06:16 PM PDT on Wednesday, August 19, 2009

The Associated Press

ASHBURN, VA. - The projected starting defensive lineup for the Washington Redskins’ season opener includes six players acquired as free agents, all signed to impressive, big-money contracts.

There are also four blue-chip draft picks, three taken in the first round and one in the second. No wonder there’s a lot of confidence in Washington that this could be the best defense in the league.

Then there’s Chris Horton. A seventh-round draft pick in 2008 out of UCLA, with a contract so modest it was worthy of the NFL’s version of pity pay last year — a $342,197 performance bonus because his playing time was so disproportionate to his salary.

A strong safety determined not to be the weak link.

“Last year I was just trying to come in and learn as much as possible as quickly as possible and get on the field in some kind of way,” Horton said. “This year I know the defense, I know everything, and it’s about making plays, do whatever I’ve got to do to make those same plays I made last year.”

Only three players were taken lower than UCLA’s Horton in last year’s draft. The rookie with the plentiful dreadlocks made a good impression with a pair of sacks in the first exhibition game, earned a roster spot, then had one of those out-of-nowhere performances in his first regular-season start. With Reed Doughty out with a stomach virus, Horton started Week 2 vs. New Orleans and snared three turnovers: two interceptions and a fumble recovery.

When Doughty was later lost for the season with a back injury, Horton became the regular starter. He still has the job.

“I don’t think it’s a fluke that he’s our starting strong safety,” Coach Jim Zorn said. “I think he’s a football-savvy guy. He’s not afraid to hit. I think he’s still learning, but he’s so much more comfortable this year, and he’s going to start Game 1 instead moving into that. Drafting a guy that low and have him come in and be a solid player is pretty remarkable.”

Coaches tempered their praise of Horton during his rapid ascent last year, noting that he didn’t have full command of the defense. His takeaways were more opportunistic than anything, and his production tailed off in November.

“He went through a drought; that’s the rookie wall they talk about,” safeties coach Steve Jackson said. “But he’s doing things a little bit different as far as taking care of his body, doing things more mentally opposed to physically.”

Part of the mental work is knowing the playbook. As Horton noted: “I wouldn’t be in the right spot always at the right time” last year.

“It becomes being able to anticipate plays versus reacting to plays,” Jackson said. “Now he’s better at anticipating things because there’s only so many ways you can run the ball, so many different ways you can throw it. When you’ve seen it for 800-and-some plays, it’s not like you’ve seen it eight plays, which was the case last year.”

With a starting job comes the inevitable nickname. A fan suggested that Horton call himself “Predator.” Teammates liked it, and now Horton offers “Predator48″ T-shirts on his Web site.

“I took it and ran with it,” Horton said, “and it became a big hit.”

But nothing about Horton stands out like his hair. He might have the least glamorous resume on the defense, but the lush dreadlocks are the envy of teammates and coaches.

“I love his hair,” said Jackson, removing his cap to reveal a bald head. “They say he has the most luxurious hair on the Washington Redskins.”

Most plays during training camp don’t mean much, but Colt Brennan managed to throw a costly interception Tuesday morning - to the tune of $100.

Brennan, trying to overtake Todd Collins as the Redskins’ backup quarterback, made it through the first 12 days of camp without throwing a single interception, a fact that he mentioned to the Redskins’ defensive backs on a daily basis.

“That was my way of talking trash,” Brennan said. “‘For God’s sake, will you guys pick me?!”

Brennan and cornerback Fred Smoot got to talking and the pair worked out a deal. If Brennan could get through all of training camp interception-free, the defensive backs would give him $20 for each day. But if Brennan threw an interception, he’d have to pull out a crisp Benjamin Franklin to whichever player picked him off.

“I just kept telling them over and over that I want to get that monkey off my back before we went to Baltimore,” said Brennan, noting that he’d rather throw his first interception in practice rather than a preseason game.

On Tuesday, the team was going 9-on-9 when Brennan faced a rush and scrambled outside. He lost track of coverage and threw the ball about 10 yards downfield. That’s where Chris Horton stepped in front of the pass, catching the ball mid-stride and making Brennan’s wallet a little bit lighter.

“It actually put a smile on my face,” Brennan said later. “Part of being a quarterback is making mistakes and bouncing back. I’ve taken a lot of chances out here. I’ve had a good little camp, but I hadn’t throw a pick yet.

“So now, in the end, I guess Chris Horton and the defense get a nice little afternoon lunchbreak on me.”

By Rick Maese  |  August 11, 2009; 12:02 PM ET

By: Rick Snider

Examiner Sports Columnist

August 9, 2009

The Predator is back.

Washington Redskins safety Chris Horton is ready to hunt. Last year’s seventh-round sensation became an instant cult figure with three turnovers in his first start. A blogger hung the nickname on Horton and it has more than stuck. He now sells merchandise on predator48.com.

“People yell, ‘Hey, Predator, Predator,’” Horton said. “It’s fun. I enjoy making people happy. All [the movie character] did was hunt and that’s how I play football. I’m just looking to hunt.”

There’s some truth to the moniker. Horton has a swagger — a quiet demeanor in dreadlocks daring to be tested. Horton is an equal member of a secondary that stars DeAngelo Hall and LaRon Landry, but doesn’t drop off with Horton.

Horton has always been a ballhawk with a penchant for being in the right place. His two interceptions and fumble recovery against New Orleans helped him earn both NFC Defensive Player of the Week and Defensive Rookie of the Month honors. He led the team with three interceptions overall.

A franchise known for weak drafts, especially in the late rounds, found the most productive rookie last season with its final selection. Horton was also the lowest drafted player to make the Pro Football Weekly All-Pro Team.

Ironically, Horton was never truly comfortable in the scheme. Good things just came to him.

“Last year I was all over the place,” he said. “Sometimes I was in the right place, sometimes I wasn’t.

“This year I know the defense so let’s find a way to make plays. I’m definitely not thinking a lot when I’m out there. I’ve slowed the game down and now it’s just making sure I’m always in the right spot.”

It would easy for Horton to get a big head. He wouldn’t be the first young player to believe the hype. But Horton merely needs to remember he was drafted 249th overall last year. Former starter Reed Doughty also is having a good training camp after losing his job to Horton because of back problems that required surgery.

“I’m not going to let down,” Horton said. “It’s a good start. Now I just have to better my craft. I have a lot more to do and show.”

Meanwhile, the Predator is stalking. Horton doesn’t enter the field in character, but the Alien better not cross him should the two villains make another movie.

“I never liked the animal,” joked Horton.

Rick Snider has covered local sports since 1978. Read more at TheRickSniderReport.com or e-mail rsnider@washingtonexaminer.com.

By Rick Maese

Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Safeties coach Steve Jackson considers the Washington Redskins defensive backs to be ardent students of the game, so it shouldn’t surprise anyone that during their spare time, some players have started studying film of the New York Giants, their Week 1 opponent.

This Story

“It’s what I love about these guys. When the season — it’s over — they don’t just shut it off. It’s part of them,” Jackson said. “They would like nothing more than to put that Riddell on every day of the year, all day long. Walk around, drive their car to and from work, do it all with that helmet on.”

But what has Jackson and other coaches especially excited is the development of their soft-spoken second-year strong safety. The continuing education of Chris Horton, though, calls for a new classroom this training camp.

As a seventh-round draft pick in 2008 — only three players out of 252 draft picks were selected lower — Horton entered camp a year ago relatively unnoticed. During his unexpectedly productive rookie season, Horton was a bookworm. During team meetings, he’d scribble notes, then go back to his room and stay up late studying everything.

“We’d meet on certain defenses, and I’d have three pages of notes on one defense,” Horton said. “Coach would walk by and say: ‘Man, you need to stop writing that whole time. You wrote way too much. If you take all that to the field, the game will move too fast.’ ”

In Year 2 with increased expectations, he’s still taking note of the details, but he’s doing more of his learning on the practice field than in the meeting room.

It’s an important change for the Redskins, who are counting on Horton and the secondary to contribute more high-impact, game-changing plays this season. As strong as the defensive unit seemed at times — only six teams allowed fewer passing yards — it tallied only 18 takeaways. Only two teams in the league had fewer.

Addressing this shortcoming will be a major goal for the new season, and a player such as Horton, who often finds himself near the ball, has been preparing all offseason so when he’s on the field, his reactions are more instinctual.

“I used to be all over the place. I’d just be running around like I had no clue. I knew what I was doing, but I wasn’t really slowing the game down. I was thinking too much,” said Horton, who led the Redskins last year with three interceptions. “Now I go to meeting rooms, try to focus on a couple of points and stick with that. So when you get out there, you can see the game better. I can see it all happening now and just kind of know what to do.”

Aiding Horton in that preparation is the same man who helped prepare him for the starting lineup last season — Reed Doughty, the man whose job Horton took in Week 2 last year. Doughty went down with the flu, and Horton came up with the starting job.

A year later, when it comes to football, the two are perfect study partners. They talk technique, formations and coverages year-round.

“We have very similar personalities,” Doughty said. “We’re very meticulous, we’re very analytical, we want to know how the defense works — not just what our job is. So we have the same mind-set, and we get along great.”

So in the weeks and months before their Nov. 15 game against the Broncos, Horton thought they also should study some film of the New England Patriots, where Josh McDaniels formerly coached.

“From the day he got here, you could tell he wanted to do everything right,” Doughty said. “He was never just trying to get by.”

A year ago, Horton had no choice but to outwork others. As a seventh-round pick, nearly an afterthought in the draft, no one knew whether he’d even earn a roster spot. Before long, though, he proved to be the only one of the team’s 10-player draft class to contribute significantly.

While Horton’s enthusiasm raised eyebrows when he arrived as an unheralded safety out of UCLA, coaches are even more impressed this year, after he spent the offseason watching film, studying coverages and picking his coach’s brain on how he could improve.

Though Horton’s role in the defense and in the locker room won’t significantly change this season, coaches do anticipate a slow shifting of responsibilities in the near future.

“He’s what I’d consider a football-savvy guy,” Coach Jim Zorn said. “He really likes to play, he understands the concepts. The guys around him notice that, and I suspect that at some point soon, things will flip, and he’ll be one of the real leaders on this team. So I have real high expectations of him, as I know he does of himself.”

Horton said he’s brought the same work ethic and enthusiasm into camp this year. The main difference is that everyone actually knows his name this time around, and he has a solid foundation on which to build. As a rookie, everything was new, from the routines to the drills to the plays.

“I don’t have to spend near as much time trying to learn the playbook,” he said. “Before it was like, ‘Oh, I got to know everything about every defense.’ I know all of that. I’ve been here a year. Now it’s just learning more of the offensive stuff.”

The more he understands what offenses will be throwing at him, the better Horton can position himself on the field. The differences can be subtle, but anticipation is key to his position.

Doughty remembers back to Horton’s first game in an NFL jersey, last year’s preseason opener against Indianapolis. Buried on the depth chart, Horton registered a pair of sacks, and suddenly fans and league observers took notice.

“But he was unblocked,” Doughty said, “so that might’ve impressed the media, but that didn’t impress me as much. What impresses me is when he reads the coverage and puts himself in the right place. Maybe he doesn’t even make the tackle, but he puts himself in the right position. I think he’s able to do that much better now that he’s got a few games under his belt.”

Jackson is not worried about Horton’s preparedness, his understanding of the games or even his quarterback reads. When the season starts — and especially as it progresses — Jackson said he wants to see a more consistent Horton than a year ago.

“Last year he kind of faded as the season went on, like most rookies do,” Jackson said. “We needed him to be stronger, to finish the season off the way he started this year.”

Though Doughty has looked impressive early in camp, Horton is expected to enter the season as the starting strong safety, the team’s third since Sean Taylor’s death from a gunshot wound in November 2007. Horton said he feels pressure entering a second year, but it’s surpassed by his own motivation to improve on last season.

“Nothing is guaranteed,” Horton said. “I was named the starter, but you got to come out here and always play every day like your back is against the wall, like you’re always striving for something. That’s the only way I know how to play.”