Saturday, September 01, 2007

The case for Casey Bramlet

I have to admit, it's not a strong one. In his last two games with the Falcons, Bramlet completed 5 of 9 passes for 80 yards; no TDs, no interceptions.

Bramlet played in the second half of Atlanta's game against the Ravens last night. While his numbers weren't bad, I thought he was slow of foot for an NFL player. On one occasion, it looked like he held the ball too long when he was sacked.

Sometimes that's exactly the right thing to do. You have to be a coach who knows the play and can see where the scheme broke down to assess responsibility.

This discussion take on an air of urgency after watching Jordan Palmer's play in the second half of the Redskins game against the Jaguars. Palmer looked like what he was: a small school rookie who had no reps in practice playing with a bunch of guys. He went 2 of 10 for 12 yards for a QB rating of 0.0. Bramlet looks good in comparison. So, why did the Redskins cut him?

I'm guessing the Redskins knew more about Bramlet from the '06 training camp and the NFLe film and this season's training camp. I'm guessing further that the team believes that Casey is already the best he will ever be.

Palmer is unknown. He reportedly has a bigger arm than Bramlet and maybe a bigger upside. It was hard to see that in Thursday's game. In any event, the Skins needed more tape on Palmer. So he stayed and he played. You would expect Bramlet to be more polished, but Palmer is very raw. He is nowhere near the talent of his big brother Carson.

For a team that makes every other personnel decision based on who can help now, you would think Bramlet would be the choice.
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Jamaal Anderson was a fan favorite as the top draft pick for the Redskins. The Skins took LaRon Landry and Anderson was drafted by the Falcons. So, as long as I am stoking those woulda-shoulda fires, I'll point out that in preseason game three, Anderson was Atlanta's leading tackler with five tackles and two sacks. I'm not sure the Redskins made two sacks all preseason.

I'm not knocking the Landry selection. He fits Gre-double G's defensive schemes better. Williams and the Skins are putting great faith in the youth movement on the D-line. Time will tell if that was a good move.

1 comment:

Ben Folsom said...

Agreed on Casey, he would have given the team the best shot at a backup with some knowledge of the game. Heck even Steve Walsh was a starter in this league for one year and he couldn't throw the ball more than 20 yards through the air!

The Redskins botched this one just like they did the TEs (cutting both TEs in camp and then signing someone else's rookie free agent?) and the WRs (seven guys competing for the number 5 spot and they sign a 5-11 184 guy with no experience?)

A thousand monkeys and a thousand telephones: Vinny Cerrato.