They’re as much a part of summer as sunburn, triple-digit heat index readings, and mosquito bites. Every August, young players hopeful of making an instant impact in the NFL pop up at Redskins training camp. These phenoms create a buzz among reporters and the fans. Sometimes the player winds up being a star and sometimes it’s all sizzle and no steak.

The original camp phenom was quarterback Sammy Baugh, the Washington Redskins first draft pick in 1937, the team’s first year in Washington. His reputation as a gunslinger from Texas was already established and he arrived in a ten-gallon hat and cowboy boots. A crowd of about 3,000 gathered to watch his first training camp practice in California. Coach Ray Flaherty drew up a play on the blackboard and drew an X. “When the receiver gets to here,” Flaherty said, pointing to the X, “you hit him in the eye.”

Baugh responded, “Which eye?”

Baugh went on to lead the Redskins to the NFL title that year, the first of two they would win during his Hall of Fame career.

Arriving with considerably less fanfare in Carlisle, Pennsylvania in 1969 was Kansas State running back Larry Brown, the team’s eighth-round pick in that year’s draft. Almost nobody noticed him, with one important exception—Vince Lombardi. The legendary coach liked Brown’s raw skills, but he noted in a coach’s meeting that the back was a step slow getting off the ball. “Does that Brown hear?” asked Lombardi.

Tests revealed that he didn’t, at least not in one ear. Once he was fitted with a special helmet that transferred sound from the side with the bad ear to the side with the good one, more observers began to take note of Brown. In a preseason game a few days after getting the helmet, Brown scored two touchdowns. Back in Carlisle, everyone began to notice his powerful running style and he earned a starting job. Brown went on to rush for 888 yards in his rookie season and 5,875 in his seven-year career.

One summer phenom who didn’t have a stellar Redskins career was quarterback Babe Laufenberg. In fact, the 1983 sixth-round draft pick never took a regular-season snap for Washington. After spending two seasons on injured reserve, he was in a battle with Jay Schroeder for the backup QB spot. In training camp, he earned the respect of all, including Joe Gibbs. He gave it his all in training camp. “I’ve got a world of respect for Babe,” said Gibbs. “No one we have has worked harder or had a better attitude. He deserved this opportunity.”

His opportunity came at RFK Stadium in a preseason game with the Redskins trailing New England by six. With 1:04 left, Laufenberg led a drive from Washington’s 26. Going four for five for 59 yards on the drive, Laufenberg earned a loud roar from the crowd when he threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Clint Didier with four seconds left to give the Redskins the win.

Babe won the battle, but lost the war. A few days after the comeback win, Gibbs decided that Schroeder had more potential and Laufenberg was cut.

A new player added to the mix on an NFL team means that the job of at least one other player is threatened. NFL rosters are a zero sum game. For each opportunity given to a draft pick or free agent signing, one is lost by another, usually older, player.

After the April draft I like to take a look at the veterans have had their potential replacements drafted onto the team, the guys who should start working out a little harder, who should perhaps contemplate life after the Washington Redskins. After this rare July draft, there clearly is a target on the back of one veteran player.

The addition of Jeremy Jarmon gives the Redskins three players who, under the current defensive scheme, are suited to playing left defensive end—Jarmon, Phillip Daniels, and Renaldo Wynn. Daniels is the starter while Jarmon will make the roster.

Is there room for Wynn?

Wynn is a good player to have on the roster. He is a leader, a class act and he probably has something left in the tank. He’s spent a season each as a Saint and a Giant since the Redskins cut him in training camp just prior to the 2007 season.

But, even counting Brian Orakpo as a linebacker, Jarmon is the ninth defensive end on the roster. It would be a stretch for them to keep five. Andre Carter is the other starter. Jarmon is guaranteed a roster spot. Somebody has to back up Carter on the right side so Alex Buzbee and/or Chris Wilson have to stick. Do you stick with Wynn at the expense of Rob Jackson, on whom you’ve already spent a year of development? Or do you even tie up that fifth roster spot on a DE knowing that Orakpo will be spending some time there?

Another way to look at it is that two defensive ends, Jason Taylor and Demetric Evans, are gone from last year’s team. Daniels, who spent last year on injured reserve, and Jarmon are two additions. Add Orakpo into the equation and you have no seats left at the table.

It will be interesting to see who gets released when Jarmon is signed to a contract. It could be one of the camp fodder type DE’s like J. D. Skolnitsky or Derek Walker. Or it could be Renaldo Wynn. If he’s not going to make the team, that would at least give him a chance to catch on with another team. And if he’s going to retire he can do so prior to going through a 13^th season of training camp.

The Redskins’ selection of Jeremy Jarmon came as a surprise to many; to almost everyone, in fact, except for readers of this blog (sorry, on the rare occasions that I get one right I have to toot my horn). Few were even aware that the Supplemental Draft was going on, not surprising given that the Redskins never before had taken a player in that draft.

But even though Mel Kiper wasn’t present and it was conducted via email instead of in Radio City Music Hall, there was instant analysis everywhere. Message board posters who had not heard of Jarmon in the morning were panning the pick in the afternoon. The negative reviews were based mostly on the fact that the posters never had heard of Jarmon and the Redskins had a lot of nerve spending a third on a guy they’d never heard of.

Others compared it to the Jason Taylor trade of a year ago. Never mind that Taylor was well north of 30 and that Jarmon barely is old enough to drink legally. Apparently, expending a pick for a defensive end is expending a pick for a defensive end, no matter what the other facts are.

Then you have Ben at The Curly R saying that Jarmon has to get on the field in 2009 in order to justify the selection and agreeing with Greg at Hog Heaven saying that the third was a bit too high and that the pick was a sign of impatience.

The view here is that Jarmon doesn’t have to play a single down in 2009 for the pick to be a good one and that the selection displayed some forward thinking for which the Redskins aren’t known.

Actually, it would be disappointing if Jarmon did not see time on special teams. At 6-3, 278 with a 4.79 time in the forty, he would be a scary sight rolling down the field on kick coverage. But with Phillip Daniels starting at left defensive end and Renaldo Wynn backing him up there is no need to line up Jarmon at DE this year. He has the frame to pack on another 15 pounds or so and when he does that he will be the perfect size for a run-stuffing defensive end.

Unfortunately, Jarmon won’t be able to accomplish that in the month of August. I see him getting a few snaps in the rotation but not much more than that (barring injury, of course).

And that’s fine. Because in drafting Jarmon, the Redskins have done what they have failed to do so often in the past–succession planning. Daniels and Wynn are unlikely to be here in 2010 and certainly both will be gone in 2011. So the Redskins have replaced Daniels. They have their starting left DE of the future on the roster.

Was a third too high? Again, instant analysis of the value of a draft pick is an exercise in futility. It certain, however, that the Redskins would not have been able to get him had they bid a fourth-rounder for him. Lions GM Martin Mayhew has acknowledged that his team had bid a fourth and 0-16 Detroit would have had first priority.

But even if you don’t buy Vinny Cerrato’s assertion that with a full offseason workout and a combine appearance Jarmon would have been a second you can still make a case that he was worth a third. In the NFL, it’s common practice to give up a pick in next year’s draft that’s a round better to acquire a pick in this year’s draft. You pay a premium for getting the services of the player a year early. So, if you take the assessment that Jarmon was a fourth-round talent in the 2010 draft it’s fair value to spend a third to get him a year early.

It’s a good sign that the Redskins actually are thinking ahead. This doesn’t mean that this will become a pattern or that Jarmon won’t be a bust. But it is one small step away from the Cycle of Futility in which the team has been mired for much of this decade.

It’s draft day!

Well, sort of. The NFL’s supplemental draft is being held today and the league’s teams will be mailing it in.

Actually, they’ll be emailing it in. Each team will send an email into the league office that may contain a draft-pick bid for each of the eight players who have, for various reasons, lost their college eligibility since the April draft. The team with the highest draft bid for a given player is awarded that player’s rights and will forfeit that pick in the 2010 draft.

The highest rated of the potential selections is Kentucky defensive end Jeremy Jarmon. He’s 6-3, 278 and you can read his scouting report from the Sporting News here. The upshot of the report is that Jarmon is more in the mold of the run-stopping defensive end rather than being a skilled pass rusher. This is the type of left defensive end that the Redskins are seeking, for this year at least.

So, it’s not surprising to learn that the Redskins displayed considerable interest in Jarmon at his recent workout. They sent four representatives. One of them was Vinny Cerrato and he had quite a bit to say about the junior Wildcat:

“I think he worked out well,” Cerrato said. “He ran well and was in good shape. He needs to get a little stronger, but he represented himself well. He’s a great kid, solid in the locker room. He’s smart. He’s got all of the intangible things.”

Under previous Redskins personnel directors, you could automatically eliminate the possibility of the Redskins putting in a bid for a player based on statements like that. If Bobby Beathard liked a guy, he wouldn’t comment on him. In fact, you could get a pretty good idea of who he would draft by looking through the papers and eliminating any player he had mentioned from the list of possibilities.

But Cerrato is the guy that everyone wants to play poker with. He’s the guy with a pair of aces in the hole who does a fist pump when another ace is turned up. So when he heaps praise on a prospective draftee you can bank on the fact that he’s high on their list.

I could see the Redskins bidding a fourth for Jarmon. If they agree with the Sporting News assessment that he’s a fourth-round talent maybe they will bid a third. When you’re making a draft day trade using next year’s picks you always have to give up a round higher next year than you’re getting this year. The reasoning behind that is that you’re getting the services of the player for an extra year.

There were 17 other teams at Jarmon’s workout so it may well take a third to land him. If the Redskins are going to keep Brian Orakpo in a hybrid-type role, it may well be a good idea to get a replacement for Phillip Daniels and Renaldo Wynn at left DE.

An announcement regarding the supplemental selections will be made at some point this afternoon.