Washington Redskins News - Practice Squad Announced

Practice Squad Announced

By Mark Solway | Category: Washington Redskins News
Originally Posted: 2003-09-01

The Redskins announced their practice squad today, QB Gibran Hamdan, WR Scott Cloman, DL Nic Clemons, LB Clifton Smith and TE Kevin Ware.

The addition of Hamdan was inevitable due to the dubious decision to carry only two quarterbacks on the active roster. Despite playing very little late in training camp, the rookie from Indiana did enough to earn himself a job. With a strong arm, a strong love for the game, and a good head on his sholulders, he will gain valuable knowledge continuing to pracice in this offense.

Cloman had a very strong camp and was a tough cut for the Redskins front office to make. Interesting though, that despite Patrick Woodcock being cut the day following Cloman, that Cloman would be the one named to the practice squad. The big, strong receiver cuts an imposing figure, and Steve Spurrier's propensity for tinkering with the line-up will give Cloman a good chance to get into a game before the end of the season.

Kevin Ware was also a neccessary addition to the practice squad with only two tight ends on the roster. Despite not cracking the active line-up, the undrafted rookie free agent from the University of Washington impressed coaches enough at camp to win the '3rd TE spot' over Leonard Stephens.

Nic Clemons addition to the practice squad gives both Clemons brothers Redskin pay checks, as Chris was added to the injured reserve list earlier this week due to an injury (cough!) that he suffered in the Jacksonville game. At 6'6", Nic is huge, and an interesting project for the Redskins. With Bruce Smith, Regan Upshaw, Renaldo Wynn, Peppi Zellner, and Ladairis Jackson already pencilled in at defensive end, there won't be much chance to actually play, but he will gain valuable experience just practicing with the big squad.

The final addition, LB Clifton Smith, rode his strong 7 tackle performance against Jacksonville to a roster spot. The undrafted rookie from Syracuse also had an interception against Baltimore in preseason action.

The NFL recently ammended it's official practice squad rules to allow 6 members to be signed as long as one of them is a quarterback. However, the rule states that, 'teams that have three quarterbacks on their 53-man roster may add a sixth practice squad player who is a quarterback' and the Redskins would theefore not qualify, having only two QB's on the active roster.

This article was released on 2003-09-01.

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