The Washington Redskins continued their off-season programs yesterday with another round of organized team activities (OTAs).
With some of the practice fields still under construction, team units had to rotate during the day to get their time outside on the grass.
Special teams coach Danny Smith had his unit up and out early in the morning so that they could run their activities before the rest of the team started theirs. But Rick Maese of the Washington Post reports that they got it done.
With all the talk of defensive star Albert Haynesworth being absent and Santana Moss possibly under investigation, the Redskins’ special teams unit hasn’t had much attention this off-season.
But Maese makes a good point when he notes that the special teams squad moving into 2010 doesn’t look much like the unit we’ve known over the last couple of years.
Long-time special team-er and fan favorite Rock Cartwright is gone as is punt returner/wide out Atwaan Randle El. Long snapper Ethan Albright and Hunter-the-punter Smith are gone and have been replaced by long snapper Nick Sundberg and punter Josh Bidwell. Also, two kickers are in camp this off-season: Graham Gano and Justin Medlock.
There are several players in camp who might assume the roles of punt or kick returners in 2010 and these OTAs / mini-camps will help coaches decided the depth chart at those positions.
“I’m real comfortable with everybody. But we have to get them in a game and see what they can do and how they produce,” Smith said. “You become more comfortable with players as they become more productive. So I’m comfortable with everybody right now, but we just have a lot of work to do.”
Competition for kick and punt returners will be something fans will watch with interest during this off-season as the team struggled in those categories – especially punt returns – during 2009.
Washington ranked 24th overall in the league in returns in 2009 according to NFL.com, averaging 21.7 yards on kick returns and 4.8 on punt returns. This is not very good compared to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who ranked 1st with an average of 26.3 yards on kick returns and 11.6 on punt returns. The Redskins also had no touchdowns scored on any returns the entire season.
Danny Smith has not singled out any players as having either return job in the bag. He does have options however, with the players currently on the roster. Last year, Santana Moss and DeAngelo Hall were mentioned frequently as possibilities for return men but coaches are understandably hesitant to put these guys in on a regular basis with their value being so high at their usual positions. Other options available to the special teams coordinator could be wide outs Bobby Wade, Terrence Austin and Brandon Banks, running back Ryan Torain or cornerbacks Justin Tryon and Phillip Buchanon.
Smith knows he’s got a lot to look at before training camp begins.
“We’ll have a lot of guys out there,” the special teams coach said. “We’re looking for the right one, but we’ll have a lot of guys, a lot of people getting an opportunity, and we’ll go with the best guy.”