C/G Eric Olsen must be on 53-man roster in place of Erik Cook

[Atlanta Skins Fan]

The Redskins recently signed C/G Eric Olsen after he was waived by the Broncos. I assumed that he would be signed to the 53-man roster, but he was signed to the practice squad. Instead, Erik Cook made the 53-man roster as backup center. If Will Montgomery is injured, Cook replaces him. If a guard is injured, Montgomery shifts to guard, and Cook replaces Montgomery. Therefore:

• If any interior OL is injured, then Erik Cook is on the field. This must not happen.

Until now, the Redskins apparently didn't have a better alternative. Now they do: Eric Olsen.

Olsen is possibly a starting-caliber NFL center, and can also play guard. He played three positions for Notre Dame and was Jimmy Clausen's center, giving up only one sack. Called the finest lineman at Notre Dame. Can move around anywhere on the interior of the OL, so can back up center, LG, RG. He played 6 games at RG in 2007, all games at LG in 2008, and all games at center in 2009. Notre Dame was also a much bigger program than Cook's alma mater, New Mexico.

• CBS Sports profile: Eric Olsen

Olsen was drafted by the Broncos as their second center selected in the 2010 draft, after J.D. Walton, chosen at #80 (third round). Walton became their starting center and started 16 games in 2010. Despite drafting Walton at #80, the Broncos also drafted Olsen at #183 (sixth round). Olsen then was sent to the practice squad, losing out in the numbers game. Now he's been waived as part of the churn of the new Broncos regime.

Walter Football and CBS Sports both rank Eric Olsen very highly, especially compared to Erik Cook, taken by the Redskins in the same 2010 draft, #229 (7th round).


Walter Football:

• Eric Olsen: #4 center prospect
• Erik Cook: #12 center prospect

CBS Sports:

• Eric Olsen: #5 center prospect
• Erik Cook: #14 center prospect

The average rank for Olsen is 4.5. All other players ranked 1-6 made the 53-man roster in 2010, and 4 out of 5 of the others are NFL starting centers heading into 2011.



Meanwhile, the Redskins appear to have reached for Erik Cook. Of the 8 other players ranked above or near the ranking of Cook, only one was drafted - and is now waived. Only 1 of 8 made the 53-man roster for any team, and only for 3 games. Most of the 8 appear on the way out of football right now, having been released by their teams in 2010 or in the past week.

Camp reports indicated that Erik Cook was routinely driven off the ball by the Redskins DL. There's no indication that he deserves a roster spot, other than desperation on the part of the Redskins.

The Redskins should immediately promote Eric Olsen to the 53-man roster, and send Cook back to the practice squad. Olsen should get immediate reps as the backup center, so he can come up to speed quickly. Ideally he would not have to play against the Giants, but that's a calculated risk. The risk of playing Cook at all, for any extended time in 2011, is virtually certain to blow up on this team.

Eric Olsen is the top-tier swing man the Redskins need for their interior OL.

• Denver Post profile: Eric Olsen

[Enter Apotheosis]

You have an amazing propensity for producing data that no one cares about.

[da#1skinsfan]

I find it interesting. Way better than "d00d we shuld start dejon gomes cuz hes a beest!"

Nice post ASF, didnt know anything about this guy, now I do.

[mojo]

Wow...thanks Mrs. Olsen.

[Gibbs Hog Heaven]

You have an amazing propensity for producing data that no one cares about.

I may well be a zillion miles off the mark, but I've suspected for some time that ASF is/ was a civil servant; and we're paying the price of years of frustration stuck filing crap.

Hail.

[Drew_Fl]

i feel the only reason that Cook is on the 53 and Olsen is on the PS is just b/c of the timing. I think once Olsen has more time to get acquainted with things, they will pull the switcheroo ASAP. i think Cook may just be a placeholder for now. Either way, i honestly hope neither of them has to see the field.

[Gurgeh]

I'm not sure Olsen is an upgrade over Cook. He only took the field once for the Broncos last year and that was on special teams, AFAIK he didn't even play in the meaningless final preseason game for them. He might have been good in college but he's made no impact at all in the NFL.

[SWFLSkins]

I really like the pictures. But yeah I think he was a nice pick up and maybe he will play his way onto the actice roster during the season.

[authentic]

You have an amazing propensity for producing data that no one cares about.

Bwhahahaha come on man, lay off of ASF. He does good work.

[addicted]

Make the switch, seems well thought out and would help us
Great post as always ASF

You have an amazing propensity for producing data that no one cares about.

You should care
The guys on the PS can be snatched by any other team
One injury and our likely better backup is gone while a guy we drafted stays
Sounds like we should all care to me

[Laxpunk2006]

Make the switch, seems well thought out and would help us
Great post as always ASF




You should care
The guys on the PS can be snatched by any other team
One injury and our likely better backup is gone while a guy we drafted stays
Sounds like we should all care to me

At which point we would have an oppurtunity to bring them up to our 53 as well. Making a young player with less than a week of practice your primary backup at C is insane. What happens if Montgomery gets hurt? We throw in a second year player with zero starting experience that doesn't even know our calls or protections into action?

Our team is probably planning on bringing Olsen up as soon as he can pick up the blocking schemes and calls, assuming he plays better than Cook.

[pjfootballer]

And they are on the PS for a reason. We've had players snatched up before. We can replace Olsen if need be, but I doubt teams are begging us to let them sign him to their active roster. Redskin fans sure have high standards for some of our players.

And for the record, I think Eric should back up Monty.

[Enter Apotheosis]

You should care
The guys on the PS can be snatched by any other team
One injury and our likely better backup is gone while a guy we drafted stays
Sounds like we should all care to me

We're discussing an offensive linemen whose experience consists of being cut from a man blocking NFL team in Colorado and playing for a poor zone blocking college team in Indiana. As much potential as he may have, he's going to need time to adapt to the scheme and get up to NFL speed. Cook has had that time and the Shanahans clearly trust him as a backup. They wouldn't try to ship out Hicks, cut Capers, put Hurt on the PS, and leave Cook as the only interior OL depth on the 53-man roster if they didn't think he was plenty capable on his own.

[DC9]

I think we'll get him up to the 53 as soon as whatever trade at WR happens. But I agree, I love me some Eric Olsen.

[the monk]

i feel the only reason that Cook is on the 53 and Olsen is on the PS is just b/c of the timing. I think once Olsen has more time to get acquainted with things, they will pull the switcheroo ASAP. i think Cook may just be a placeholder for now. Either way, i honestly hope neither of them has to see the field.

agreed... you can't just give a guy a spot on the 53 man roster that has a total of zero reps in the system..... if he earns it on the practice squad i'm sure we will see him promoted.