Washington Redskins’ Robert Henson Could Be a “Special” Player

As the Washington Redskins’ sixth-round draft choice, linebacker Robert Henson knows that he will have to wait his turn to play with the defense and contribute on special teams in the meantime. He has been down that path before.

For three seasons at TCU he got three starts on defense and played on virtually every special team unit. He performed so well that he received honorable mention All-Mountain West honors all three years.

Finally, his senior year his chance to start came up and he made the most of it. Henson recorded up 73 tackles, nine of them for losses, and intercepted two passes. His performance earned him first-team all conference honors.

It also propelled TCU’s defense to a No. 2 national ranking and the Horned Frogs to an 11-2 record and a final ranking as the No. 7 team in the country.

Robert went back home to Longview, Texas (getting some nice local TV coverage while he was there) after the Redskins’ minicamp to prepare for OTA’s in June. He was good enough to answer a few questions about his minicamp experience and his adjustment to the NFL:

Rich Tandler: Which are you finding to be more challenging, the physical aspect of the NFL or the mental, playbook aspects of it?

Robert Henson: Honesty the physical game was easy to adjust to, of course we have not put on pads just yet. I have struggled a bit with the mental aspect of the game, for example getting everyone lined up with only seconds before the ball is snapped.

RT: Last year [head coach Jim] Zorn commented that some of the rookies came into training camp not physically or mentally ready to handle it. What will you be doing in between now and the end of July to make sure that you’re not one of “those guys”.

RH: I really believe in the weight room and so far it has not failed me yet, so I am sure preparing my body for the rigors of the NFL is a must. Then second of all I believe you have to be mentally tough in order to be successful, it’s a long season and you have be prepared in every way possible.

RT: Is there a current Redskins player who you think has a game similar to yours? Or, if not, who in the NFL is your game modeled after?

RH: I have always tried to model my game after two current NFL linebackers. I have always tried to play with a high emotion and motor like Ray Lewis. He is always wired up and in attack mode.

I also love the way that Brian Urlacher prepares mentally. He is rarely caught out of position and studies the game so well he always knows what is coming.  

RT: What linebacker positions are you learning with the Redskins? You said in your Facebook update that you’re moving up the depth chart—any details you can share?

RH: Right now [linebackers coach Kirk] Olivadotti has me playing “Mike” Linebacker, which is the middle linebacker in the defense, it is very good position I feel very comfortable playing there.

Ultimately I will have to learn all three linebacker positions. I also know in order to make the team better I will have to contribute as well as focus on my play in the in the kicking game. So because of my effort on special teams I have moved up a little on the depth charts for these teams.

RT: What is the main thing you need to work on as far as technique goes?

RH: The things I need to work on technique wise are footwork and learning how to approach and take on blockers. Coach Olivadotti has done a great job tearing down my bad habits and rebuilding technique to make me more effective and productive.

I am constantly asking veteran London Fletcher how I can improve also, so between two great influences like them I can do nothing but learn and reach full potential.

RT: What special teams units did you play at TCU? What do you enjoy about playing special teams?

RH: When I was at TCU I played on all special teams units, except extra point and field goal. I love the special teams phase of the game for two reasons. It can change the momentum as well as the outcome of the game very quickly.

Also it is man to man most of the time and there is nothing like beating another person and making a play, it gets the whole team pumped and motivated.

Redskins’ Coaching Staff Should Gel in 2009

The Washington Redskins’ coaching staff should become a more cohesive group this year after a tumultuous 2008.

With the coaching search going into overtime and Jim Zorn getting his quick promotion from offensive coordinator to head coach in February, he had to scramble to assemble a staff.

The NFL didn’t stop and wait for them to get their act together and all of a sudden free agency, the draft, minicamps and OTA’s were on top of them and they barely knew each other’s names.

They’re now on their second cycle through the league year and things are starting to gel for the core 13 coaches.

Fortunately, this was not a typical offseason of churn and upheaval at Redskins Park. The only new member of the staff is Scott Wachenheim, who came from Liberty University to coach the tight ends.

The two holdovers from Joe Gibbs’ most recent tenure as head coach on the offensive side are line coach Joe Bugel and wide receivers coach Stan Hixon.

Bugel, of course, is a legend, the man who molded and named the Hogs, the O-line that cleared the path to the Redskins’ glory days. He has considerable input into virtually all aspects, including personnel, play design, and game planning.

Hixon is well respected but he will be under a microscope this year. There were many reasons that the Redskins got little out of rookie receivers Devin Thomas and Malcolm Kelly last year.

This year it seems that both will be healthy and both of them seem to understand the game better. It will be on Hixon to make sure that they are prepared to contribute in 2009.

The titles of the three other coaches on the offensive side are somewhat misleading. Sherman Smith nominally is the Offensive Coordinator but, in reality, Zorn is the OC and Smith helps him out.

One would think that Assistant Head Coach Stump Mitchell would be able to pull rank on Smith but, in reality, Mitchell is just the running backs coach.

Smith played with Zorn in Seattle and Mitchell coached with him there so they both have his ear in all matters concerning the offense.

Another coach in whom Zorn seems to have a lot of faith carries the bland title of Offensive Assistant. Chris Meidt came to the Redskins from the football factory called St. Olaf College in Minnesota.

But don’t let the label and NCAA Division III background fool you—Meidt is a key member of the staff. He’s Zorn’s jack of all trades, the guy who makes it possible for Zorn to wear the three hats of head coach, offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.

Zorn completely delegates the defense to coordinator Greg Blache and his group is composed mostly of Gregg Williams-era holdovers.

Blache is decidedly old school with the Marine-barracks language on the practice field and the gruff, one-sentence answers to media questions.

His style is less gambling than Williams’ was and this came out in the numbers. While the team was fourth in yardage allowed, they were near the bottom in takeaways and sacks.

The one post-Williams addition is defensive line coach John Palmero. His unit will be carrying great expectations with the additions of mega-free agent Albert Haynesworth and first-round draft selection Brian Orakpo.

In the secondary, cornerbacks coach Jerry Gray and safeties coach Steve Jackson both know what Blache wants and they give it to him.

The secondary has been the strength of the defense the last couple of years and Blache is smart enough not to mess with what’s working.

Linebackers coach Kirk Olivadotti has the longest continuous tenure with the team. He started in 2000 as a quality control coach and he has stayed on the staff through Norv Turner, Marty Schottenheimer, Steve Spurrier, Gibbs, and now Zorn.

Special teams coach Danny Smith had considerable juice in the personnel area under Gibbs and it’s presumed that he maintains that with Zorn.

Whenever Coach Joe was posed a question about which kicker or punter was winning a training camp competition, he’d always say, “You’ll have to ask Danny.”

It also was rumored that Smith would be allowed to protect a few special teams studs from the final roster cut.

Flashback Friday: The 1986 Washington Redskins

It’s one thing to climb the mountain and win the championship once. Many teams have done that.

The hard part is getting knocked down and then winning it all again.

In 1986, Joe Gibbs and the Redskins showed that they could get back to the top. No, they didn’t win the Super Bowl; they had a Giant obstacle in their way. But they set the table for their Super Bowl XXII championship the following season. And that’s why the 1986 squad is one of my favorite Redskins teams.

After winning it all in 1982, the Redskins started a slow roll downhill. They lost the Super Bowl the next year, lost in the first round of the playoffs in ’84 and missed the postseason in 1985.

The Redskins went into 1986 without two of the mainstays of their Super Bowl teams. John Riggins was released in March and Joe Theismann, unable to recover from the horrific broken leg he suffered the previous season against the Giants, flunked his physical.

There was some incoming talent to compensate for the losses. The United States Football League folded and the Redskins bolstered their receiving corps with USFL refugees Gary Clark and Ricky Sanders. Multitalented running back Kelvin Bryant also came on board along with quarterback Doug Williams.

The acquisition of Williams would not become significant until 1987, when he finished the season as the Super Bowl MVP.

The starting quarterback was Jay Schroeder and although he had led the team to a 5-1 finish after Theismann went down the Redskins still weren’t quite sure what they had in him.

As it turns out, Schroeder was pretty good, at least in 1986. He passed for 4,109 yards, a team record that still stands, and earned a Pro Bowl invitation.

The job of filling Riggins’ shoes fell to George Rogers, who the Redskins had acquired from the Saints a year earlier. He turned in a solid season with 1,203 yards on the ground.

Most of the original Hogs were in place on the offensive line with Joe Jacoby, Russ Grimm, Jeff Bostic and Mark May starting most of the games. The strength of the defense was the defensive line with Dexter Manley and Charles Mann at end and Dave Butz clogging things up at tackle.

The Redskins started off 5-0 but kicker Mark Moseley was on shaky ground, hitting less than half of his field goals. Although his missed extra point in a 30-6 loss to Dallas didn’t have an effect on the outcome, Moseley was waived the next day.

Two weeks later they lost to the Giants, something that would become an all-too familiar happening. The next week the Redskins rallied from 12 points down in the final seven minutes to send a thriller against the Vikings into overtime. A touchdown pass from Schroeder to Clark won it in OT.

That sparked another five-game winning streak that thudded to a halt at the hands of, you guessed it, the Giants.

Despite winding up with a 12-4 record, the Redskins were relegated to a Wild Card spot as New York won the division with a 14-2 mark.

A home playoff win against the Rams set up a trip to Soldier Field to face the defending champion Bears. Schroeder threw two touchdown passes to Art Monk and the Redskins outscored Chicago 20-0 in the second half to shuffle out of the Windy City with a 27-13 win.

The dream season ended when the Redskins faced their worst nightmare in the NFC Championship Game. The Giants were much more dominant than the 17-0 final score would indicate.

Still, the 1986 Redskins proved that they were in the class of teams that could retool rather than rebuild. They would make it all the way back in 1987.

Three-Way Battle Looms for Redskins Tackle Spot

The hay is in the barn for the Washington Redskins.

Free agency essentially is over, and the draft is done. They went into the process with holes at defensive tackle, defensive end, guard, linebacker, and right offensive tackle. The hole at offensive tackle remains.

They could have chosen Michael Oher of Mississippi with their first pick in the draft to plug that hole but instead they chose Brian Orakpo. He actually will be used to fill two of those needs, defensive end and linebacker, so it’s hard to argue against that selection.

However, that means that an aging veteran, a third-year player who hasn’t been able to hold on to the job, and a former top-five draft pick who hasn’t played a snap since 2005 will be battling it out for the starting job.

The aging vet is Jon Jansen, 33. The Redskins took him in the second round in 1999 and plugged him in at right tackle from day one. He didn’t miss a start for five years, gaining the nickname The Rock. Then an Achilles’ tear cost him the entire 2004 season, and in ‘06 a broken ankle knocked him for the season before halftime of the season opener.

Jansen lost the starting right tackle job before the season opener, gained it back due to an injury, and kept a tenuous hold on it the rest of the year. His blocking for the run was passable, but speed rushers went by him like cars through the EZ-Pass lane at rush hour.

There was talk of cutting him during the offseason but the $5 million cap hit for doing so was prohibitive. He lives to fight another year.

Stephon Heyer, 25, is in his third year after making the Redskins as an undrafted free agent out of Maryland. As a rookie, he found himself pressed into action much sooner than he, or anyone else, thought after Jansen went down early in the year.

His performance in 2006 was good enough to earn him a hard look last year, and Jim Zorn named him the starter over Jansen at right tackle just before the season opener. A shoulder injury sidelined Heyer, however, and he was in and out of the lineup the rest of the year.

If you tried to predict Mike Williams’ career path when he was drafted fourth overall out of Texas in 2002, you probably would have guessed that in 2009 he’d be a perennial Pro Bowl performer working on a lucrative contract.

Instead, he finds himself in a battle just to make a team and get a veteran minimum deal. After getting cut by Jacksonville early in the 2006 season, Williams, 29, was unable to latch on with another team.

His weight ballooned well north of 400 pounds.

Earlier this year he began to work out with fellow Longhorn alumnus Derrick Dockery. As Williams shed the pounds, he began to get the itch to play again. Dockery recommended him to the Redskins, and he signed just before the draft.

Williams has a shot at making the team as a reserve, but he won’t be the starter unless disaster strikes in the form of injuries or utter ineffectiveness on the part of Jansen and Heyer. The former is a matter of luck; it isn’t completely out of the question that the latter situation will happen.

Since the Redskins want to get younger on the offensive line, Heyer goes into camp as the favorite. But if Jansen is fully healthy, his pride will make him push Heyer hard.

The most likely scenario is that the two of them will end up splitting the starts. And if you have two—or three—starting right tackles, well, you don’t have a right tackle.

 

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