Rookie Camp Opens - Page 2

Jimbo · 05-04-12, 09:15 PM

Shaw must have taken a dump in someone's Post Toasties to get cut before the camp was even over. Time to put that Basketweaving degree to work. I'm guessing Junior High Gym Teacher.

tr1 · 05-04-12, 10:37 PM

Exciting times.

Boone · 05-05-12, 07:08 AM

I don't hear a word you guys are saying...I just can't stop staring at the forum banner...

Burgundy Burner · 05-05-12, 01:30 PM

http://www.redskins.com/news-and-eve...5-a1545b3551b2

Practice Notes: Day 2 Rookie Mini-Camp
By Brian Tinsman

Redskins rookies, first year players, and roster hopefuls took the field at Redskins Park this morning for the second day of rookie mini-camp.

The rookies hit the field around 10 a.m., and broke into position groups shortly after a team stretch. The weather has been unseasonably warm and humid for the first two days of practice, putting the training staff on alert for cramps and dehydration.

In general, the position groups explored more complex drills and a higher degree of intensity today. While this camp is a learning experience for draft picks like Robert Griffin III, it's a weeding out process for others.

Players have three days and five practices to impress the coaching staff and scouts on the field. If they do, it's the first step of a long road to the roster. If they don't, their professional dreams could be finished.

This tryout process is an area that the Redskins have excelled in, in recent years.

Willie Smith was a training camp invite last year, earning a roster spot at the end of camp. After starting three games last year, he has the potential to be the longterm solution at right tackle.

Darrel Young, Brandon Banks and Logan Paulsen were three undrafted players in 2010, and have each scored an offensive touchdown in their first two seasons.

Historically speaking, Redskins captains London Fletcher and Lorenzo Alexander were both undrafted free agents in their respective years and impressed teams during tryouts.

Who will the next undrafted free agent gem be? Only time will tell, but there are a few guys to keep an eye on.

Chase Minnifield, CB, Virginia: A once highly-touted NFL prospect, Minnifield had his senior season derailed by injury, forcing him off many draft boards. If he can prove his health, he could be an undrafted steal.

Darius Hanks, WR, Alabama: A national champion and stud at the East-West Shrine Game, Hanks had the projection to go as high as the fifth round. He comes to Washington as another one of the dozen signed college free agents.

Andre Anderson, RB, McNeese State: Anderson averaged over 4.5 yards per carry in college, and brings explosive quickness out of the backfield. He is a tryout this weekend.

Neophyte · 05-05-12, 01:44 PM

It's almost unfair to put Minnifield on this list. If not for that injury, he likely wouldn't have even been available for use to draft in the 4th round and maybe not even in the 3rd round.

Burgundy Burner · 05-05-12, 02:42 PM

Another draft pick is signed - Adam Gettis.

Burgundy Burner · 05-05-12, 09:12 PM

More stuff from camp and a short video.

http://blog.redskins.com/2012/05/05/...kie-mini-camp/

fansince62 · 05-06-12, 07:35 AM

thanks for time invested BB!!! a great service for the rest of us!!

Boone · 05-06-12, 10:50 AM

Poor Cousins...he can't even work his way into the frame for more than a split-second. All eyes on Griff...

Burgundy Burner · 05-06-12, 11:54 AM

Story (and short video) about Ike Hilliard and the unique ways he trains and works with WRs.

http://blog.redskins.com/2012/05/06/...s-we-like-ike/

Day 2 Mini-Camp Leftovers: ‘We Like Ike’
Brian Tinsman on May 6, 2012

Even with the big acquisitions of Pierre Garçon and Joshua Morgan in free agency, one of the biggest additions to the receiver corps in 2012 is expected to be position coach Ike Hilliard.

Redskins fans will remember Hilliard as a member of the New York Giants from 1997-2004, during which he caught 690 yards and seven touchdowns against the Redskins. Hilliard will be the first to tell you that his 12-year career was founded on sound fundamentals, something that he was brought here to impress on the Redskins wideouts.

You don’t see it in the videos, but Hilliard likes using tennis balls and small cones in his drills. More on that later.

Time will tell how he adjusts to the job, but he’s a fast-riser in the coaching ranks. After retiring as a member of Bruce Allen’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Hilliard got right back on the sidelines, volunteering with Jim Haslett’s UFL Florida Tuskers in 2009. He was promoted to wide receivers coach in 2010, and made it back to the NFL as an assistant receivers coach with the Dolphins last year.

Only four years removed from his playing days, he’s now in Washington to prepare the next generation.

TomE · 05-06-12, 01:14 PM

http://www.realredskins.com/

Shanahan: RG3 is the starter, period

Mike Shanahan said today that rookie quarterback Robert Griffin III will be the Redskins' starting quarterback when the OTA's start next week.

"He is the starter, period," said Shanahan of Griffin, who was the second pick in last week's draft.

Shanahan said that he wold not have given up so much to move up in the draft if he didn't think that Griffin would be a special player and able to start right away

Burgundy Burner · 05-06-12, 01:42 PM

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com...-to-his-elway/

Griffin hopes Cousins can be the Kubiak to his Elway

As the NFL world continues to debate the Redskins’ surprising decision to use their fourth-round draft pick on quarterback Kirk Cousins after already using their first- and second-round picks (and their next two years’ first-round picks) on quarterback Robert Griffin III, Redskins coach Mike Shanahan thinks it’s going to work because he has seen it work before.

Griffin said at his press conference after the Redskins’ rookie minicamp today that Shanahan had told him this situation is comparable to what the Broncos had for nine years, when 1983 No. 1 overall pick John Elway was their starter and 1983 No. 197 overall pick Gary Kubiak was their backup. Griffin said the Redskins told him in advance that they liked Cousins and might draft him, and the situation sounds good to Shanahan, who was a Broncos assistant for six of the nine seasons when Kubiak backed up Elway, because it worked for Elway and worked for the Broncos.

It probably doesn’t sound as good to Cousins, though: Kubiak started a grand total of five games in his NFL career. Cousins surely wants to play more than that.

If Cousins is going to play much in his NFL career, it will probably happen somewhere other than Washington. Shanahan confirmed at his press conference that Griffin will run the first-team offense when the whole team gets together, and he said Griffin is ahead of where the coaches expected him to be right now.

“He’s great,” Shanahan said of Griffin. “I don’t think we had one bust with a play call or coverages the whole minicamp.”

Still, Griffin says he plans to prove he deserves to be the No. 1 quarterback, and not just because he was the No. 2 overall pick.

“Even if you are supposed to be ‘the guy,’ you still start off at the bottom of the barrel,” Griffin said. “Have to work your way up.”

Fear The Spear · 05-06-12, 02:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Burgundy Burner

It probably doesn’t sound as good to Cousins, though: Kubiak started a grand total of five games in his NFL career. Cousins surely wants to play more than that.

Yea, but Kubiak ended up with a successful coaching career, in part, thanks to all that clipboard holding.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Burgundy Burner

“He’s great,” Shanahan said of Griffin. “I don’t think we had one bust with a play call or coverages the whole minicamp.”

Dammit Mike. Do NOT mention the word "bust" while talking about Griffin.

Fear The Spear · 05-06-12, 04:09 PM

Surprise! (Not.) Shanahan names RG3 his Day 1 starter after rookie minicamp

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-sh...190105151.html

It took Robert Griffin III just three days to eliminate first doubts.

The news has the same surprise quotient you'd expect from Andrew Luck getting all the reps right away with the Indianapolis Colts, or the idea that the Denver Broncos will be doing pretty much whatever the heck Peyton Manning wants. That said, you Rex Grossman and Kirk Cousins fans will have to shine it on. At the end of the Washington Redskins' rookie minicamp on Sunday, head coach Mike Shanahan made it clear that Robert Griffin III, the Baylor quarterback selected second overall in the 2012 NFL draft, will be his starting quarterback from his first official professional snap.

Shanahan watched Griffin in five practices over three days, and saw enough to put it as simply as possible: "He's the starter. Period,"

So there.

"Any time you pick a player with the second pick of the draft and you give up another two No. 1's and No. 2 and you move up four spots, you've got a gameplan in mind," Shanahan said. "We're going to adjust our system to what he feels comfortable with, and we'll watch him grow, and we'll do what we feel like he does the best."

Griffin, the Heisman Trophy winner and consensus second-best player in this draft class behind Luck (actually, we tend to think he'll be the main man over time), was originally thought to be an eventual starter on a progressive plan as he transitioned to a West Coast offense after the spread/three-digit system he excelled with in college. But it didn't take Shanahan long to see and know: The kid is ready -- or, at least, ready to learn the ropes at the highest level.

The more teams got to know Griffin through the pre-draft evaluation process, the more they were impressed with his overall intelligence and ability to pick up different schemes at an accelerated pace. To that end, when the Redskins return to the practice field for OTAs on May 21, the coaching staff will have a plan in place around RG3 as the top kick.

"We're going to put him with the first team when we come back … We'll have our first team on one field, working against our second defense, and we'll have our second team on the other field, working against our first defense," Shanahan said. "I thought it very important to start with Robert with our first unit. He's able to do it and pick up the system as quick as he has, which is always good, to go out there and be able to call plays and feel good with what you're doing, and I've seen that over the last five practices."

The "live fire" aspect of practice can only help a player the Redskins traded some serious bank to acquire. Originally set with the sixth overall pick in this draft, the 'Skins moved up and took the St. Louis Rams' second overall pick by giving their first-round pick this year, as well as their first-rounders in 2013 and 2014 ... AND a second-round pick in last week's draft. It's the kind of "desperate" move one would attribute to the comedy stylings of former Redskins general manager Vinny Cerrrato, but if Griffin is everything he's cracked up to be, the validity of the deal won't be questioned. It's a passing league, and you don't win Super Bowls these days without an elite quarterback.

Shanahan, who's been mentoring quarterbacks for decades, has struggled to find his next franchise guy since John Elway retired in the late 1990s after two straight Super Bowl wins for the Denver Broncos. So far, so good -- Shanahan expected to be impressed with RGIII's athleticism, but it's the ability to put things together in a playbook sense that has the coach at ease.

"He's great. You can see what an incredible athlete he is," Shanahan said of Griffin. "I was impressed with the first day. He didn't have one bust on a formation or a play call, and I've never had that in all the minicamps I've been involved with."

Burgundy Burner · 05-06-12, 10:17 PM

http://blog.redskins.com/2012/05/06/...kie-mini-camp/

Final Video Report From Rookie Mini-Camp
by Brian Tinsman on May 6, 2012 – 9:56 pm

Throughout the weekend, Redskins.comTV has been your one-stop destination for the latest info on the 2012 rookie mini-camp, taking place at Redskins Park. Whether it’s exclusive coverage of Robert Griffin III for the first two days, or head coach Mike Shanahan’s big news this afternoon, it’s been a wild weekend in Redskins Nation.

But think of how it’s been for Griffin III.

It’s been 10 days since the Redskins drafted him with the No. 2 overall pick, but it was a foregone conclusion long before that. In the mere 240 hours since Griffin III crossed the stage at Radio City Music Hall, he has thrilled the fans at FedExField, wowed the media across the country, and been handed the keys to the starting job.

Now we just need to see how he interacts with his Redskins teammates, many of whom he has yet to meet.

Besides the warm glow of No. 10 at Redskins Park, this weekend was also for the Redskins, as they have a lot to show for the collegiate film study conducted by scouts and coaches. No man is an island, and every receiver, cornerback and nose tackle will be needed to make this team into a winner.

This weekend was but the first step on a journey into 2012 and beyond. Resist the urge to put the cart before the horse, but make no bones about it–this was one small step for Robert Griffin III, and one giant leap for Redskins Nation.