The Redskins have announced the hiring of Raheem Morris as a defensive backs coach.
The former Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach agreed to take the job two weeks ago. The Redskins confirmed the move Monday, when he joined coach Mike Shanahan’s staff in Mobile, Ala., for this week’s Senior Bowl.
The 35-year-old Morris was fired by the Bucs this month. He had a 17-31 record over three seasons at Tampa Bay.
The alleged gunman in the slaying of Redskins safety Sean Taylor will stand trial beginning April 16.
A Miami judge set the date on Friday, moving along a process that has been years in the waiting. Taylor died a day after he was shot in his Miami area home Nov. 27, 2007. Eric Rivera Jr., now 21, will stand trial and faces up to life in prison if convicted, according to the Associated Press.
Three other men charged in the murder will be tried separately and no trial dates have been set yet. A fifth man has pleaded guilty to murder and burglary charges and he will likely be a witness for prosecution.
Usually, NFL teams hiking their ticket prices wait until late on a Friday afternoon to announce the news. In this case, the Redskins waited until late on a Friday afternoon to announced that general admission ticket prices will remain unchanged, remaining at a flat level for the seventh consecutive year.
General admission tickets likely don’t include every seat in FedEx Field, and the team didn’t say what – if any – increases there will be. General admission tickets currently range from $29 to $99. Season-ticket renewals will be sent out during the middle of this month, meaning soon. “We are sensitive to our loyal fans during these difficult economic times,” general manager Bruce Allen said.
Sometimes it is not pretty when kickers or punters get involved on tackles, just ask Redskins kicker Graham Gano broke his back in two places trying to make a tackle in the team’s season-ending game against the Eagles.
According to Mike Jones of the Washington Post, Gano broke two bones trying to make a tackle after a 36-yard field goal try was blocked, he was hit from behind by defensive end Jason Babin on the play, and he continued to play in the game, kicking a field goal and extra point.
Per the report, the Redskins did not announce in the injury and Gano has remained in Washington to rehabilitate the injury, something that will require six to eight weeks. He will be a free agent, he made 31 of 41 field goals and special teams coordinator Danny Smith spoke highly of him. It remains to be seen if he is in the team’s plans.
Former Buccaneers head coach Raheem Morris has joined Mike Shanahan’s coaching staff with the Redskins, Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times reports.
Morris will coach the defensive backs, an area of the defense he coached in two stints with the Buccaneers. Morris was the assistant defensive backs coach from 2004-05, left for a season to be the defensive coordinator Kansas State before returning to the Buccaneers as the defensive backs coach in 2007.
The Buccaneers promoted Morris to head coach after the 2008 season and the Buccaneers went 10-6 in his second season. However, the Buccaneers would regress in 2011, with the team losing ten straight to close the season at 4-12. Morris was fired shortly after the season.
The 35-year-old Morris has a clause in his contract that Shanahan will not obstruct Morris from pursuing a defensive coordinator opportunity in the NFL in 2013, Stroud adds.
Comments OffSkins LB Brian Orakpo underwent shoulder surgery, and according to him, it was a success.
Redskins linebacker Brian Orakpo has announced via his Twitter account that he has had successful shoulder surgery. “Just had successful shoulder surgery in Pensacola thanks everybody for their support! Now time for a speedy recover HTTR!” Orakpo lead the Redskins with nine sacks this year, ending the year with two against the Eagles before leaving the game early with the shoulder injury. It has yet to be revealed how long his recovery period will be.
According to George Wallace of WTOP in Washington, the Redskins brass dined with with former Bucs coach Raheem Morris. He and Kyle Shanahan were on assistants in Tampa together.
The Redskins may be looking at Morris as a defensive backs coach.
Comments OffEver since the Redskins endured a season-defining six game losing streak – a streak that spanned from mid-October through Thanksgiving weekend – thoughts of competing and aspirations of postseason play quickly turned into a focus on positioning in the 2012 NFL Draft.
With the 2011-2012 NFL regular season coming to a close yesterday, the top 20 picks in the upcoming draft have been determined, with the Redskins having secured the 6th overall pick:
Source: Great Blue North Draft Report
1. Indianapolis
2. St. Louis
3. Minnesota
4. Cleveland
5. Tampa Bay
6. Washington
7. Jacksonville
8. Miami*
9. Carolina*
10. Buffalo
11. Kansas City*
12. Seattle*
13. Arizona
14. Dallas
15. Philadelphia
16. NY Jets
17. Cincinnati (from Oakland)
18. San Diego
19. Chicago
20. Tennessee
* Picks of these teams will be determined by a coin-flip
The remaining 12 draft selections belong to teams currently in the playoffs, and their picks will be determined based on any postseason advancement.
Indianapolis secured the first overall pick in the 2012 draft, after losing to the Jacksonville Jaguars yesterday. While Indianapolis and St. Louis both finished with a 2-14 record, Indianapolis had the lower strength of schedule (based on their 2011-2012 opponents). Strength of schedule is the first and “only” tiebreaker used to determine draft order; if two teams finish the season with an identical win-loss record and strength of schedule, an NFL-officiated coin-flip ultimately breaks any tie (as is the case between Miami & Carolina and Kansas City & Seattle).
The Redskins and Jaguars both finished the season with a 5-11 record, but the Redskins strenght of schedule was lower than that of the Jaguars, thus giving them the “higher” draft pick.
The majority of people believe that Andrew Luck, the prized quarterback prospect from Stanford University, will inevitably be drafted by Indianapolis, as the heir-apparent (or immediate replacement) to Peyton Manning. Any team thinking about moving to the top overall spot, via a trade with Indianapolis, will likely have to offer an enormous & unprecedented package of current & future draft picks, and probably players too. But that’s even assuming Indianapolis would entertain the idea of trading out of the top selection, and bypassing the opportunity of drafting one of the best quarterback prospects to come out in the past 10-12 years in Andrew Luck.
If Luck goes first as predicted, all eyes move to the second overall pick, owned by the St. Louis Rams. Many people believe that three teams picking in the top 10 – Cleveland, Washington, and Miami – are anxious to select a quarterback in this year’s draft, and if Luck is gone, then those three will likely mapping out scenarios to move up and grab Robert Griffin III from Baylor University. St. Louis probably won’t be a threat to take a quarterback themselves, given that they just took Sam Bradford with the first overall pick in the 2010 draft, and probably will not sever ties with him, even after a highly disappointing 2011 season.
As of this moment, Cleveland is probably the front-runner in any potential trade talks. If St. Louis and Cleveland consummated a trade, the Rams wouldn’t move back very far (only two picks), and could potentially get the Browns 4th overall pick and Atlanta’s 1st round pick (currently owned by Cleveland as well, as part of the Falcons move to acquire wide receiver Julio Jones in the 2011 NFL Draft) as well; St. Louis would likely ask for at least those two first round picks, plus later round picks and future draft picks as well.
The first round of the NFL Draft will take place the evening of Thurday, April 26th.
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January 23rd, 2012 
Matt Loede 
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