FanHouse DerrickFrost

"I want him to punt the ball in the right direction," McCarthy said. "I'm expected to win games. He's expected to punt the ball in the right direction." Then, McCarthy added, "I'm not trying to be funny."

When you use a sixth-round draft pick on a punter, you better make sure he will be among the best in the NFL.

Well, the Washington Redskins are coming to the conclusion that they screwed up drafting Georgia Tech's Durant Brooks. The team is planning on bringing two or three punters in to tryout for the job.

"I would say his position is in jeopardy because of performance, not because of injury," Zorn said. "He may be the best punter out there, and then we'd have to continue to work with him.

"The thing is, he punted well all week long, but he got to the game and he didn't punt well. So we know he's a good punter, but a good punter also punts well in the game. He did not do that."

"They are going to both punt in the game," head coach Jim Zorn said. "That's how we're going to do it. It's getting down to the nitty-gritty now."

It could even come down to holding on field goal attempts. Frost and Brooks both hold for [FG kicker] Shaun Suisham.

Training camp is finally here and FanHouse breaks down the most important position battles heading into the season, team by team

I know it sounds a bit dumb to say that a team's biggest position battle in training camp is at punter. But for the 2008 Washington Redskins, it is true. The team knows who is starting pretty much everywhere -- aside from one safety spot where it isn't as much of a competition as a platoon.

So kicker it is.

Derrick Frost has been the Skins' punter for the past three seasons. He's not a bad player ... but he hasn't been that good, either. Inconsistency isn't a good thing when punting is involved since field position is always an important part of the game. Frost finished in the bottom third in net average.

The Redskins, either really looking for a replacement or just trying to light a fire under Frost's keester, drafted Durant Brooks in the 6th round of this April's draft. Brooks, from Georgia Tech, holds many school and conference records and won the Ray Guy Award -- the award for college's best kicker. He's also outstanding at pinning the ball inside the opponent's red-zone.

The Redskins are a running team with a stout defense. They are also installing a new passing attack, a new defensive coordinator and are still working with a young quarterback. Having a kicker put you in bad positions can make a difference in a game.

Frost has been put on notice. Let the battle begin!

Obviously football is one of those games in which there's no such thing as a one man team like the NBA. If an offensive lineman doesn't do his job, the passing and running game suffers. If a receiver drops a key pass, the momentum can shift and the game lost. If the offense scores 35 points and the defense gives up 36, what difference will it make.

In addition to the 22 starters, the backups have to execute as well. What's the point developing a running game if on a 3rd and short, the backup comes in and fumbles. Or the nickel back gets burned. And then there's the special teams. The game is based on field position. If the opponents' average starting position is around the 35, the defense's job already got harder. John Hall has to make his kicks. Derrick Frost has to continue to pin opponents' offenses deep.

And then there's the coaching staff. What happened to the explosive offensive play calling by Al Saunders or the suffocating defense by Gregg Williams? If is just player execution or can the coaching staff make better decisions as to what to call and when? Is Joe Gibbs involved in any of the play calling at all?

All the attention so far has ended up with Mark Brunell. As I watch all the pregame shows and read all the articles on the internet, fingers are being pointed everywhere but eventually being pointed at Mark Brunell. I'm pointing the finger at Mark Brunell.

But I also feel that the other 21 starters, handful of key backups and the entire coaching staff needs some finger pointing. Jon Jansen looked terrible against the Cowboys. I liked him better with two broken thumbs. The secondary is playing like a practice squad. David Carr had an impressive game last weekend, but he was overshadowed by Peyton Manning's performance. If we think Carr is vulnerable (he has the NFL's third best passer rating), he might put up better numbers than the two aging QBs we've faced so far. The d-line spends all game dancing with the o-line. Adam Archuleta is a heat seeking missile looking for the football instead of where the football is going. Andre Carter? Hello?

There are a lot of individuals that can get a finger, but ultimately, it's a team sport. The ultimate team sport. Hopefully the 0-2 start has refocused everyone and instead of spending all week whether or not Mark Brunell should be the starter, let's hope everyone collectively can figure out how to make it easier for him to do whatever he does and win some games. If it's Todd Collins or Jason Campbell back there, everyone still has to do what they do better in order for it to make a difference.

Don't worry, Derrick Frost, we'll find you someone to compete with!

Just as soon as the Redskins signed punter Eddie Johnson, he had a can of Miller Lite fall on him for saying his leg was tired after ONE WHOLE DAY of practicing, so the Redskins had to let him go. I mean, how bad do you want the job if you can't fight through one day's worth of aches and pains? For a measly $5,000 (in which he probably got more, maybe), I'll kick the pigskin around for three days straight and pretend my leg was okay even when I was on a crutch.

The Redskins might bring in NFL veteran punter Toby Gowin to compete with Frost. Gowin was beat out by Johnson to get first crack at the job so that's not saying much. Two weeks before the season starts and we have one kicker in camp who kicks a beautiful ball, out of bounds or out the back of the end zone every now and again.

With the looks of the offense so far, the punter just may play a huge role in the games. Field position is critical, no matter how suffocating our defense can be. Giving up just 10 yards on a shanked punt eliminates three more plays that have to be executed perfectly for the opponents and adds three more plays to our defense which is already suffering some major injuries.

I wonder if Mr. Utility Antwaan Randle El can punt?