Re: 'skins O to no longer have H-Backs <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Last year, the Redskins' offense included H-backs, sort of a hybrid tight end and fullback. Players like tight end Chris Cooley, Sellers, White and Broughton give Saunders plenty of versatility, no matter where they line up.</div>http://www.redskins.com/news/newsDetail.jsp?id=16606I think that Saunders will try and make Cooley a sort of Tony Gonzales and we wont see him blocking as much anymore, which I am happy to hear, we got a big guy in Sellers who could do all that blocking for us and go out for a couple passes, and then we always have Nemo and Manuel White Jr. who are both talented as well.
Re: 'skins O to no longer have H-Backs I think they will have one of the best offenses in the NFC but there QB has to come through for them...
Re: 'skins O to no longer have H-Backs I don't think he will start at Fullback, Sellers will and Nemo will probably rotate in every once and a while
Re: 'skins O to no longer have H-Backs I think Sellers is better, but a lot more experienced. I wouldn't doubt the fact that he rotates with another player though. I also think it's good to get Cooley into a more offensive spot, I don't think he's a pure blocker anyways.
Re: 'skins O to no longer have H-Backs ^ Cooley is a great run blocker but yeah... he's more of a receiver than a blocker.
Re: 'skins O to no longer have H-Backs Here's an article on how Cooley feels about playing TE:<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>For Cooley, New Position Is No ProblemBy Gary FitzgeraldRedskins.comMay 18, 2006In just two seasons, Chris Cooley has emerged as a reliable offensive weapon for the Redskins, recording 108 catches for 1,088 yards and 13 touchdowns.Given his production, it would seem odd that Redskins coaches would want Cooley to undergo a position change this offseason. But in 2006, Cooley will play a more traditional tight end role, as opposed to the H-back position he played last year.Chris Cooley, during the first week of OTAs. (Don Wright Photo)To hear Cooley tell it, the position change is not really a change at all.He says the only significant change is one letter: Cooley is now a "Y" in offensive sets instead of an "H." The "Y" is often used as a standard description for tight ends in play formations."I think a big misconception last year was that everyone thought I wasn't a tight end, but that's basically what I was last year," he said. "The 'H' is just what it was termed."Last year, Cooley was surprised--perhaps even a little annoyed--when he learned he was listed as a fullback on Pro Bowl ballots. He had comparable statistics to some elite tight ends last season, including Pro Bowlers Alge Crumpler of Atlanta and Jeremy Shockey of the New York Giants. He lost the fullback voting to Seattle's Mack Strong.This season, there will be no confusion over Cooley's position.Associate head coach-offense Al Saunders is expected to use Cooley in a similar role as Kansas City Chiefs tight end Tony Gonzalez, a seven-time Pro Bowler. Saunders guided the Chiefs' high-powered offense the last five seasons.Cooley was a traditional tight end at Utah State before arriving in Washington in spring 2004 as a third-round draft pick and fresh-faced rookie. He is confident he has the experience to adapt to Saunders' offense.As Organized Team Activities (OTAs) get underway at Redskins Park this week, Cooley said he is excited about the possibility of having the kind of success that Gonzalez has had in Kansas City."I'm mostly excited about what's going to happen for our offense," he said. "There should be a lot of opportunities to make plays. It'll be the type of offense that gets huge chunks of yardage down the field, even more than we have in the past."In prior years, Cooley has run a lot of short to medium pass routes which allowed him to use his physicality to break tackles once he catches the ball.Remember Week 15 against Dallas? Cooley caught a pass in the left flat and barreled downfield, breaking several tackles along the sideline for a 30-yard touchdown. It was one of three touchdown receptions by Cooley that game.Short and medium routes will certainly remain a part of the Redskins' offense in 2006. But in Saunders' offense, it's expected that Cooley will be asked run some deeper routes. He'll need to use his size and speed to break free from coverage by linebackers and safeties."I'll have a chance to run a little more and stretch out the field on some routes," he said. "I'll have a lot of help with the [wide receivers]on the outside and the speed they have. We'll have more [receiver options] out on the field than we did last year."A big focus is to get the ball in the hands of guys who can make plays--and we have a lot of guys who can do that."Cooley will also have to adjust to more shifts and motions at the line of scrimmage. Movement by wide receivers, running backs and tight ends has been a staple of Saunders's offenses for years."We're moving a lot," Cooley said. "We have a lot of different things that we're doing--but it's not dramatically different from the offense we ran last year."</div>http://www.redskins.com/news/newsDetail.jsp?id=17283
Re: 'skins O to no longer have H-Backs ...and here's how Mike Sellers feels about moving to Fullback.<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Sellers Makes Transition Back to FullbackBy Gary FitzgeraldRedskins.comJune 13, 2006Mike Sellers is back where he belongs. The 6-3, 275-pounder has moved back to the fullback position in Al Saunders's offense.For the last two years, Sellers has played H-back for the Redskins. The H-back position is sort of a hybrid of the tight end and fullback positions.Sometimes Sellers was a blocking tight end. Sometimes he was a fullback blocking for Clinton Portis.More often than not, though, Sellers lined up at tight end. He attended positional meetings with the tight ends.This offseason, Sellers has switched meeting rooms and is back with the running backs."I've had most of my success in my career as a fullback," he said. "I've been asking the coaches to have me get back and do that. And now that's basically what I do."Saunders has always used fullbacks in prominent roles in his offenses. In Kansas City the last five years, Saunders helped Tony Richardson develop into a Pro Bowl fullback for the Chiefs.Sellers expects to play a similar role in the Redskins' offense next season."I think I'll be a lot more involved in this offense than I was in the past," Sellers said. "I'll be doing a lot more blocking--and that's fine with me. I've always said that I'd rather lay someone out [with a hard block]than score a touchdown."Sellers found himself scoring touchdowns often last season, a development that surprised even him.Lining up as either a tight end or fullback, Sellers was often unnoticed and uncovered by defenses in red-zone situations. He caught seven touchdown passes last season, mostly off of short passes in the flat from quarterback Mark Brunell.Overall, Sellers logged 12 receptions for 72 yards. He also barreled into the end zone on a 1-yard touchdown run against Philadelphia in Week 9 after lining up at fullback.For his NFL career, Sellers has started 24-of-85 games, with 38 catches for 360 yards and 15 touchdowns. Originally signed by Washington in 1998 as an undrafted rookie, Sellers played in 45 games for the Redskins in 1998-2000."I'm still a little surprised at my touchdown-to-catch ratio last season," Sellers said. "It wasn't something I expected coming into the season. I still look back to those games and I remember every single one of those touchdowns. I still can't believe it. It's not that I didn't deserve them, because I worked hard to get those touchdowns. It was an added plus for me to have all of that happen."Moving back to the fullback position has reinvigorated Sellers as he prepares for the team's full-squad mini-camp, June 16-18 at Redskins Park."Right now I'm loving practice," he said. "I used to dread practice. The tight end position was a little hard for me because I was so used to playing fullback. It was a learning process."I'm elated to be at practice now. Coaches are constantly putting something new in the offense where I get to do something out of the backfield, not just as a tight end anymore."</div>http://www.redskins.com/news/newsDetail.jsp?id=17670
Re: 'skins O to no longer have H-Backs I like the Redskin's team this year. I think they'll be one of the elite NFC teams again with the Seahawks, Giants, and Panthers.
Re: 'skins O to no longer have H-Backs <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Redskins | Saunders says Cooley will be used in surprising waysThu, 3 Aug 2006 22:50:55 -0700Jason La Canfora, of the Washington Post, reports Washington Redskins offensive coordinator Al Saunders said TE Chris Cooley will be utilized in many "surprising" ways in 2006. During the morning practice Thursday, Aug. 3, Saunders called a running play for Cooley. "That kind of surprised Chris a little bit. But it's like we tell our guys -- the more you can do, the more you'll be involved." Saunders also said Cooley will be used more in downfield passing while remaining a key player on intermediate routes.</div>http://www.kffl.com/hotw/nflLooks like they are gonna still use him in the backfield.. interesting
Re: 'skins O to no longer have H-Backs That's awesome. I'll watch for that this morning at camp. I'll tell you what he did.
Re: 'skins O to no longer have H-Backs Keep an eye on Brunell and Campbell, too man, I wanna know from you who looks better and if we need to be worried about Brunell.
Re: 'skins O to no longer have H-Backs I must say, Collins is good and suprinsgly athletic. Some of his passes, mostly up the middle, were terrific.Campbell looked sharp, very accurate. He reminded me of Ramsey some plays, when he held on to the ball too long, because he didn't see a few guys wide open. But once Campbell learns the timing-based playbook, he will do fantastic. Brunell did not look that good. He looked like the Brunell he was in 2004. He overthrew a lot but at the end he made soem beautiful throws downfield to Moss and Cooley. Overall, Collins was smartest, Brunell was most aware, and Campbell was the best passer.Cartwight was amazing. Look for him to fight for the #2 spot. He seems very comfortable with screens, both blocking and receiving.Betts did not play much. He lined up at WR for a couple of plays, and had a few powerful runs up the middle.Lumsden was terrific. He probably had the best day in training camp. He has wonderfl hands, leaping abilty, and showed some explosiveness.Also Broughton... he made a few nice plays.And of course, Portis. He did alright. By alright, I mean alright for him, and super for others.Our depth at RB is very good.Cooley, Sellers, and Fauria also seemed in rythm with the new offense.We have so many WRs. I'm guessing Espy will earn the final spot on the roster. He didn't drop anything, and ran the routes very very well.Lloyd, Randle El, Moss... haha... so good... so good. That's all I'm gonna say about them. Patten is still hospitalized, but is recovering well from the virus.Boy, I got goosebumps watching our defense too. Taylor and Archuleta dropping back and then attacking. Also, Carter got to the QB in a fraction of a second.Overall, our D played lazy... they were tired. But when they were trying they looked like the Gregg Williams type of D.About Brunell and Campbell again.Brunell got off to a bad start and just didn't look good. His injuries seemed to bother him a little. But like I said, he looked pretty darn good after a while, and great at the end of scrimmage.Campbell is amazing. He is soooooo accurate. But he doesn't seem too confortable yet.Here's how I would rate our QBs in Madden (Speed, Agilty, Break Tackle, Awareness, Power, Accuracy, Overall)...Brunell: 67, 63, 50, 89, 88, 88, 88.Campbell: 73, 69, 64, 68, 91, 93, 83.Collins: 61, 64, 48, 86, 85, 88, 75.
