Practice Squad Formed

Hanging on

Final cuts come down at the end of every NFL training camp, 700 guys hit the street and have 24 hours to get picked up by another team, after that they can sign onto the practice squad, the eight man mini roster each team has for stashing extra and developmental players. There are eligibility rules for the practice squad, this is one mechanism that keeps the NFL turning over with new players, it does not give a team a place to stash an injured veteran or old geezer needed for spot duty in a playoff run.

The Redskins have filled their eight spots, the makeup of the practice squad continually changes over the season as teams release players from it, sign new young players and occasionally promote guys to the regular roster. Here is your Redskins 2009 season opening practice squad:

S Lendy Holmes
DE Rob Jackson
WR Onrea Jones
WR Trent Shelton
DE JD Skolnitsky
FE/TE Eddie Williams
QB Andre Woodson
LB Darrel Young

Safety Lendy Holmes and linebacker Darrel Young are two of the undrafted rookies the Redskins signed, they showed some promise in training camp but are at spots with some depth, Lendy is tall at six feet one inch but is a reed, listed at 201 pounds, hard to be a big hitter when you weigh so much less than the thing you are hitting. Darrel is the opposite, listed at five feel eleven inches and 245 pounds, he is in the London Fletcher mold with a low center of gravity and the weight to make big hits near the line. I think the team is looking at these guys are real developmental opportunities.

Defensive end Rob Jackson was a 2008 draftee, he was active for every game last season but saw almost no action, like Lendy and Darrel he plays a position where there is some depth. I think the team would like to keep him.

Receiver Onrea Jones has bounced around the league in two short years, he has been with the Texans, Chargers, Packers, Colts and Cardinals beofre stopping here, to have made so many stops and not been washed out or brought to a roster, he must truly be on the verge of being NFL caliber.

Receiver Trent Shelton was one of the five wideouts battling for the fifth spot on the roster, that spot eventually went to seventh round pick Marko Mitchell, Trent looked decent enough, I think he and Keith Eloi were about even.

Defensive end JD Skolnitsky, he is perplexing, he did not see much action, he is tall at six feet five inches and big at 255 pounds, he is this year's Alex Buzbee, a Georgetown grad who made the team as a walk on in 2007, JD went to James Madison. Perhaps they see potential in him, we did not get a good look at him in training camp.

Fullback Eddie Williams is this year's Nehamiah Broughton, the incumbent fullback Mike Sellers is 34 years old and the team needs an insurance policy, but not so badly they need him on the roster. Great fullbacks are very hard to find and some would argue Mike is not a great fullback but he is a good fullback.

And of course the flavor of the week, quarterback Andre Woodson, he late of the Giants, at six feet four inches and 230 pounds, he is physically much more the kind of quarterback needed in Washington than either Chase Daniel or Colt Brennan, I look forward to seeing his skills, he was a record setter at the University of Kentucky, it will of course be telling if the team cuts Andre right after the Giants game Sunday.


The Redskins had been interested in keeping quarterback Chase Daniel, defensive tackle Antonio Dixon and linebacker Cody Glenn, a 2009 draft pick, Chase saw the writing on the wall and signed with the Saints and is on their practice squad, Antonio was claimed off waivers and signed to the Eagles' active roster and the Colts claimed Cody and put him on their active roster, that is how the cookie crumbles.



Trent Shelton in the final preseason game against the Jaguars: AP photo from here.