Cam Newton Rises, Redskins Fans Rejoice

Yes! Yes! Maybe.....

Mel Kiper's mock draft 2.0 has some finally amazing news, Cam Newton has remarkably shot up to his projected #3 overall pick. Which, if close to accurate means something amazing: the Redskins won't even have the chance to draft the bust-in-waiting. I never rule out anything with this team, like trading up, but realistically if Cam Newton goes in the top 9 picks, he will not be a Redskin next year. Buffalo taking another bust is also hysterical.

Here is Kiper's new Redskins pick:

Record: 6-10

* Blaine Gabbert, QB, Missouri

Gabbert might be more ready than Newton to read defenses at the NFL level, and as a quarterback with very good accuracy, instincts and size, he could come into a franchise in Washington that might need him early. Gabbert is a guy whose stock rose a lot this year and will be under the microscope during the workout process. But what he doesn't give you is a quarterback who elicits a wide range of opinions or the boom-or-bust concerns many have with Newton and Ryan Mallett.

I'm still not happy, but this is progress. The key metrics on QB prospects are games started and completion percentage. His career completion percentage is 60.9% and he has started 26 games in college. These are solid numbers, but not spectacular, and not worthy of the #10 pick. If he played 1 more year at Missouri and continued his upward trend in completion %, Gabbert would be worth that #10 pick. I know this sounds ridiculous to non-stat people, but it's a law or something. As a comparison, he has pretty similar numbers to Ryan Mallett right now. In short, Gabbert is an NFL QB, but not a star, and definitely not worth the money he would get at the #10 pick. In other news, Andrew Luck is going to be an absurdly good prospect next year.

Who do I prefer? Of the choices available in Kiper's mock, I like Robert Quinn and Julio Jones as possibilities, but my preference is still for this team to trade down. Not only could we use the extra picks, but the biggest needs for this team are on the interior of the o-line. Once workouts start, hopefully the Redskins will tip their hand, showing they are not interested in a QB. Tipping their hand may be bad for business with other teams, but the anxiety reduction for us fans is more than worth it.

(Image courtesy of isportsweb.com)

Redskins 2011 Starting QB Options Are Horrifying (Courtesy of Football Outsiders)

There may be something awesome going on with the Redskins this offseason. There has been plenty of bad news with Brandon Banks getting stabbed, Cam Newton lined up as our projected pick (twice), and Fat Albert Haynesworth becoming completely untradeable.

But letting Santana Moss's contract void, allowing him to become an unrestricted free agent, sends a clear signal that this team may finally be ready to fully commit to rebuilding. I'm not holding my breathe, but Tana is still a good player and letting him walk will hurt the team next year, so this move can only be seen one way. As much as the Redskins have done their best to destroy every ounce of rational hope in me, I still have my optimism.

This brings us to the QB position. Football Outsiders (FO) has been writing a 'Plugging the Holes' piece on espn.com covering each teams' offseason, and yesterday the article covered the NFC East (Insider only alert). As they point out, Sex Cannon was not impressive, posting a -19.4 DVOA, whereas Donovan McNabb managed a 0.1 DVOA. 0.0 is average, so yeah.....

They also note that Shanahan has never started a rookie QB, so even if we take Cam Newton (I feel like my kidney is being twisted), he will almost certainly not start next year. McNabb looks like he is on the way out, particularly if the team is rebuilding, so who are the options out there? FO presents three options:

"One is Kolb, but it's hard to imagine the Redskins trading more draft picks for yet another Eagles quarterback after the McNabb failure.

The second is Matt Hasselbeck. His contract with the Seattle Seahawks is up, and Seattle will likely choose to go with Charlie Whitehurst or a drafted quarterback of its own. Hasselbeck had a -9.8 percent DVOA last year while struggling with injuries, but the Redskins would provide him with the best offensive line he's played behind since the halcyon days of Walter Jones and Steve Hutchinson.

The other candidate with significant experience in the West Coast offense? We hesitate to say his name for fear that he'll appear again. Let's just say he holds a lot of records, is really fond of one particular brand of jeans and recently retired again. Few organizations would be willing to take on the sort of circus that he brings to the table, and even fewer teams would actually get an upgrade from his likely level of play. The Redskins are perhaps the only organization that would fit in both categories, and with Brett Favre, retirement is just a state of mind. Oops."

So to recap, we have awful Sex Cannon, never going to be good Newton, overpaid mediocre McNabb, reasonably paid mediocre Jason Campbell, costly to obtain Kolb, washed-up Hasselbeck, and, well......'ooops'

(Image courtesy of www.examiner.com)

The John Wall Is On the Billboard Charts

I already posted this on Bullets Forever, but this news is just too awesome.......

So Blake Griffin has completely overshadowed John Wall, and even Landry Fields has more Rookie of the Month awards. Little do most of us realize that our man John Wall has spent the past 7 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100. Don't worry, Wall is not going to pull a Ron Artest and ask for a month off to promote the album (or only sell 343 copies), because he is not the artist, but rather the subject of Troop 41's Do the John Wall.

The group is from Wall's hometown of Raleigh, NC, and judging by their Twitter account and MySpace page, they generally only perform around the Carolinas.

The song has reached as high as #76 on the chart, and currently sits at #92. Here is a sampling of the lyrics:

"Everybody clear out, hand me the rock Time winding down 3 seconds on the shot clock Break the defense homeboy I can't be stopped All about my money so you know I'm hitting bank shots I'm trying to tell them, boy you can't guard this Beast on the court homeboy I play the hardest."

Kind words are welcome, although I don't I agree with, "Jump shot deadly, you know that we kill on them." Something to aspire to maybe for Jimmy Wall.

And finally, the video:

Say what you want, but the song is growing on me.

.....to ball like Wall, well you gotta do the dance....

DCLS Favorite Brandon Banks Stabbed in DC

News is out this afternoon that Redskins KR/PR Brandon Banks was stabbed last night outside of the club The Park. Doing a little investigative reporting with his Twitter account, it appears Banks started the night at Bar 7 with Vontae Davis and Darnell Docket, then was goaded into attending The Park by a very good looking woman if not others as well. A fight then occurred and Banks and a friend were stabbed.

The good news is that although his buddy is still in the hospital with 'Serious' injuries, Banks has been released. The 'stabber' has been arrested, and combining that Bank not being in custody, one can assume that he is not at fault other than being dumb enough to get into a big fight at a nightclub. We can only hope that this was a fluke isolated incident and not indicative of Banks as a person.

I personally am going to hold off on ordering my Brandon Banks T-Shirt until we learn more.

(Image courtesy of content.usatoday.com)

A Knee for A Knee

For those of you who haven't heard, Wizards traded for more (less?) than a bad contract and an over-the-hill player in in Rashard Lewis. Nagging tendinitis is not the worst thing in the world, but Rashard's contract is looking heavier than ever.

The good news is that Rashard sitting might actually be a good thing to let the young Wizards play and improve our draft position. The even better news? Gilbert Arenas' knee is ruined.

The man formerly known as Agent Zero already had the worst contract in the NBA, and we knew he lacked the explosion of his pre-surgery days, but the confirmation that the knee is giving him trouble, even in limited minutes, is sad. Stan Van Gundy wants him to rehab the knee, but seriously, the guy played about half a season's worth of games over the past 3 years - he has had plenty of time to rehab. It appears that Hibachi/Zero Hero/Agent Zero is no more.


When the Lewis-Arenas trade was made, my feeling was that we had to get rid of Gil and his contract any way possible, so it was a good move. My only hesitation was that I thought Gil would get a little healthier, play a little better, and improve his value. The news of the condition of his knee reveals that the Wizards actually sold high.

This is a sad revelation for all of us who enjoyed Zero Hero in his glory days. Perhaps it is only fitting that the aftermath of Gilbert Arenas in DC is bittersweet. 

(Image courtesy of blogs.orlandosentinel.com)

Crosby Puts a Dagger Into Pittsburgh!

This is actually a football post, kind of. For any of you who missed the Super Bowl (crickets), Mason Crosby's late FG sealed the 31-25 Green Bay Packers victory. So yes, a guy named Crosby helped finish off Pittsburgh.

Words Not Really Necessary Here

A few other quick bullets on Sunday:

• Hooray Pittsburgh didn't win, and this time I am talking about both the football and hockey games today. 
• Pittsburgh sucks.
• Dallas had a terrible Super Bowl hosting performance by all accounts.
• It is terrible that Charles Woodson and Donald Driver, who has waited their entire careers to play in a Super Bowl, get hurt and on their way back to the locker room in what has to be a deeply personal and traumatic time for them had to run through a gauntlet of fans in a bar because of Dallas' ridiculous stadium.
• If the weather in Dallas was such a huge problem, I have a hard time seeing how DC gets a Super Bowl. Our only chance is if the 2014 game in New Jersey does well despite a snowstorm.
• Matt Cooke's hit on Ovie today courtesy of SB Nation DC. I watched this a few times and Cooke definitely looks like he sticks a knee out intentionally and did not just 'click skates' as the Pens said.

• Still 3 points behind Tampa and 4 behind Pittsburgh, but those were not only 2 huge wins, but huge performances. Tampa claimed it was their fault they came out flat, and the Pens are without Crosby and Malkin, but the Caps showed some fire. I was about ready to jump ship on these guys, but count me as a believer. Let's see if they can keep the intensity for any other game now....

(Image courtesty of tengossip.com)

Reflections on the Caps: How Should We Feel Going Into the 2nd Half? - Part 3

With the 2nd half of the Washington Capitals season kicking off, I thought it would be a good time to get a little DCLS survey of thoughts on the team. The Caps entered the break as the #5 seed in the East, aligned for a first round playoff matchup against the Penguins - yikes. Here are the thoughts of DCLS contributor ResidentOslo.

For starters, GOD F***ING DAMNIT!!! I bother to watch these games a day delayed half way across the world and a little piece of me dies every time I do so. Is Backstrom carrying cinder-blocks in in his pants? Did Ovie get a penis enlargement procedure in the off-season that is now causing his wang to interfere with his stride and acceleration? I don't know, I'm not a doctor. But what I do know is that I'm sick and tired of grasping on to my fading optimism as it gets slowly beaten to death on an almost daily basis. I'm actively embracing the other end of the scale at this point: Despair here we come!

Power play looks to me like paralysis by analysis. Too many offensive guys on the ice at the same time all worrying about whether or not they are hogging the puck or shooting too much, or passing too much, or not shooting enough, etc. Put Ovie on the half-wall, put Green and Carlson on different PP lines, actually run two completely different lines, and just be more decisive and aggressive. This is a coaching failure of the highest magnitude since it is mental, BB has failed to instill the proper mentality in his players. BB does not define the culture and mentality through sheer force of will, as a good coach should, and instead should be delegated to a position concerning tactics, not leading or coaching a team. This extends further into the the overall play and mentality of the team which is best characterized as flaccid. If Laich doesn't think they're coasting then that is simply an indictment of the standards to which they are holding themselves to (Editors note: this refers to an interview this week Brooks Laich gave to WFAN in which he took offense to the idea that the Caps are coasting). No more excuses, you are mediocre and weak willed, accept it and deal with it.

The problems with this team is not something a mid-season trade will fix........let's not turn into the Skins here. BB, as much as I like him and appreciate the success he has been apart of the past 3 years, has got to go (although most likely won't). He is like the Charlie Weiss of hockey, great offensive mind but not head coach material. A good coach would've gotten Ovie to adjust his game now that D-men shut him down with ease and regularity. A good coach would've figured out how to get such a "talented" and "skilled" team to enter the zone more consistently without resorting to just dumping the puck in every time. It is uninspired.

All that being said, I still think we've got a good shot at getting to the cup if nothing else based on the defensive nature of the playoffs and the overall crapshoot that is small sample sizes. As bad as we are, we're still performing better than half the league. Good goalies and PK enough to take us through the playoffs? Luck eventually turning our way? Or maybe we're just the Jim Kelly Bills: destined to fail on the main stage. Time to take my schizophrenia meds.

(Image courtesy of sportsillustrated.cnn.com)

Reflections on the Caps: How Should We Feel Going Into the 2nd Half? - Part 2

With the 2nd half of the Washington Capitals season kicking off, I thought it would be a good time to get a little DCLS survey of thoughts on the team. The Caps entered the break as the #5 seed in the East, aligned for a first round playoff matchup against the Penguins - yikes. Here are the initial thoughts of DCLS Editor Red Rover.

Watching this year's Caps is like being in bizarro netherworld. Last year, I watched games with comfort. I knew no matter what the score or time remaining, the offensive machine would produce more more more goals. I reacted to goals against like an elephant would to a fly hovering over its arse - I barely noticed. Goals came cheap both ways. Just like Crosby's mom.

Now, I watch games with the stress of a thousand game 7s. Every goal is CRITICAL. I jump to my feet in eager anticipation at even the crappiest of 25-foot Eric Fehr wristers. This way of watching games is an awful, horrible shock to the system that shouldn't be happening. I was given no warning and no transition period. I understand now why they have methadone clinics; if there were an equivalent for recovering "spoiled fans of historically dominant offensive juggernaut"-addicts, Caps fans would overflow such a place.

The optimist in me says: this is good preparation for the playoffs! They play defense consistently and reliably! They are getting more reps in close games! They are in the playoff race instead of their own spoiled pressure-free bubble!

The realist in me watches and says: these guys don't give a baker's fuck. Offense - defense isn't a zero sum game. The lack of offense is from lack of effort. They're the NHL's procrastinators: they don't get motivated until the last minute, then the adrenaline rush kicks in and they try - but alas, too little too late. So many games are a microcosm of this mentality.

And when I think about this, it's hard not to conclude that this is a fatal flaw. Though the goals came easy last year, it was the same. The more I watch Ovechkin and Backstrom float around, make predictable moves, circle back (NYLANDER'S CURSE REMAINS), get called offsides, awkwardly fumble the puck on the power play, glide slowly through the neutral zone, stay to the perimeter in the attacking zone, whiff on one-timers and rebounds, the more I worry that these are the guys that I'm staking my emotional well-being in. CARE. CARE LIKE I DO YOU FUCKS. SKATE HARDER. PASS CRISPER. SHOOT WITH A PURPOSE. STOP GOING OFFSIDES FOR CHRIST'S SAKE!

And it all comes back to Boudreau. Was anyone surprised that NHL players think Boudreau is the easiest to play for? You can't fault his hockey smarts, his (recent) willingness to adjust, etc. But it's clear that on a night to night basis, these Caps are as uninspired as the dog days of the Fall 2007 Glen Hanlon Caps.

Are there personnel holes and injury bugs? Of course. Are there positive signs of improvement in key areas? Yes. But when Matt Hendricks and Jay Beagle provide the most consistent efforts on your team, you are fucked, plain and simple. That, more than anything else, is what scares me, and what must change. Unless things turn around in a few weeks, I don't see how you keep Boudreau behind that bench.

(Image courtesy of espn.go.com)

Reflections on the Caps: How Should We Feel Going Into the 2nd Half?

With the 2nd half of the Washington Capitals season kicking off, I thought it would be a good time to get a little DCLS survey of thoughts on the team. The Caps entered the break as the #5 seed in the East, aligned for a first round playoff matchup against the Penguins - yikes. Here are the initial thoughts of DCLS Caps Correspondent Iafrate's Baldspot.

Here's what's good: It literally does not matter one ounce of shit where the Caps finish in the standings, and ironically, I actually feel better about their odds against the Penguins than I do about some of the other teams in the conference. It's almost as if this team has been indoctrinated with the singular purpose to compete with Pittsburgh, ignoring the fact that there are 28 other teams they have to face. Maybe the two best games this team has played since Thanksgiving have both come against them, with a whole bunch of shutouts and stinkers the rest of the way. We looked hapless against Tampa when we played them down there, and not being able to muster an effort against your division rivals speaks to the motivation issue that has plagued this team since, well.......forever.

IF the power play ever comes back to operating at some semblance of respectability -- a big IF considering we're not verging on a full calendar year where it just hasn't clicked properly -- this team can still compete. 

We need to make a move, but Jason Arnott isn't the guy, and I'm not sure the guy is out there. Dallas not sucking is a huge blow to our roster. Stephen Weiss is another guy being floated as trade bait but he'd cost a fortune since he's under contract at a reasonable number for the next 3 seasons. Say goodbye to one of the kid goalies (assuming they move Vokoun) plus a roster/advanced AHL forward.

(Image courtesy of www.offwingphoto.com)

Georgetown Doesn't Need (All Of) Run DMV

This season is not like last year.

Bouncing back from a 1-3 start in the Big East to win 3 consecutive games? Color me as impressed. Remembering those 3 wins were over Rutgers, Seton Hall, and St. John's? Ehhhhh.....moving on......

Going on the road to beat  a #7 ranked Nova team? Intriguing.
Winning that game while getting 0 points and a horrendous contribution from your 2nd best player? Hmmm...


Following that huge road win by defeating #13 Louisville 2 days later? Fully revitalizing.
Winning that game while getting 2 points from your 2nd-leading scorer?  I'm back on the bandwagon!

This should have been a letdown game, a chance for the Hoyas to reveal that the Nova game was a fluke. Not so, and a solid statement against a team that has been playing well. The win puts the Hoyas a measly 0.5 game back of 2nd in the messy Big East standings. Beating Providence on Saturday to cap a perfect week should move Georgetown into about a 4-seed.

Once again, the story was that Run DMV did not need to be firing on all cylinders to beat a top-15 team. This was an ugly contest with turnovers galore, but the fact that the Hoyas can survive a night when Run DMV is just Run DM/DV/MV means that this team will be really dangerous come tourney time. Not only will teams be unable to focus on stopping one of Jason Clark, Chris Wright, and Austin Freeman, but I previously thought a minor injury or even foul trouble for any part of Run DMV could derail this team's season.

Looking ahead, the Hoyas have 8 games left before the Big East tournament, 3 of which are against ranked opponents (twice against Syra****, and once against UConn). The way the Hoyas are playing though, I would actually feel confident in every one of those games, even as tough as C*** is at home.

The fact that I can look ahead with excitement is a dramatic change from just 3 weeks ago when this team was seemingly in a black hole of suck. The Hoyas brought us to the brink, but it have got me fully back on board.

(Image courtesy of usatoday.com)