game’s opening kickoff by recovering an onside-kick attempt by the Colts and made sure no one had the chance to forget his name by making plays and being around the ball the entire game.

Brennan accomplished much the same thing, throwing two late touchdowns to give the 'Skins a come-from-behind win and bringing some electricity to the offense.

So whom should we watch this week?

To me, the most notable spots to watch will the offensive line. With the injuries to Heyer and Wade, the youngsters vying to backup roles will see plenty of playing time.

Rookie Chad Rinehart has already showed his versatility and has been singled out for praise by coaches. He will look to continue proving himself. Rinehart is listed as a backup guard but will see action at tackle as well.

Others to watch on the line are undrafted rookie free agent Andrew Crummey at center, Justin Geisinger and Tavares Washington at tackle and possibly at guard, and guard Fred Matua (Matua has already been cut and re-signed, so he is looking to prove he belongs in the NFL).

Rookie free safety Kareem Moore should see his first game action as a Redskin and will need to show that he has not fallen too far behind while recovering from knee surgery. Horton will play some, but may be limited due to a stomach virus that kept him out of practice on Thursday.

Also look for the Redskins to take a long look at the cornerback position this week. Rookies Justin Tryon and Matteral Richardson are working to earn backup positions with the team, and both had notable performances last week.

The linebacker position was also shaken up a bit following last week's game. Fourth-year player Alfred Fincher was signed two days prior to the game against the Colts and, remarkably, received significant playing time. Enough time that another roster move was made on Monday, when linebacker Danny Verdun-Wheeler was release.

Fincher should see the field even more this week, along with second linebacker Matt Sinclair. Sinclair earned high praise from defensive coordinator Greg Blache and could push second-year linebacker H.B. Blades for the primary backup spot at middle linebacker. Blades has been sidelined due to arthroscopic surgery on his knee.

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