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The Washington Redskins have paired two Alabama defensive linemen in an effort to upgrade their run defense Authentic Fred Warner Jersey , drafting Daron Payne to join Jonathan Allen in consecutive year first-round picks.

Allen showed star potential until a foot injury cut his rookie season short in the fifth game. Four picks ahead of where they got Allen, the Redskins thought it best to roll with another Crimson Tide big man by taking Payne.

"The more Alabama guys, the better," Allen said during Redskins organized team activities on Wednesday. "I was super excited about. I knew what kind of guy we were getting. I knew he was going to fit in and help us reach our goals."

The Redskins know they must improve their run defense. They finished worst in the NFL last season at 134.1 yards allowed a game 鈥?hurt by injuries to Allen and others.

Considering how the group performed when Allen was on the field, allowing just 88 rushing yards a game, Washington could be in store for a massive upgrade.

"(Jonathan) was a key component in the run game and the pass game," linebacker Preston Smith said. "He helped collapse the pocket. He helped stop the run. He's a multi-talented guy."

He is also a healthy guy. Allen, who had 22.5 sacks during his final two seasons at Alabama, deemed himself "100 percent" and pain-free following Wednesday's session.

"I think he did a great job of rehabbing in the offseason," defensive coordinator Greg Manusky said of Allen, who had a Lisfranc injury to his left foot. "We were kind of a little bit hesitant early on when he was here just taking reps and stuff, but looks like he's just keeps on progressing from where he kind of left off last year. The sky's the limit for him."

Allen's presence helped a defensive front that otherwise lacked playmakers. The hope is Payne makes two.

Though not in Allen's class as a pass rusher, Payne's ferocious work helped spark Alabama's win for the national title against Georgia. Early reviews suggest that version of Payne is causing havoc on the Redskins practice field.

"I've seen Payne these few days of practice being really disruptive in the run game and he can pass rush Arden Key Jersey Raiders ," Smith said. "He's a really athletic big guy. I don't know if a lot of people slept on him, but we're thankful for him, that he was there when we got the chance to draft him. We're glad to get him."

Now Payne lines up yet again next to his fellow disruptor and friend. Two other former Alabama teammates 鈥?outside linebacker Ryan Anderson and rookie inside linebacker Shaun Dion Hamilton 鈥?also may contribute along the front seven.

Allen sees the defensive line making major moves and genuinely believed the pieces existed for success last season.

Now there's a second Alabama defensive lineman at the point of attack to add to promising holdovers Matt Ioannidis and Anthony Lanier, who are entering their third seasons.

"I really think we're going to be a dominant defense," Allen said. "If we can stay healthy and do what I know we can, there's nothing stopping us."
Arthur Rosen puzzled over the photocopied sheet of paper listing all sorts of exotic bets on baseball games, including one in which the number of runs scored and hits made in Tuesday night’s New York Yankees-Seattle Mariners game had to exceed 29.

”I lived in Vegas 20 years and I never heard of a bet like that,” the 83-year-old retired truck driver said.

Rosen was one of more than 100 people at a New Jersey racetrack at 1:30 on a Tuesday afternoon, ready to plunk down money on professional sports in the first week it has been legal here. Although revenue figures won’t be released for a few weeks yet, Monmouth Park racetrack and Atlantic City’s Borgata casino say they’re delighted with the extra business sports betting has generated in its first few days.

”We’re really pleased with the early results, especially considering it’s a slow time on the sports betting calendar,” said Joe Asher, CEO of William Hill US Customized Dallas Cowboys Jerseys , which runs the sports book at Monmouth Park.

Likewise, the Borgata is seeing an uptick in business at its race book, which has been expanded to cover sports bets.

”The revenue was definitely beyond what it would have been,” said spokeswoman Liza Costandino.

Sports betting is bringing new demographics into what was traditionally an older, male clientele at the Borgata’s horse racing betting operation. Younger customers are stopping in to bet on sports, including more women.

”A full bachelorette party came in and they all made sports bets,” Costandino said.

The casinos and tracks report their sports betting revenue to the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement, which will publicly release monthly totals along with traditional casino revenue. The next such report is due for release July 12, and neither the Borgata nor Monmouth would reveal their totals before then.

Last month, New Jersey won a U.S. Supreme Court case that cleared the way for all 50 states to offer sports betting, including wagers on individual games, should they desire. Delaware was the first state to begin doing so after the court decision; New Jersey was the second.

So far in New Jersey, just the Borgata and Monmouth Park are offering sports betting. The soon-to-open Ocean Resort Casino Isaac Yiadom Jersey Broncos , formerly known as Revel, is due to open June 28 and plans to offer sports betting on its first day of operation, owner Bruce Deifik said.

The property will go before state gambling regulators on Wednesday to seek a casino license. William Hill will run the sports betting operation for Ocean Resort as well as Monmouth Park. Eventually, most of Atlantic City’s casinos (there will be nine by the end of next week) and its three racetracks plan to offer sports betting.

Both facilities said the early action has been mostly on individual baseball games and World Cup soccer matches. Customers also are making long-term bets on who will win the World Series or Super Bowl, a market segment expected to increase as the baseball playoffs and the start of the NFL season draw closer in the fall.

Michael Black, of Tinton Falls, New Jersey, was at Monmouth Park to wager on Tuesday’s Cubs-Dodgers baseball game, betting that the two teams combined would score 9 or more runs. A boiler installer, Black tends to be busier in the fall, and has been able to visit Monmouth Park several times since sports betting began last Thursday. He’s up $175 so far, he said.

”As soon as football opens, this place is going to be packed Cheap Billy Price Jersey ,” he said. ”This has been a long time coming.”

Fred Reyes, of Jersey City, had been to the track four times since last Thursday, and had yet to lose a sports bet.

”So far I’m up close to $1,000,” he said, betting on the Cubs to win Tuesday.

Rosen was enjoying the many novel ways he could risk money on sporting events, particularly on a bet combining runs and hits in a baseball game.

”The Mets and Colorado is 32,” he said. ”That’s a whole lot. You think the Yankees will score in the first inning? It’s tough, huh?”

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