Five years ago today, Redskins Nation mourned the loss of S Sean Taylor.  Taylor was well on his way to be the most dominating Safety in the game.  Troubled by inner city problems, Taylor got off to a rough start.  However, through assistance from players like Santana Moss and Clinton Portis, Taylor was able to break away from his past, straighten out his life, and focused on playing football and raising his young family. 

On November 26, 2007, Taylor was shot and killed by intruders that broke into his Miami home, 8 days after another robbery at his home. Taylor was in Miami with his fiancee and baby daughter recovering from a knee injury.  When awoken in the middle of the night by intruders, Taylor was shot in the upper leg, rupturing his femoral artery.  Taylor remained comatose for nearly 24 hours before succumbing to death.  His death sent shock waves though the NFL and crushed the Redskins fan base. 

As difficult as it is for Redskins fans to mourn the loss of Taylor today, it is even more difficult for the Taylor family and the Redskins to fathom that five years later, the identified gunman has yet to stand trial.  Five persons were arrested.  None have sat for trial yet.  How is it possible that Jerry Sandusky could have been put away for life in six months time from his despicable, horrific acts  at Penn State University, but a murder of a well known, popular sports figure, remains elusive.  Mind boggling. 

Here's to you Sean!  Thank you for your blessed memories you provided Redskins Nation.  Here's to the great father you were in such a short span of time.  Here's to the great kid and son you were to your parents.  Here's to the great player and friend you were to your teammates.  Sean, you will not be and never have been forgotten.  Hopefully, some day, some day soon, closure will be provided by justice served. 

Below is our week 12 evaluation of all the rookie quarterbacks starting in the NFL this season. Below that is how we have evaluated all the rookie quarterbacks over the course of the 2012 season. We expand the list this week to account for new staters Nick Foles and Ryan Lindley. 

Week 12

Nick Foles is struggling early in his career. A third round pick of the Philadelphia Eagles, Foles was forced into the ninth game of the season when Michael Vick was knocked out by the Cowboys, who gave the starter a concussion. Foles couldn't rally the team to beat the Cowboys and then got blown out by the Redskins in his first career start. He lost last night on Monday Night Football to the Panthers and 2011's Rookie of the Year Cam Newton. Foles completed a high percentage of his passes against Carolina, but he couldn't throw a TD, failed to convert in the red zone and had to lean on a strong running game from TB Bryce Brown, who was making his first career start. Foles had to play without Lesean McCoy and, for most of the game, Desean Jackson, and is playing behind a makeshift offensive line. Injuries and the rookie passer's teammates are not helping him out much. 

Robert Griffin III returned to his home state of Texas for Thanksgiving and feasted upon the Cowboys with four TD passes, over 300 passing yards and a passer rating of 132.6. Once again, RG3 was the reason the Redskins won and in the last two weeks he has been unstoppable, throwing 8 TD passes and only one turnover while turning around his team's fortunes and getting them back -- barely -- into the NFC playoff race. Cowboys owner declared himself "in awe" of RG3 and he isn't the only one. Griffin is the only rookie in NFL history of throw four TD passes in back-to-back games and his four Rookie of the Week honors is tops in the league. 

Ryan Lindley got shoved into the starting lineup after injuries Kevin Kolb and John Skelton and early indications are not promising. The Cardinals have lost seven in a row after winning their first four and it seems difficult to imagine them winning more than one game in their remaining five. The QB and offensive line positions are a huge problem for the Cardinals and Lindley does not seem to be the man to change that. He threw four interceptions to the Rams in a 31-17 loss last Sunday and it occurs to me that telling a brand new starting rookie QB to throw 52 passes against a good St. Louis defense was probably not a great idea. 

Andrew Luck was upstaged by fellow Colts rookie T.Y. Hilton, who returned a punt 75 yards for a TD, as Indy topped Buffalo 20-13. Luck was fine, completing just over 50% of his passes and tossing both one TD and a pick. He failed twice in the red zone, leading to short field goals by PK Adam Vinatieri and that's not good. However, I thought Luck, while not spectacular, clearly outplayed veteran BIlls QB Ryan Fitzpatrick, who often seems like the dumbest Harvard graduate in many years. 

Ryan Tannehill won the battle of rookie quarterbacks past Sunday when his Dolphins rallied to beat Russell Wilson and the visiting Seattle Seahawks. Tannehill didn't outplay Wilson, but he did lead his team back from a 10-point deficit by scoring 17 fourth quarter points to win 24-21. Tannehill continues to be up and down this season, but he is proving he can play at a fairly high level and playing well against a stout Seahawks defense is nothing to sneeze at. After his loss to Andrew Luck and the Colts earlier this season, Tannehill is now 1-1 in rookie v. rookie games this season. 

Brandon Weeden suffered concussion in an ugly 20-14 win over hated division rivals, the Steelers, a team the Browns had not beaten since 2009. It is not yet clear if Weeden will play this coming week, but he was good enough to win this past week. Just barely, though and he didn't do much to earn it. The Steelers turned the ball over 8 times, literally handing the game to the Browns and Weeden didn't screw it up. The Browns are 3-3 after starting the season 0-5 and Weeden has helped bring some hope to the long-suffering football fans of Cleveland. 

Russell Wilson is now 1-5 on the road as his Seahawks continue to prove they are a creature of their home field and little more. Wilson, however, is now playing well on the road, even in losing causes. He actually outplayed Tannehill in Miami but lost a heartbreaker and played well in a four point road loss to the Lions back in October. Wilson is getting better and better, with a passer rating well over 100 in each of his last three games. In fact, Wilson hasn't played poorly since a 13-6 Thursday night loss to the mighty 49ers back on October 18. He threw two more TD passes last Sunday, giving him 17 on the season, more than any other rookie QB. He's gone three straight games without an interception and has more than justified the confidence Head Coach Pete Carroll showed when he gave the football to his rookie passer. 

Weekly Winner: Robert Griffin III [Redskins]

2012 Season To Date

SEASON WINNER TO DATE: Robert Griffin III, Washington Redskins

2. Russell Wilson [Seahawks]

3. Andrew Luck [Colts]

4. Ryan Tannehill [Dolphins]

5. Brandon Weeden [Browns]

6. Nick Foles [Eagles]

7. Ryan Lindley [Cardinals]

A weekly feature in which we update the performances of the locked-out Caps players.

Nicklas Bäckström: Hot barely comes close to describing just how good Swedish superstar Nicklas Bäckström has been over the past few weeks. United with Caps teammate Alex Ovechkin and Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Leo Komarov, Bäckström appeared in three games this week, netting three goals, five assists, eight points, and +3. The Swede, who turned 25 this week, now has 12 points in five games since switching from #99 to #69, and is +7 with seven goals and eight assists for 15 points in his 10-game KHL career.

Jason Chimera: Jason Chimera joined the Pirates of Chomutov of the Czech Extraliga last week, but has had a slow start to his European season. In five games, Chimera has just one goal, and is -3. Still, the Canadian, how played in Italy in 2004-05, should start producing again once he adjusts to the bigger rinks.

Joey Crabb: After a rocky start to his ECHL career with his hometown Alaska Aces, Joey Crabb has really turned it on in the last few weeks, and this week was no different. Though he only managed an even plus/minus rating in his three games, Crabb had two goals and three assists. That brings his season tally up to eight goals and 11 assists for 19 points through 17 games. His rating is +3.

Marcus Johansson: Much like Crabb, Marcus Johansson’s start did not necessarily go as planned, but is turning around. He may have been slow out of the blocks, but has been good in the past few weeks. Mojo appeared in two games this week, both wins, scoring two goals and two assists and going +3. Johansson, who has now appeared in six games for his league-leading BIK Karlskoga, has four goals, three assists, and -3 on the year.

Brooks Laich: Did not play after returning to the US for injury. Expected to return to action on Friday.

Michal Neuvirth: Michal Neuvirth’s Sparta Praha have enjoyed an incredible resurgence recently. After struggling all year and scraping the bottom of the Extraliga, the team has won five straight, including three this week. Neuvirth has played a big part, and this week posted a .955 save percentage with one shutout. On the year, Neuvirth’s stats stand at six wins (16 games), a 2.83 goals against average, and a .920 save percentage.

Alex Ovechkin: Bäckström may have been hot, but captain Alex Ovechkin sure hasn’t been bad himself. In three games, Ovi posted three goals and two assists for five points and was +3. Through 19 games, the Russian has nine goals and 12 assists and is +9.

Mathieu Perreault: Signed for HIFK of the Finnish SM-Liiga and will debut this week.

Wojtek Wolski: Polish KH Sanok currently participating in European Continental Cup.

Stanislav Galiev, Braden Holtby, Tomas Kundratek, Dmitry Orlov, and Mattias Sjögren will play for the AHL’s Hershey Bears.

Karl Alzner, Jay Beagle, Troy Brouwer, John Carlson, John Erskine, Mike Green, Roman Hamrlik, Matt Hendricks, Jack Hillen, Mike Ribeiro, Jeff Schultz, and Joel Ward have yet to sign.

Tom Poti is injured.

ARROW UP

PK Kai Forbath: Probably the team's best personnel move since drafting Alfred Morris was signing Forbath on October 9. Virtually flawless on scoring kicks, he has made 10 of 10 field goal attempts and 17 of 18 on extra points, with the sole blemish being a blocked extra point against the Steelers. Kicked a 50-yarder in his pro debut against the Vikings and is still making clutch kicks, as evidenced by his huge 48-yarder against the Cowboys with less than 3 minutes remaining on Thanksgiving Day. Has only 12 touchbacks on 32 kickoffs, so that could improve, but opposing starting positions have declined the past two weeks, indicating an improvement in hang time and coverage. Forbath is 7-7 on field gols 40+ yards in length.

QB Robert Griffin III: We're running out of adjectives to describe the weekly performances of the best 22-year-old football player in the world. Has thrown 8 TD and only 1 INT in the last two games, giving him 16 passing TD against only 4 INT on the season, good for a passer rating of 104.6. RG3 trails only perennial MVP candidates Aaron Rodgers, Peyton Manning and Tom Brady in passer rating. In addition, RG3 has rushed for 642 yards and 6 TD, an average of 6.5 yards per carry. He's on pace to rush for over 930 yards this season. Has won four Rookie of the Week awards, including for week 11, and will be a finalist, at the very least, for the award in week 12. Against the Cowboys, Griffin completed 20 of 28 passes for 312 yards [11.1 yards per attempt], 4 TD and 1 INT. His 136.2 passer rating was third best for him on the season, behind only masterful performances in week one and week eleven. What rookie wall? RG3 appears to be getting better as the year goes on. 

TB Alfred Morris: Although he was still running well, Morris had hit a scoring drought, not getting into the end zone since week 6 against the Vikings. And after compiling only 59, 76 and 76 rushing yards in the three previous games, Morris needed another strong performance. He got it on Thanksgiving Day against the Cowboys, rushing for 113 yards and 1 TD on 24 carries. He didn't have a signature run on the day, but he averaged over 5 yards per carry on first down, consistently setting up Washington's offense in good position on second and third down, allowing them to use the full panoply of play-action passes in the playbook. Now has 982 rushing yards and 6 TD on the season, averaging 4.7 yards per carry. On a pace to rush for over 1400 yards in his rookie campaign. 

WR Aldrick Robinson: Showed signs he was disappearing even with Pierre Garcon still hobbled with a bad toe, but Robinson has re-emerged the last two weeks, catching a 49-yard TD pass against the Eagles and a 68-yard TD pass against the Cowboys. That's two passes thrown to him, both caught, for a total of 117 yards and two TD in the past two games. Pretty efficient. He's still not a big part of the game plan, getting only 9 plays from scrimmage against the Eagles and 10 against the Cowboys, but he's making them count. 

ARROW SIDEWAYS

QB Kirk Cousins: Has not played since the 5th week of the season when he relieved an injured RG3 in the second half of a loss to the Atlanta Falcons. Continues to be the team's top backup quarterback so there is no sign of a problem with Cousins. 

CB Richard Crawford: The 7th round pick continues to be a weekly addition to the inactive list and has not played since game 5 against the Falcons. Appears to have a future on the team, but that future is not now.

OG Adam Gettis: A regular on the team's game day inactive list. 

OG Josh LiRibeus: Regularly making the active roster on game day, but not playing due to good health from the starters. 

ARROW DOWN

LB Keenan Robinson: Only on this list because he's likely done for the season due to injury. The 4th round pick from Texas has 11 tackles this season, but has seen most of his work on special teams. Notched 3 tackles against the Cowboys in week 12, but tore a pectoral muscle and should be lost for the remainder of the season. Head Coach Mike Shanahan likes him a lot, though, calling him a future every-down starter for the Redskins at inside linebacker. Very likely London Fletcher's replacement.

Redskins Rookie of the Week: QB Robert Griffin III

Redskins Rookie of the Year to date: QB Robert Griffin III

Top Redskins Rookies 2012

1. Robert Griffin III

2. Alfred Morris

3. Kai Forbath

Note: Kai Forbath and Aldrick Robinson are included in this list because, although they were NFL players in 2011, they did not play or accumulate any statistics until 2012.

In recognition for his superb performance last Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles, Redskins QB Robert Griffin III was named NFL Rookie of the Week for week 11. The Redskins crushed the Eagles 31-6 to improve their record to 4-6 and drop the Eagles to 3-7 and in the basement of the NFC East. 

Griffin was virtually flawless against the Eagles, completing 14 of 15 passes for 200 yards and four TD passes and rushing for 84 yards. He had a perfect 158.3 passer rating for the game. Note that this does not apply to RG3's fantastic performance against the Cowboys on Thanksgiving Day, in which he led the Redskins to a 38-31 win, improving Washington's record to 5-6 and putting them in second place in the division. Griffin will almost surely be a finalist for the NFL Rookie of the Week honors for week 12

The week 11 win for Griffin is the fourth time he has won Rookie of the Week this season. Colts QB Andrew Luck, who was drafted first overall in 2012, has won the award three times. 

We have updated three of our Mock Draft Databases over the Thanksgiving Holiday.  

The NFL Mock Draft Database now consists of 136 mock drafts.  The majority of mock drafts are projecting West Virginia QB Geno Smith to be the number one pick overall.  Of the 22 mock drafts up[dated since 11/18/2012, Smith is the projected number one by 16 mock writers.  One trend we have seen, for obvious reasons, is a slipping out of the top 6 for USC QB Matt Barkley.  Tackles on both sides of the football are projecting well.   Utah DT Star Lotulelei is frequently projected anywhere from third to sixth overall.  Same goes for Texas A & M OT Luke Joeckel.    Georgia LB Jarvis Jones is a frequent projection anywhere between 1st and 6th overall.  

We will keep the mock draft database updated a few times per week.  Bookmark it draftniks!

The MLB Mock Draft Database is a popular database here at DCPSR, year round.  We added three new mock drafts last night and the database now lists 20 mocks for the 2013 MLB Draft.  Stanford pitcher Mark Appel is the projected number one pick by most mock drafts.  Drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates last year, Appel spurned Pittsburgh and decided to return to Stanford.  Most MLB Draft sites have Appel listed as the number one starter on the draft boards.  P Ryne Stanek, OF Austin Meadows, and P Sean Manaea are frequent top five projections.  We are updating the MLB Mock Database on a weekly basis.  

The NHL Mock Draft Database is a bit slow this time of the year, but nonetheless, we are updating it weekly.  If you are a hockey fan, you might as well bookmark and check it out frequently.  Not like there is much more going on in the hockey world at the professional level.  The first and second overall picks are pretty stable among mock draft writers.  Nearly every mock projects C Nathan MacKinnon to be the top overall pick, followed by D Sean Jones.  A frequent third pick is C Alexsander Barkov.   We are updating the NHL Databases weekly.  

Here are some post game comments from Redskins rookie QB Robert Griffin, III. 

First off, Griffin wanted to "wish all Redskins fans out there a happy Thanksgiving."

On his wide receivers:  "I told those guys if we ball out liek that, we can't be stopped"

On Kicker Kai Forbath:  "That was a season saving kick."  He further said the final drive "was probably the drive that saved our season and the kick was huge."

On his return to Texas:  "I couldn't have had a better homecoming, or as my Dad said, 'business trip'"

On the season: "When you're 3-6 the character of the team is tested.  Now we know we can do it.  It's in our hands.  I feel the sense that something is building."

What a great Thanksgiving it was.  Robert Griffin III and the Redskins delivered a huge thanks to Redskins fans everywhere, deliver a HUGE 38-31 win in Dallas and putting the Redskins right in the thick of the NFC East race.

Out of the ordinary for us, we are awarding four Thumbs Up rather than out normal two.  Why?  Because four deserved it and we are so thankful. 

THUMBS UP

QB Robert Griffin III:  I feel like we just need to make a permanent spot for RGIII in Thumbs Up.  He has been every single week.   Redskins Nation is very thankful today that the city of Dallas was introduced to the rookie stud.  Griffin delivered another dazzling performance, this time with his arm more than his legs.  He completed 20 of 28 passes for 311 yards and 4 touchdown passes, the second consecutive week putting the ball in the end zone 4 times.  He completed another whopping 68 yard TD pass to Aldrick Robinson, who broke behind the Dallas secondary in the first half.  

Even with a 28-3 lead at the half, you kind of had to have had a gut feeling the Cowboys would make more of a game out of it.  Griffin led the Redskins to the game iced by Kai Forbath's 48 yard Field goal by hitting Santana Moss for a huge 23 yard completion and then another first down pass to Moss for four yards.  He followed that up with another big time first down strike to Leonard Hankerson for 12 yards.  The Redskins desperately needed a big time drive and RGIII and fellow rookie Alfred Morris delievered big.  RGIII once again delivered in the clutch when his team needed him the most eating up over four minutes of important clock time.  

RGIII completed 71.3% of his passes and took some bruising hits, but got back up with confidence.  There is little more to say about this amazing once in a decade player.  A great home coming for Griffin in his first return to Texas.

RB Alfred Morris:  Give it up for this sixth round rookie who is now 4th ion the NFL in rushing with 982 yards.  Morris made some huge first down runs that sustained critical drives down the stretch.  Overall, Morris rushed for 113 yards on 24 carrier for a nice 4.7 yards per rush.   He also plowed in for a one yard TD run in the second quarter to put the Redskins up 14-3.  It was his 6th rushing TD of the season.  A nice game for Morris, who sits just 18 yards away from a 1,000 yard season. 

CB DeAngelo Hall:  Hall picked off Romo in the second quarter to notch an interception in consecutive games.  Hall also recovered the onside kick with under a minute left in he game, and traveled down tot he 1 yard line before sliding down.  Hall is picking up his game since being ejected three weeks ago and earning the ire of Redskins fans.  Quite frankly, it is refreshing to write something positive about DHall.  Hall showed some class not running up the score by sliding and allowed RGIII to kneel down in Dallas for the win. 

K Kai Forbath:  This kid deserves it!  Redskins fans --- youhave yourself a kicker.  Forbath nailed a 48 yarder, right down the middle, to ice the 38-28 win over Dallas.  The happy thing for me is, for the first time in a very long time, I never doubted Forbath would connect.  He is clutch, period.  Forbath is now a perfect 10 for 10 on the season since being signed after the release of Billy Cundiff. 

THUMBS DOWN:

Secondary:  Once again, the soft zone and careless play in the secondary allowed Dallas to climb back from what was turning into a Redskins rout.  The Redskins secondary allowed short passes as Dallas worked its way up the field.  Romo completed 11 passes in the third quarter, including another huge play, an 85 yard TD pass to Dez Bryant.  They allowed 13 completed passes in the fourth quarter including two Romo TD passes.   Romo put up 441 yards passing with 3 TD passes, as the secondary looked as if it had no answers in the second half.

Like RGII in Thumbs Up, it appears we should have a permanent Thumbvs Down for the secondary each week. Will you be placing a bet on the Redskins next games? If so, you should do it over at Betfair to get some great odds. 

Happy Thanksgiving to all. Go, Redskins!