If Heyer keeps playing well down the stretch should he start next year at RT?

[skinsfan69]

I'm slowly starting to become a big fan of this guy. And it's a great story. Local guy makes the team as an undrafted FA. Now the guy looks like he could take over for an aging Jansen. Should he be the starter next year if he keeps playing at a high level? I say yes.

[Schneed10]

I don't think making him the unequivocal starter makes any sense, but the guy has definitely played pretty well. I think you definitely allow him to compete with Jansen for the starting spot. That sends a nice message to all the players on the team: if you perform well, work hard, and get noticed, you'll be given an opportunity to earn a starting job, no matter what round you were drafted in.

For the record, I like Jansen's chances a whole lot in a position battle with Heyer going into 2008. But as a depth guy at T? I think we need look no further, he can definitely play that spot decently. And who knows, maybe he even outplays Jansen and earns it.

I don't think you just hand it to him, but give him a shot and see.

[mheisig]

I'm with Schneed.

Regardless, there are worse problems to have than choosing between a solid veteran RT, and a rising star RT. Either one will work pretty well, and the other will add depth.

[dmek25]

old school, huh? earn it. and i think Heyer has a ton of work to do in the run game. and Jansen has already proved to us he cant make it thru a full season anymore

[Big C]

heyer is a nice story, but if jansen is healthy id assume it would be jansen starting. heyer is a quality backup and could be the future, but jansen is a better player. let them fight it out, but jansen would win most likely

[MTK]

I love Heyer for depth and in the future he may become entrenched as a regular starter, but I'm sorry if Jansen is ready to go he will be the starter. I know some people have been down on him lately but I think he's still a quality starter and is the better player.

[EternalEnigma21]

Originally Posted by Mattyk72

I love Heyer for depth and in the future he may become entrenched as a regular starter, but I'm sorry if Jansen is ready to go he will be the starter. I know some people have been down on him lately but I think he's still a quality starter and is the better player.

I think the issue is that he's 31, has an 8mil cap figure, and this is the 2nd time in 3 years he's been out for a long period of time. He's been very injury prone, even when he was playing. He's one of my fav. redskins, but I really hope he's at least one of the guys who will restructure to allow us more cap space.

[MTK]

I would say he's had some shit luck with injuries more than anything. Prior to the achilles injury he played nearly every snap in his first 5 years in the league.

Even at 31 he could still have a good 5-6 years of quality ball left in him.

I think it's premature to write him off.

[724Skinsfan]

Agreed, Heyer wasn't voted to the Pro Bowl or anything. He is playing very well but consistency is the key when determining who starts or not. jansen gets injured quite a bit but he is still a very fine RT. I know he wants to get back in the trenches. Take away 2004 and this year and he's been pretty tough and dependable. Heyer provides much needed quality depth for us. A facet that many of us argue for when it comes to Gibbs' teambuilding abilities.

[Bill B]

Originally Posted by Schneed10

I don't think making him the unequivocal starter makes any sense, but the guy has definitely played pretty well. I think you definitely allow him to compete with Jansen for the starting spot. That sends a nice message to all the players on the team: if you perform well, work hard, and get noticed, you'll be given an opportunity to earn a starting job, no matter what round you were drafted in.

For the record, I like Jansen's chances a whole lot in a position battle with Heyer going into 2008. But as a depth guy at T? I think we need look no further, he can definitely play that spot decently. And who knows, maybe he even outplays Jansen and earns it.

I don't think you just hand it to him, but give him a shot and see.

This is the theme that the Skins should use from here on out. Just because you get a $10 million signing bonus does not mean you are the starter and guranteed a roster spot indefinately. I think on top of this I would like a message sent of cutting Brandon Llyod in the offseason to show not only what Schneed points out here, but also that if you don't produce, are a malcontent and treat practice like it is not important than your place on the roster is as good as gone and the Redskins won't hesitate to cut you even if if means taking a cap hit.

[Schneed10]

Originally Posted by canthetuna

I think the issue is that he's 31, has an 8mil cap figure, and this is the 2nd time in 3 years he's been out for a long period of time. He's been very injury prone, even when he was playing. He's one of my fav. redskins, but I really hope he's at least one of the guys who will restructure to allow us more cap space.

When it comes to Jansen, he'll definitely help us out with cap space in 2008. When the Skins just extended him last year, they put in a base salary of $5 million in 2008. They surely did this with the intention of giving that money to him in the form of a restructured signing bonus in March of 2008. He won't care whether he gets his $5 million in March or his $5 million in September - December (he'd probably rather have it in March), as long as he gets his $5 million.

But I wouldn't call him injury prone. Someone rolling on your ankle and twisting it halfway around isn't like getting a recurring soft-tissue injury such as Ken Griffey Jr.'s hamstrings. That's just an unfortunate accident and is equally likely to happen to any lineman in the league. The only other time the guy missed games was the blown achilles, another freak thing that can happen to anybody. Hell, he's such a rock in there that he played through two broken thumbs.

He can still run block with the best of them, he's a big upgrade over Heyer in that regard. His pass blocking is average, as he always struggles against the better pass rushers in the league and allows sacks to guys like Strahan on a regular basis. I think he's still a darn good RT in this league. Given that we're stuck with him from a cap perspective no matter what, you might as well continue giving him the chance to earn his starting RT spot.

[Bill B]

Originally Posted by Schneed10

When it comes to Jansen, he'll definitely help us out with cap space in 2008. When the Skins just extended him last year, they put in a base salary of $5 million in 2008. They surely did this with the intention of giving that money to him in the form of a restructured signing bonus in March of 2008. He won't care whether he gets his $5 million in March or his $5 million in September - December (he'd probably rather have it in March), as long as he gets his $5 million.

But I wouldn't call him injury prone. Someone rolling on your ankle and twisting it halfway around isn't like getting a recurring soft-tissue injury such as Ken Griffey Jr.'s hamstrings. That's just an unfortunate accident and is equally likely to happen to any lineman in the league. The only other time the guy missed games was the blown achilles, another freak thing that can happen to anybody. Hell, he's such a rock in there that he played through two broken thumbs.

He can still run block with the best of them, he's a big upgrade over Heyer in that regard. His pass blocking is average, as he always struggles against the better pass rushers in the league and allows sacks to guys like Strahan on a regular basis. I think he's still a darn good RT in this league. Given that we're stuck with him from a cap perspective no matter what, you might as well continue giving him the chance to earn his starting RT spot.

Just form a financial perspective getting the $5 million in March instead of September will get Jansen at least an extra $81,250 before taxes.

Heres how: - he gets his $5 million from the Skins and after taxes (which I will use the 35% tax bracket rate) he will have an addtional $3,250,000 in his bank account. Even if Jansen put the money in a 5% savings bond (which is about the safest thing you can put it in over the next 6 months) he will have earned an additonal $81,250 before taxes and not have to lift a finger to earn it! Most likely if Jansen is smart he already has a financial advisory who will earn him much more (like around 10% or more) and that will get Jansen an additonal money by getting the money upfront like Schneed is saying.

[Bill B]

I did see on an interview with Coach Bugel on News 4 that the Redskins are excited about Heyer but that he needed to live at Redskins Park this offseason to work on his lower body strength. Bugel said that with some more conditioning the sky is the limit with this kid and he can be special and solidify the RT spot for the long term in the future. My bet is that the team will focus on drafting a guard in the offseason as Kendall will be here for one more year and than when Kendall's contract expires he will either let go or serve as a backup when the new guard takes over.

[Schneed10]

Originally Posted by Bill B

I did see on an interview with Coach Bugel on News 4 that the Redskins are excited about Heyer but that he needed to live at Redskins Park this offseason to work on his lower body strength. Bugel said that with some more conditioning the sky is the limit with this kid and he can be special and solidify the RT spot for the long term in the future. My bet is that the team will focus on drafting a guard in the offseason as Kendall will be here for one more year and than when Kendall's contract expires he will either let go or serve as a backup when the new guard takes over.

Agreed, a backup at G, to develop into an eventual Kendall replacement, would be a wise move. You can find darn good ones in the 3rd and 4th rounds.

[skinsnut]

Heyer just looks so good right now because they give him help that they didn't give to Jansen...

Jansen is better right now