Pre-season Game #2 takes the WFT to steamy Miami for a Saturday evening affair. Here are some notes from PS Game #1:
-Jayden Daniels provided the briefest of sneak peeks into the future. He engineered a successful drive completing two of three passes. One of which was a dime dropped into Dyami Brown’s hands despite blanket coverage. It was a bold, rogue play. Daniels audibled to an “All Go” when he saw the coverage. No doubt the pass called by the sideline was a short one. Dan Quinn equated the play to Tom Cruise requesting to buzz the tower in the movie “Top Gun.” Permission was denied. Cruise’s character did it anyway. If you’ve been lusting for a “Gunslinger” QB your wish may have come true.
-Daniels also ran a perfect Run-Pass-Option RPO into the end zone. His speed is a weapon that will, hopefully, not get over-used. That play is nearly indefensible. If the Linebacker on that side slides outside then the lane up the “C Gap” opens wide. If the Safeties both crash the line the soft toss to the back of the end zone should find a Wide Receiver streaking across. Lots of Red Zone opportunities open up on account of Daniel’s speed.
-Before this game the two teams had a joint practice. This is considered by many to be more valuable than the pre-season game. Interestingly, one of those devotees is Kyle Shanahan. He had to cancel his upcoming joint practice because of so many injuries. In most of these affairs the 1’s play in the joint practice, the rest of the crew in the pre-season game. Last week the WFT scrimmaged against the Jets’ #1’s sans Aaron Rodgers. It was rough. The secondary got shredded. The O-line did not have a good outing. The scrimmage was more telling. We’ll have to see what this week brings. But, the theme of O-Line and secondary weakness will probably be with the team to various extents all season.
-Washington signed a Place Kicker. Then released him after alleged misconduct. Two kickers were brought in for competition. There may be Fifty Shades of Gray. But, there are infinite shades of bad. These two have many of them covered. A missed field goal was the margin of defeat in a meaningless game. The games will count soon enough.
-Roster countdowns will be all the rage for a few weeks. The one worth watching is the QB room. Last year the team kept two QBs on the 53-man roster. It says here that keeping three is the better play. During the previous season some 68 QBs started games across the League. Cocktail Napkin math says that equates to more than two per team. Joe Flacco famously came off of his couch to lead the Browns to the playoffs. With Daniels at QB1 and Marcus Mariota at QB2 the third QB in the room will either be Jeff Driskel or Sam Hartman. Driskel is a 7-year vet with NFL starts. What coaches want most of all in the backup QBs is to have them come in without practice reps and perform. If the play is to keep only 2 QB s on the 53 man then Driskel is sure to be snatched from the Practice Squad as injuries mount throughout the League. Hartman is an un-drafted free agent (UDFA) out of Notre Dame. Look for Driskel to be QB3 and Hartman (slightly injured in the game last week) to go to the Practice Squad. Don’t be surprised if some team plucks Hartman. There’s something to him.
-Just to stir the mud up a bit more the WFT signed 27 year-old Trace McSorley to the QB room on Thursday. He hasn’t thrown a pass in a regular season game for over a year. There’s some mystery to this signing because there’s no readily apparent reason for it. Perhaps Hartman is more hurt than thought. Or, perhaps Minnesota is trying to trade for Driskel. Their first-round QB selection J.J. McCarthy was lost for the season after a knee injury in their first pre-season game. That’s the nightmare scenario for these pre-season games. It may be a reason the next time Jayden Daniels is seen in a game will be in the regular season. The timing of this signing, a day after the McCarthy announcement may be coincidental or not.
-This week’s game will be in Hard Rock stadium. For the finals of the Copa America soccer tournament fans stormed into the building via ventilation ducts and other means. Don’t expect a repeat of that this week. There is no shortage of Lower Bowl tickets for sale at less than $20 on the secondary market.
-Television for the pre-season is done at the local affiliate level. Here is a list of where the game is in several markets:
Washington @ Miami
7:00 PM ET
Chick Hernandez, Brian Mitchell
WUSA (CBS/9 – Washington)
WSOC (ABC/9 – Charlotte)
WTKR (CBS/3 – Norfolk VA)
WRLH (FOX/35 – Richmond VA)
WZBJ (My/24 – Roanoke VA)
KHII (My/9 – Honolulu)
Miami Broadcast
Steve Goldstein, Kim Bokamper
WFOR (CBS/4 – Miami)
WPTV (NBC/5 – West Palm Beach)
WINK (CBS/11 – Fort Myers)
WFTV (ABC/9 – Orlando)
KHON (FOX/2 – Honolulu)
