The Redskins Portal - ESPN 980

You don't expect much from a Thursday in mid-January, when the entire focus of the football and sports world is on the conference championship games this weekend in Foxboro and San Francisco.

However, nothing should ever be unexpected, when you have a relatively volatile mix of ESPN, Mel Kiper Jr. , the Washington Redskins, Peyton Manning, Robert Griffin III and Matt Flynn.

That's one hell of a mixture of ingredients that can lead you down a lot of roads, and ultimately a path of either destruction or riches.

ESPN, as part of the outstanding coverage the network provides leading up to the NFL Draft in late April, made the original and one-of-a-kind draft guru, Mel Kiper Jr. available to reporters all across the country on Thursday.

I was not able to listen live, however I did listen to a good part of the session and took quick note of the Redskins flavor, initiated by John Keim of the Washington Examiner.

Keim asked Kiper about his recent projection in his first mock draft http://es.pn/AFfKjV (subscription required) of CB Morris Claiborne to the Redskins with the # 6 overall pick.  A surprising pick to most, considering the questions at quarterback and on the offensive side of the ball.

Kiper says cornerback for the Redskins is "a need area" and Claiborne is "a kid who's got a high grade." Kiper said that you can not predict trades in April, never mind in January - so he's staying strictly by current draft order.

Claiborne is widely considered the top defensive player in the draft, and according to Wes Bunting of the National Football Post http://bit.ly/zoeZZy -- he is the 2nd best player overall behind Andrew Luck in the entire group.

I agree that corner is "a need area," but I would think -- with the commitment the Redskins made to defense last year in both free agency (Stephen Bowen, Barry Cofield, Oshiomogho Atogwe) and the draft (Ryan Kerrigan, Jarvis Jenkins, DJ Gomes) that they are almost surely going offense with their first pick, undoubtedly if Robert Griffin III is available.

Could you imagine if somehow (he won't) RG III is there for the Redskins choosing, and they went with Claiborne or offensive lineman David DeCastro from Stanford. Personally, I think it would be hilarious to see Redskins Nation suffer from a collective case of cardiac arrest. I'm joking of course, about the cardiac arrest part, but I do think it would highly entertaining.

If by some chance that RG III is available, or if the Redskins (unwisely, in my opinion) trade up for the Heisman Trophy winner -- Kiper, likes him a lot - but has a big question mark.

"All of these quarterbacks have to develop and learn and basically fall in. These rookies are doing a commendable job...... RG III can throw the football. The question is going to be is he 6'2", is he 6'1", 6'2" and-a-half? That height factor is going to be important. He's a heck of a passer. That's his strength. (RG III's) throwing the football accurately on the deep ball, was remarkable this year. His numbers, across the board, were better than Andrew Luck. He's not as good as Andrew Luck as a prospect. I think the passing ability of RG III was very understated and underrated going in to this year."

If you are looking for another option, as ESPN 980 reported yesterday http://bit.ly/x8vXxq  the Redskins are "very interested" in Matt Flynn -- Kiper says he "heard through the grapevine" that Matt Flynn is not the guy for the Redskins, but Kiper says Flynn is "gutty, tough, a good leader. Great intangibles."

Kiper did point this out -- Flynn has worked and changed his mechanical issues like Aaron Rodgers did when he was drafted in the first round out of California. The changes worked wonders for Rodgers, and Kiper feels that Flynn has made similar improvements.  

Despite winning a BCS Championship in his senior season at LSU, winning the offensive MVP award, Flynn went in the 7th round to the Packers, because of his lack of elite arm strength and his listed height of 6'2".   "I thought he was a guy who could be a starting quarterback in this league (When he came out of LSU)."

The gunslinger that Kiper keeps hearing about (presumably thru the same grapevine) that will end up here in Washington?  Peyton Manning.

For several million reasons, I just can't imagine that scenario - in addition to his health (missed all of last year after multiple neck surgeries) and the contractual issues -- Manning would be asked to change schemes and essentially become less head coach, and more quarterback.

Sure, Kyle and Mike Shanahan would allow Manning to have more freedom than Rex Grossman, Donovan McNabb or John Beck has had.  However, are they going to let him orchestrate the offense like he has done for so long in Indianapolis? I highly, highly doubt it. This is an offense that doesn't have a high value on audibles. You do have 'checks' where you can vary some choices, but for the most part, the play-call that comes in from Kyle Shanahan -- is what you are expected to run.

 “You don’t need a guy that’s experienced with your system,” Kyle Shanahan told reporters in late December.   “When [Matt] Schaub came into Houston in his first year, he played at a very high level. I don’t think it’s a system that takes a long time to learn. You can get better at it, but everyone in the league runs similar plays.”

Still - you can forget about the bootleg as a part of what the Redskins like and want to do if they sign Manning - who is expected to be released by the Indianapolis Colts to avoid paying a 28 million dollar roster bonus before free agency.

I am dismissing Manning based on common sense, but then again - there are factors (selling tickets/corporate sponsorships) that are out of the realm of common sense, so you can never rule anything out.

A quarterback you should not rule out and can take a look at on Saturday on the NFL Network during the Shrine Game, is B.J. Coleman out of Tennessee - Chattanooga,  http://bit.ly/wgcA09 (Scouting Report)  as National Football Post's Wes Bunting opined about here http://bit.ly/zUQfyo.

If you are looking for some non-quarterback reading material -- check this out for a mathematical ranking of the Redskins free agents this off-season, with a surprising grade for one of the Redskins better players in 2011 (Adam Carriker) http://bit.ly/w8lKk1 

Oh yeah, and the Redskins FINALLY have a practice bubble!!! The multi million dollar project was blown up on Friday and you can check out pictures on the ESPN 980 facebook page (ESPN 980) or www.twitter.com/espnradio980 or my twitter page (@Russellmania980)

Chris Russell // RussellC@Redskins or SFtheRooster@Yahoo.com // www.twitter.com/russellmania980 // www.facebook.com (Chris Russell or ESPN 980)