Warrick Holdman, We'll Take Him

Warrick Holdman (Top) Brian Allen (Bottom)

The newest addition to our crazy off-season pick-ups is now ex-Brown Warrick Holdman. Holdman is a 6 foot 1 inch, 235 pound linebacker. The Skins actually tried to sign him last season but other moves resulted in him going to the browns. There he started in 14 out of 16 games and had a relatively impressive 110 tackles. Gibbs is excited about the addition of Holdman and thinks that he will team up well with other new veteran linebacker Brian Allen. Holdman offers us a particular advantage in that he has already played with our defensive line coach Greg Blanche for 4 years in Chicago. He also played with our linebacker coach Dale Lindsey for 2 years in the same city; so he should adapt well to our defensive. I have to say that I like where the Skins are going with bolstering our d-line, they should be great this year considering they finished third last year without these veteran additions.

05' Season Schedule

2005 Pre-Season
Date--Opponent--Time--TV Network
August 13 @ Panthers 8:00pm ET WUSA
August 19 vs. Bengals 8:00pm ET WUSA
August 26 vs. Steelers 8:00pm ET FOX
September 1 @ Ravens 8:00pm ET WUSA

2005 Regular Season
Date--Opponent--Time--TV Network
September 11 vs. Bears 1:00pm ET FOX
September 19 @ Cowboys 9:00pm ET ABC
October 2 vs. Seahawks 1:00pm ET FOX
October 9 @ Broncos 4:15pm ET FOX
October 16 @ Chiefs 1:00pm ET FOX
October 23 vs. 49ers 1:00pm ET FOX
October 30 @ Giants 1:00pm ET FOX
November 6 vs. Eagles 8:30pm ET ESPN
November 13 @ Buccaneers 1:00pm ET FOX
November 20 vs. Raiders 1:00pm ET CBS
November 27 vs. Chargers 1:00pm ET CBS
December 4 @ Rams 4:05pm ET FOX
December 11 @ Cardinals 4:05pm ET FOX
December 18 vs. Cowboys 1:00pm ET FOX
December 24 vs. Giants 1:00pm ET FOX
January 1 @ Eagles 4:15pm ET FOX

4 New Signings

The Skins have just finished signing four new players for the season. Three of them are veterans from around the league including: tight end Billy Baber, wide receiver Jimmy Farris, and running back Brock Forsey. The fourth is an undrafted rookie quarterback Bryson Spinner. Although Barber is coming in as a tight end, Gibbs says that he’ll be playing at the half back position. The 5-11 208 pound running back Forsey is coming to us from the Miami Dolphins, where in 18 games and 2 starts, he put up 244 rushing yards on 69 carries for 2 touchdowns. Gibbs says he likes his potential and mentioned his value to us on special teams. Wide receiver Farris has kind of bounced around the league, being signed by the 49ers, the Patriots, and the Falcons since he was drafted in 2001. It’s also likely that Farris will be a special teams threat for us this year. The young quarter back Spinner played for UVA for a little while and then transferred to Richmond. There he put up the 10th best recorded numbers in a season for a quarter back. Gibbs seems impressed with his ability overall and looks forward to working with him.

Rookie Camp Updates

With the draft over it was time for the Skins to put some of their picks to the test. The rookie mini-camp is where new redskins official roster prospects get to showcase their abilities. According to Gibbs many of the new players did just that and really showed him something. It's too early on for Gibbs to give us any specualtion on who will be cut and who will make the cut but, he's opptimistic about what he saw. Spotlighted, of course, we're first round pick-ups Campbell and Rogers. Campbell, the young quarterback from Auburn was getting a lot of attention at the camp; he was even seen making some completions against his Auburn teamate, cornerback Carlos Rogers. Rogers also had a decent camp but, based on feedback from the coaches, he needs some work. From what I have read, I feel that Gibbs is really taking to Campbell for it being so early on in the season; citing that he really had a feel for the mental aspects of handling the offense. He hasn't given up on Rogers or anything but defiantly got the point across that he needs more work. For more on the rookie-mini camp check out the official redskins site.

Auburn Alum

The recent NFL draft brought many new and interesting prospects into the league. Who really cares about anyone but the redskins picks though; we got a cornerback and a quarter back. Both players are from Auburn, who went 13-0-0 last season. Jason Campbell is a 6' 4", 223 pound quarterback who has, "got a lot of knowledge of the game," and feels comfortable running several different types of offenses. Campbell is a particularly interesting pick-up considering the weekness displayed at the quarterback position last season. While Gibbs still plans to play next season with Ramsey as our starting quarterback, the new addition should be interesting to follow. The second pick-up is a cornerback named Carlos Rogers. Gibbs really likes Rogers' play at Auburn, and feels that the addition of the young back will help our defensive line attack more effectively by alliviating some of the we

aknesses in our current backfield. Gibbs said "I think both these guys understand team--and they are team players, thats a big deal for [the skins]." Over all I like the pick-ups that we made this draft, good team players who are ready to make a difference on an NFL team is what the skins need.

Wide Receiver Receiving

If you ever tune in to ESPN for more than 5 seconds than you already know. Coles is now our ex-wide receiver, and Jet's Santana Moss is on his way to take his place. I personally like the way this trade worked out for us; Coles didn't want to be here and Moss is just as good if not a better receiver. Moss has speed and allusiveness, two great assets to have in a wide out. In a press conference, Moss stressed that he's a team player; exactly what Joe Gibbs needs and what Cole was lacking.
The Skins have really made some big changes at the Wide Receiver position this off-season. In addition to the big trade mentioned above, Rod Gardner has been given the go-ahead to seek a trade. Skins have also picked up New England's David Patten. Patten has had a moderate success over the past couple of years with New England; moderate, mainly because of the depth that New England receiving core has. Patten is an athletic guy and should do well with the more direct role that Gibbs will be offering him this season. Let me know what you guys think about the moves we've made this off-season, leave some comments.
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Just A Little Off-Season Update

Yes, it's true the Redskins do actuaually have some decent news to report. The current talk is over wide reciever Laveranues Coles; rumors are saying that the reciever might not be very happy with his current team. The fact that our offense finished 30th (near last in the league) and that our coach, Joe Gibbs, has a game plan which is inconsistant with Coles' ideal makes for an unhappy reciever. The Redskins have one of two possible choices to make on how to deal with Coles. The team can either trade him to another team or simply keep him for another year and try to make him happier.
The main and currently only trade being dicussed would be for the Jets wide reciever Santana Moss. Santana Moss is a good reciever, putting up less receptions but more touchdowns than Coles last year. In reference to the plausibility of this tade Gibbs Had this to say, "for us, Laveranues is a very valuable guy and if we can work something out with somebody, that would be fine, if not, he probably will remain a Redskin. Right now, (a trade) is not on the horizon. If we do not work out a trade, we'll go down the road with L.C. as a Redskin." That Gibbs is a nice guy and all but I say, if he doesn't wan't to be a Redskin then just get rid of the loser regardless.
Line backer Lemar Marshall is the only other Redskin who has recently been brought up in the news. Lemar is the linebacker who filled in for our good friend LaVar Arrington while he was injured. Lemar put up career-high numbers with 82 tackles and 1.5 sacks during this time. These numbers led some to believe that Marshall might pursue free agency this off season. He has decided to remain a Redskin thoguh, signing a 3 year 2 million dollar contract. That's really all thats worth posting lately, more on the Coles trade when the info. comes.