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The Redskins Youth Report returns to DCPSR in its 9th season as a feature article.  Here, we track the progress (or regress) of the rookies and second year players on the roster.  Given the youth movement by Mike Shanahan, this will be a bit more challenging this year. 

Th initial version of the article focuses just on the 9 rookies that made the final 53 roster cut. 

The rookies . . .

S DeJonGomes - 5^th Round (146^th)

Gomes had a pretty steady training camp and preseason.  Not perfect, but steady.  In the 4 pre-season games, Gomes recorded 14 tackles and 3 assists with 1 sack.  He has shown pretty good coverage skills and the ability to land solid hits.  His pre-season was solid enough to land him on the 53 man roster, and with Kareem Moore on the PUP for at least 6 weeks, Gomes isn't going anywhere.  Gomes could be a special teams contributor and could see some secondary action during the game.  Let's just hope we do not see unnecessary roughness penalties on punts like we did against TampaBay.   

Prognosis for playing time:  Pretty good. 

WR Leonard Hankerson - 3^rd Round (79)

Hankerson was considered to be a huge steal in the third round for the Redskins.  He had an excellent senior year at Miami with 72 receptions for 1,156 yards.  He came into training camp and pre-season as a fan favorite to gain playing time and possible crack the starting lineup opposite Santana Moss.  Hankerson however caught a case of the dropsies early in camp, and leveled that out in pre-season. Still, Hankerson really did not provide the spark that was probably over-anticipated.  Remember, these young kids did not have the advantage of the off-season OTAs.  Still, most fans and beat reporters out there believe fifth round pick Niles Paul out-performed Hankerson.   In 4 pre-season games, Hankerson caught 9 passes for 101 yards, averaging 11.2 yards per catch.  The strong emergence of Terrence Austin in pre-season likely dampered opportunities for significant playing time, at least early in the season. 

Prognosis for playing time: 

Read the full article here