FADLER BITS--WARNER, JUSTIN, & OTHER THINGS (Aug 31)Add yourself to The HERD's Official Roster (guestbook), if you think you are man enough!
The HERD's ULTIMATE link page-add your favorite here!
Kurt Warner was imho a good find last year. You can never have enough QB's with live arms like his. I repeat an oft said sentiment from last year...wouldn't it have been nice to have Kurt with a little game action coming into this year?
Warner beats out Germaine in arm strength..he basically zings it right now standing flat footed without much of a stride---if he can put it all together he would wow people with his arm strength. My take is he's not very accurate though at this point on deep routes.
Kurt needs some work on his footwork and striding into the pass. If he can zing it without striding I have to believe he can really get some smoke on it if he will start getting his mechanics down pat. When I saw him play in the arena league he had an extraordinary release but he is a beat slow right now in turning loose of the ball at least in this offense. And it may very well be that he will get over that now that he will be working with the first team.
How much of the playbook we will be losing for Warner? Hard to say, but one big guess is that you will see a lot of Jeff Robinson and Roland Williams together instead of the three wideouts that we were seeing a lot. I would also place bets that Faulk will push 100 passes caught this year.
It's play action right now that really worries me....Martz had installed lots and lots of play action and they featured it very early in the down sequence. Trent was amazing in hiding the ball and selling the fake. I have no feel for Warner in that area yet---Warner is at least a half second to a second slow right now in turning loose of the ball. But that could change very very quickly if he gets more reps and familiarity with the offense. He had a very quick trigger in the Arena league, where if you don't get rid of it you end up in the cheap seats or as QB under glass.
The bye week in week #2 could not come at a more benifical time for our boys it seems. That will allow both Warner and Justin a lot of work on the offense before they go up against the Falcons.
Charlie Armey---and others in the front office---felt that Kurt Warner deserved to start the second half of the season over Tony Banks...All is not lost.
Green. Trent transformed that franchise...I absolutely think that he had an impact from the front office to the janitors. He made an enormous effort to learn the names of all the staffers and had the respect and following of the entire team...each and everyone of them. Keith Lyle sounded like he was near tears after that game and so did Todd Lyght. The best thing for Warner is to attach Green to his side.
Greg Hill. And the trade...sigh......while it may seem insane and crazy to have made that deal on the basis of what they received for him...I am not sure what else they could have done. Right now the NFL scouts and GM's consider him damaged goods. There was a question as to whether he could pass the Lions physical...
I am a Greg Hill fan...I believe in him...but I don't think many in the league do outside of St. Louis and everyone locally is having trouble dealing with that today.
The Rams have another move right behind this one, I am led to believe [Aug 31], for some line help--they had to have the cap room
Holcombe. They like Holcombe. The thought apparently is that Amp Lee is going to be back a lot quicker than orginally thought...maybe week 4. Holcombe and Watson are thought to be the top 2 backups to Faulk with Harris sticking at FB. I am confused/muddled as to if Holcombe is still going to start at FB or if Harris still has hisjob. But Holcombe will be the second tailback and will be in there when they go to a single back with Faulk in the slot a lot.
Justin. He has had some success both with the Bengals and the Colts as a replacement QB. At one point in the 1998 preseason it looked like he was going to beat out Jeff Blake.
There was some talk in the organization about Gus Frerotte but apparently anyone that had anything to do with the Redskins coaching staff (as in Mike Martz) wants nothing more to do with Gus the Cocoa Butt Frerotte.
Martz, Zygmunt and Armey were principals in bringing in Justin...I know that doesn't help the FOD on the Herd Board but it is the truth....Vermeil was heeming and hawing Sunday about it...and was basically shouted down and the deal was made. Martz likes Justin a lot and feels they are in sync as much as he and Green were....Again all is not lost.
Faulk likes Justin and got along very well with him...they are on the same wavelength and it actually may help Faulk become in tune with the team and offense...Again all is not lost.
There was a deal in writing with Justin before...contary to new reports...Vermeil stopped it....All may still be lost.
Jeff Robinson. He is a folk hero, he snaps the ball, is the first guy down on punt coverage and has soft hands....and can still rush the passer as well as anyone we have in reserve right now. Williams is still the man but I forsee lots and lots of 2 TE sets.
Proehl. He is going to stay and make the team I think/hear. I don't think he was ever in serious trouble. But it would be nice to see him deflect a pass down instead of straight up this year.
MLB. Although it's Fletcher, I still expect all of them to play. Styles is going to back up Todd Collins as I understand it...he will not be cut---its a front loaded deal with a small ending number, they need him on special teams.
Coady. He will be fine. He is more fluid than a lot are giving him credit for. It was not a reach...Bush is in real danger of being a non factor. The team is still not happy with Billy Jr's pass coverage though. Bush is not in a position to be cut, but it has to be tempting the team right now with the situation they are in.
Defense. The defense is holding back and not playing with much abandon. They looked much the same at this time last year and then let it all loose the minute the games counted. But they cannot afford any hurts at all, even thinner than the offense imho.
Cap Stuff. The cap situation is something like this....Justin was $400,000. They are 1.1Million or so under the cap now with 1Million due to Orland Pace. They need around 300,000 for the practice squad and you have to figure another 700,000 or so for contingency dollars in the event of injuries.
I think that Greg Hill or Amp Lee is extremely vulnerable and that the deal for Hill to the Lion is still on and even more of a necessity now. [Note: that was written Aug 30, before the trade]
Or they may look to restructure Trent Green's contract to make it all bonus this year....but something is going to happen tomorrow [Aug 31] to get them back into a cap friendly position. The Rams have always gone into the season under the cap so that they can pick people up as the season winds down.
Harrison. After watching the tape a couple of times I come away with what is to me the inescapable thought that it was a very cheap shot. At some point in football don't you learn not to dive at a guy's knees? He was up high and battling with Faulk. It does not appear to me that Faulk hit him hard enough to knock him down and then after the ball is gone he dives at the back of Trent Green's knees.
Harrison went to.......Western Illinois University...time to change training camp sites.