Category Archives: Progress

By Harry McCracken 04.05.17 | 1:00 pm

Back in late February, YouTube unveiled YouTube TV, a new streaming service featuring the same big-name TV networks that most people get via cable or satellite. The company said that it planned to launch the servicewhich competes with AT&Ts DirecTV Now, Sonys PlayStation Vue, and Dishs Sling TVin the coming months.

A little over a month later, YouTube TV is here, in limited fashion. The service is debuting today in five marketsChicago, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, and the San Francisco Bay Areawhere it offers local stations as well as big cable channels, with more cities to come. Ten of its 50+ networks, including AMC, ESPN 3, Sundance TV, Telemundo, and The Weather Channels Local Now, are coming soon. (The fact that AMC and sister channels such as Sundance will be part of YouTube TV at all is news.) YouTube is offering an unusually lengthy 30-day free trial, and will give a free Chromecast TV streaming gizmo to subscribers after their first paid month.

Ive had a couple of days of hands-on time with the service, on a Pixel phone that YouTube provided, preloaded with the YouTube TV app. What Ive seen represents only a slice of the YouTube TV experience, which will be available on Android phones and tablets, iPhones and iPads, and the web. Among other things, I couldnt try one of its most intriguing aspects: For $35 a month, the service will offer six accounts and up to three simultaneous streams, allowing individual family members to watch and record their own shows without it all getting tangled into one giant hairball of content.

Thats not counting the gaps in YouTube TV that we already knew aboutmost notably the fact that it doesnt include any channels owned by Time Warner or Viacom (such as CNN, HBO, MTV, and Comedy Central), and only lets you watch on a TV by beaming content from your device to a Chromecast. (I did so using the Pixel, and it worked fine.) YouTube hasnt said anything about availability on other TV-streaming devices such as Roku boxes, but the service will need to be in lots of places to be competitive.

With all this in mind, I wasnt able to fully test the service as it will arrive today in its first five markets, let alone judge where it might be going. But I was able to form some first impressions, and they were largely favorable, with a few caveats.

Its about what you might expect from YouTubeclean and straightforward. Each show and network has a page of its own that bundles up a schedule for upcoming live airing with any on-demand episodes that are available. I did find it odd that theres no easily-available-anywhere way to return to the home screen, which is how you get to stuff youve recorded using the DVR feature; it sometimes takes a lot of presses on the Back button to get there. (YouTube says this design is specific to Android and doesnt affect the iOS version.)

In my time with YouTube TV, the quality of the video streams has been buttery smooth, and I havent noticed any of the technical glitches that plagued DirecTV Now after its launch. The fact that YouTube already knows as much about delivering video over the internet as any company on the planet presumably helps.

All of YouTube TVs competitors have search features, but calling them rudimentary might be erring on the side of politeness. DirecTV Now, for instance, responds to a search for Jerry Seinfeld with Jerry Maguire; Sling TV, meanwhile, doesnt seem to be aware that the man was a regular on Seinfeld.

YouTube TVs search, by contrast, feels like its creators actually expect it to be a primary form of navigation. You can enter TV shows, episode titles, movie names, people, and channels. More impressively, you can also search for concepts such as comic books, which pulls up Arrow, Gotham, Supergirl, and other programs. Its a better solution to the challenge of wrangling vast amounts of stuff on a tiny screen than Ive seen elsewhere.

In one form or another, Google has been trying to make it easy to hunt down TV content via a search field for many years. Its come a long way since the era of Google TV, but the more you play with YouTube TV search, the more youll realize that it still isnt anywhere near as smart as the search in YouTubes main app or Google search. For example, Donald Trump may be omnipresent on TV, but YouTube TV doesnt understand that: When I searched for his name, I got only three results. (Presumably thats because YouTube TV doesnt really know much about the subjects of individual episodes of shows, other than their titlesand news shows dont have titles.)

The search feature wasnt aware that John Dickerson is on Meet the Press, even though his name is mentioned in the description on the page for that program. And when I searched for Simpsons monorailhoping to find my favorite Simpsons episode of all timethe app told me that it didnt have The Simpsons at all. (It has the show in profusion in on-demand formbut not season four, which is when Marge vs. the Monorail aired.)

One of YouTube TVs major distinctions is its cloud-based DVR, which lets record as much live TV as you like and only erases your saved shows after nine months. (PlayStation Vue has a more limited DVR feature; Slings DVR is still in beta; DirecTV Now doesnt have one.) Use YouTube TVs DVR to record your favorite series and movies, and you might end up being able to treat it like an on-demand video service rather than one that makes you keep track of TV schedules.

Its a feast. But when I tried to record individual episodes of shows, I discovered that I couldnt. With YouTube TVs unlimited DVR storage, it assumes that youre going to want every episode of a program. Maybe my brain has been trained by using a TiVo for years, but there are instances when Id like to record a single episode of a show rather than wallow in it.

The fact that YouTube decided to build a separate YouTube TV app rather than cram live TV into its main app is an acknowledgement that the new service has a different set of design needs than YouTube in its classic form. And while the company did incorporate some standard YouTube offerings into YouTube TV, they feel more like a garnish than an entre. YouTube Originals, such as the Gigi Gorgeous documentary This Is Everything, otherwise available only on YouTube Red, are here. So are Related on YouTube videos on the pages for specific shows. But when you do a search, you often get only a smattering of YouTube results even if the service has gajillions of videos that match the queryand if you choose to watch any of them, you get booted out to the main YouTube app.

YouTubes approach to advertising on its main service is innovative and consumer-friendly, with ads that are brief and/or skippable. By contrast, YouTube TVs ads reminded me more of those on other services such as Hulu. Theyre higher in volume and lower in variety than you might prefer. For example, I kept seeing the same Starbucks spot about a nice old retired man. And when I sneakily tried to fast-forward deep into The Tonight Show, I had to watch five commercials in a row.

In the end, this whole category of services is a bit of a puzzlement: The contenders seem like commodities on the surface, but each is a subtle blend of pros and cons, and theres no runaway winner. The fact that YouTube TV doesnt have Time Warner and Viacom deals leaves its lineup incompleteat least if youre thinking of it as a full-blown cable substituteand it could use more ways to watch it on a TV beyond using a Chromecast. But whats there shows plenty of potential. Maybe by the time YouTube rolls it out across the country, itll have filled in some of the holes and worked out some of the kinks.

Harry McCracken is the technology editor for Fast Company, based in San Francisco. In past lives, he was editor at large for Time magazine, founder and editor of Technologizer, and editor of PC World.

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YouTube TV Arrives TodayPromising, But A Work In Progress - Fast Company

NEW YORK -- Chicago Bulls guard Dwyane Wade is "making progress" in his rehab of a fractured right elbow.

Wade, who was ruled out for the regular season after suffering the injury in a March 15 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies, has started working out a little harder in recent days as he tries to make his way back to the floor.

"He's doing a lot," Bulls head coach Fred Hoiberg said after shootaround Tuesday. "As far as shooting, there's no restrictions right now getting out there. Still not doing much contact. But he is ramping up activity, doing more and more every day. The biggest thing right now is to keep his conditioning and keep his wind, and if he is able to come back at some point this season he's not skipping a beat there."

Wade politely declined comment after getting his workout in on Tuesday, but the Bulls seem optimistic about his potential return. Bulls All-Star swingman Jimmy Butler has no doubts that Wade won't need an adjustment period if and when he does return.

"That's what great players, Hall of Fame players, do," Butler said. "They come in, pick up right where they left off. I know he's going to do that. I'm constantly in his ear, he's constantly in mine, about what he sees, what I see. Because it's different when you're out there playing, and then whenever you're not playing and you're watching. So there's a lot of things that we could still be better at."

The Bulls have gone 6-3 since Wade's injury and come into Tuesday's game against the New York Knicks seventh in the Eastern Conference standings. For his part, Hoiberg still doesn't want to publicly commit to a potential Wade return date.

"We're not there yet," Hoiberg said. "It's just kind of a day by day thing with Dwyane right now. He is feeling better, but obviously there's a lot of work to do as far as getting the strength back in his arm. Making sure mentally, he's right. He still has a little bit of pain in that elbow, especially when he's done working out. But the important thing is he's making progress and hopefully he continues to take steps in the right direction and we'll get him back some point this season."

If Wade sits out the rest of the regular season as expected, he will have missed 25 games this season because of rest and various injuries. Still, Butler hopes his good friend can return soon.

"We definitely need that guy, as everybody knows," Butler said. "We want him to come back to where he's not protecting anything, he's hooping, he's playing 110 percent and doing what he's been doing."

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Dwyane Wade making progress in rehab from elbow fracture - ESPN

UNITED NATIONS

U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley said Tuesday the Trump administration wants to see proof from Sudan's government not more words that it is making progress toward peace and protecting civilians in its vast and troubled Darfur region.

A review of the 17,000-strong joint United Nations-African Union peacekeeping force in Darfur, which costs over $1 billion annually, is underway. Haley told the Security Council that the Sudanese government has tried to obstruct its operations from day one and is still failing to protect its people.

But against all of these odds, the mission has helped to protect civilians, she said.

U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley said the Trump administration wants proof from Sudan's government that it is making progress toward peace and protecting civilians in its vast and troubled Darfur region. Haley addressed the Security Council, April 4, 2017.

Mandate up for renewal

The Sudanese government wants the joint mission, known as UNAMID, to leave. But Haley said after 10 years the council needs to see that the Sudanese government is doing far more to help its people by meeting benchmarks to ensure peace, protect civilians and prevent violence.

It is not enough for the government to promise to do better, she said. We need to see proof.

The UNAMID mandate is up for renewal in June and Haley said the U.S. expects Secretary-General Antonio Guterres' next reports to the council to clearly spell out where Sudan meets these benchmarks and where it does not.

Violence started in 2003

Darfur, which is the size of Spain, erupted in violence in 2003, when ethnic Africans rebelled, accusing the Arab-dominated Sudanese government of discrimination. Khartoum was accused of retaliating by unleashing local nomadic Arab tribes known as the janjaweed on civilians a charge the government denies.

Haley said UNAMID was a lifeline when its peacekeepers deployed in 2007 after more than 200,000 people were dead and 2.4 million had fled their homes. But she said the situation in 2017, while still far from what we hoped it would be 10 years ago, is changing.

In many areas the immediate threat of violence from government confrontations with the armed opposition has passed,'' Haley said. The people need the rule of law, they need police who will respect their human rights and protect them from criminals and militias, and they need help to mediate local disputes so they don't flare up and spread.

She said the United States welcomes that both the government and several opposition groups have announced unilateral cease-fires. She urged that both sides now move toward peace talks.

Troop defections a problem

Haley also urged the main holdout to a cease-fire the Sudan Liberation Army's founder Abdul Wahid Elnur whose forces still hold pockets of territory in Jebel Marra to immediately stop fighting and join the negotiations.

Jeremiah Mamabolo, the new U.N.-AU special representative for Darfur, told the council that Wahid's force can no longer carry out significant military operations and have suffered defections to the government side. But he said Wahid refuses to join the cease-fire.

So far, however, Mamabolo said efforts by the AU, supported by UNAMID, to get the parties to sign a cease-fire agreement and start direct negotiations toward a peace agreement to end the conflict have remained inconclusive.

But he expressed hope that President Omar Bashir's March 8 decree pardoning 259 rebels captured in fighting with government forces including 66 combatants from Darfur on death row will contribute to the firming of mutual trust between the Sudanese parties.

Sudan's U.N. Ambassador Omer Dahab Fadl Mohamed welcomed the unprecedented stability in Darfur and said the extension of the unilateral cease-fire for six months in January is proof of a serious effort to revive peace, end violence, and start reconstruction.

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US Wants 'Proof' of Progress by Sudan's Government on Darfur - Voice of America

Passengers use the Automated Passport Control Kiosks set up for international travelers arriving at Miami International Airport on March 4, 2015 in Miami, Florida.(Photo: Joe Raedle, Getty Images)

WASHINGTON Ithas beenmore than two months since President Trump tried to temporarily suspend travel from severalmajority Muslim countries to give his administration time to develop"extreme vetting" procedures against terror-prone countries. Yetthe Department of Homeland Security has not made any progress towardthat goal,the agencysaid Tuesday.

DHS spokesman David Lapan blamed federal court rulings that have blocked the travel ban from taking effect, saying they have "stopped our ability to move forward on those procedures."

That argument was disputed by former DHS officials who served under Democratic and Republican presidents. They said the courts have only restricted portions of Trump's original and revised executive orders and that the department has had no problem updating other security procedures.

"I just dont think thats credible," said Amy Pope, President Barack Obama's deputy Homeland Security adviser, who coordinated vetting procedures andis now a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council. "Its well within their responsibility and their purview to be doing ongoing analysis of vetting standards based on evolving intelligence, and theres no way to read the court orders as ending that."

James Norton, a deputy assistant secretary at Homeland Security under President George W. Bush, also said the department can still implement much of what Trump intended in his executive orders despite the court rulings.

"Obviously they're not going to defy the court order," said Norton, now the president of Play-Action Strategies, a security consulting firm in Washington, D.C. "But at the same time, I don't think they're sitting around waiting for the court."

Trump signed two executive orders both blocked by courts that tried to halt all travel from the targeted Muslim countries for 90 days and all refugees for 120 days. The first order, signed Jan. 27, banned travel from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. The second order, signed March 6, removed Iraq from the list.

As the Department of Justice appeals those rulings, refugees continue entering the United States. Since Trump was inaugurated,the U.S. has taken in 9,268refugees, including 3,138from the six targeted countries. That compares to 13,327 refugees admitted during the same period in 2016, including 3,806 fromthecountries covered by the travel ban.

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Lapan said the the government has been unable to move forward because the same rulings that blocked the travel ban also blocked their internal review of vetting procedures. A federal judge in Hawaii, who issued a nationwide ban on Trump's order, blocked a section that orders DHS, the Department of State, the Director of National Intelligence and the Department of Justice to review and update vetting procedures against people intent on committing acts of terrorism in the U.S.

He saidthose orders also prevent his agency from gatheringinformation needed to process immigration and refugee applications from the affected countries. He stressed that the department has already changed the way it analyzes all visa requests, a heightened level of scrutiny they want to extend to people targeted by Trump's travel ban.

"We're looking at the information we have received about individuals who want to come here with an eye toward why should this person be allowed to travel to the United States, rather than what can we do to help them get here,'' Lapan said.

The court rulings, however, have not blocked a section of Trump's executive order that allows government agenciesto design enhanced vetting standards for all incoming foreigners. Itdirects DHS, the Department of Justice, the Director of National Intelligence and State Department to implement a program that improves screening of all inbound passengers, regardless of country of origin.

The rulingsalso left untoucheda presidential memorandumTrump issued March 6 the same day he signed hisrevised ban that orders the same departments to implement "enhanced vetting protocols"to stop foreigners entering the country "who may aid, support, or commit violent, criminal, or terrorist acts."

That's why Pope doesn't understand how DHS could argue that theagency's hands are completely tied. "It just doesnt make much sense to me," she said.

Justin Cox, aNational Immigration Law Center attorney whoargued against the ban in court, agreed with Pope thatthe judges' orders don't prevent the administration from developing vetting procedures. "It is in their litigation interest to hyperbolize the degree to which their hands are tied by the courts," he said. "But in reality, their hands are not that tied."

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DHS: No progress on 'extreme vetting' behind purpose of temporary travel ban - USA TODAY

A mother sits with her sick child in a bed with mosquito net in a hospital on April 24, 2015 in the suburb of Port-Bouet in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. Malaria kills on average 7 children every hour in Ivory Coast and about 1,200 children in sub-Saharan Africa per day.

SIA KAMBOU/AFP/Getty Images

Despite a dramatic decline in the number of deaths among children and adolescents worldwide in the past few decades, global progress remains uneven, according to new research.

The study, published Monday in JAMA Pediatrics, found that childhood and adolescent deaths worldwide dropped by nearly half from 14.2 million in 1990 to just over 7.2 million in 2015.

The most common causes of death reported werepreterm birth complicationsin newborns, lower respiratory tract infections, diarrheal illnesses, congenital anomalies, malaria, neonatal sepsis, meningitis, and HIV and AIDS.

The greatest number of deaths among children and adolescents occurred in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.

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An international team of researchers looked at data from 195 countries and territories from 1990 to 2015. They took into account income, education, and fertility to calculate a Sociodemographic Index (SDI) in each country.

The results show that countries with lower SDIs had a greater share of the burden of childhood deaths in 2015 compared with 1990. While there was progress even in less developed countries, inequality increased as more advanced countries pulled further ahead.

The authors conclude that despite advancements medicine and dramatic improvement in child and adolescent health in recent decades, more needs to be done to distribute these benefits to children around the globe.

If we are going to continue the current pace of improvement in child and adolescent health, we must invest in better data collection, continue to monitor trends in population disease burden, and adapt health systems to meet the ongoing and changing needs of children and adolescents so that all can have a chance to grow up to be healthy, they write.

In an accompanying editorial, Christopher R. Sudfeld, Sc.D., and Wafaie W. Fawzi, DrPH, of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, say paying greater attention to early childhood and adolescent health is critical.

Halving the number of global deaths in children younger than 5 years from 1990 to 2015 was a remarkable achievement; however, we are significantly lagging in reductions of preventable stillbirths and neonatal deaths, particularly in vulnerable populations. Additional financial and intellectual investments in adolescent health are also necessary to promote healthy behaviors and reduce risks that can have lifelong implications for adolescents, their families, and their communities.

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"Remarkable" progress against childhood deaths, but inequality grows - CBS News

(Reuters Health) - - Deaths among children and adolescents became less common between 1990 and 2015, but not all countries benefited equally from the improvements, according to a new analysis.

Countries with low social and economic statuses shoulder a much larger child and adolescent mortality burden compared to countries with better income, education and fertility levels, researchers found.

"The relative difference between the best and the worst is growing," said Dr. Nicholas Kassebaum, of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington in Seattle.

Kassebaum and dozens of other researchers in the Global Burden of Disease Child and Adolescent Health Collaboration analyzed data from 195 countries on children and adolescents up through age 19.

The number of deaths in that age group fell from about 14.2 million in 1990 to about 7.2 million in 2015, the researchers write in JAMA Pediatrics.

Countries at all social and economic levels experienced a decline in child and adolescent death rates from 1990 to 2015. But the proportion of those deaths that happened in countries at the lower end of the spectrum grew over time.

Specifically, countries with the lowest social and economic statuses accounted for almost 75 percent of all deaths among children and adolescents in 2015, compared to 61 percent in 1990.

The most common causes of death included complications after premature birth, lower respiratory tract infections and swelling of the brain.

The study can't say why countries with lower social and economic statuses didn't benefit as much over the years, but Kassebaum suggested some reasons.

For example, he said, countries made great strides over the years reducing infections and improving neonatal outcomes, but some countries have not been able to make those and other public health interventions universal.

Also, public health advances in wealthier countries may not reach countries at the other end of the spectrum.

"Those advances havent been passed on to middle-income countries and certainly not to low-income countries," said Kassebaum.

Christopher Sudfeld and Wafaie Fawzi of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston point out in an accompanying editorial that global deaths among children younger than age five were cut in half between 1990 to 2015 but the world is lagging in reducing the number of stillbirths and deaths among newborns.

"Additional financial and intellectual investments in adolescent health are also necessary to promote health behaviors and reduce risks that can have lifelong implications for adolescents, their families, and their communities," they write.

SOURCE: bit.ly/2oBFFml and bit.ly/2oBKw6T JAMA Pediatrics, online April 3, 2017.

Mylan NV has been hit with a new proposed class action lawsuit over the price of its EpiPen allergy treatment, which shot up to more than $600 for a two-pack of the device from less than $100 in 2007.

Lawmakers in Kansas on Monday failed to override Republican Governor Sam Brownback's veto of a bill expanding eligibility for Medicaid for the poor under the federal Affordable Care Act (ACA).

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Progress uneven as global child death rates fall - Reuters

Public Service Broadcasting playfully teaches history via mixed media, combining archival stock footage, propaganda films and their own propulsive music. Every Valley, the band's forthcoming third album, tells the tale of Ebbw Vale, which was once a major mining town in South Wales. It's an industrial collapse that serves here as a melancholic metaphor for global unease. Based on research and interviews with the townspeople of Ebbw Vale, Every Valley will tell its tale through electronics, drums, guitars and much-needed humor.

In an email, founding member J. Willgoose Esq. tells me that the song "Progress," which we're premiering today along with its video, is "a playful look at a serious and pertinent topic mechanization and its true place in the 'progress' of humanity. What's certain in my mind is that this album isn't just about mining and isn't just about Wales. It's a story reflected in abandoned and neglected communities across the western world, and one which has led to the resurgence of a particularly malignant, cynical and calculating brand of politics."

"Progress" is a knowing nod to Kraftwerk, especially in its bass line and the Vocoder within its chorus. Willgoose writes that, since "the song itself nods quite heavily to Kraftwerk, we also thought it'd be nice to make the video a similarly respectful doff of the cap in their direction."

Usually, Public Service Broadcasting relies on narrators sourced from historical footage to act as the "lead singer," but on Every Valley they've expanded upon that template, with a number of special guests, including two of Willgoose's musical heroes James Dean Bradfield from Manic Street Preachers and, on "Progress," Tracyanne Campbell from the Scottish band Camera Obscura.

Every Valley will be released July 7. Full track list below:

"Every Valley" "The Pit" "People Will Always Need Coal" "Progress" (ft. Tracyanne Campbell) "Go To The Road" "All Out" "Turn No More" (ft. James Dean Bradfield) "They Gave Me A Lamp" (ft. Haiku Salut) "You + Me" (ft. Lisa Jn Brown) "Mother Of The Village" "Take Me Home"

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In every area of sustainable energy, a number of countries are outperforming the world, despite slower than required progress overall to achieve global energy access, renewable energy and energy efficiency goals, a new report finds.

Entitled Global Tracking Framework 2017 Progress Toward Sustainable Energy, the report points to the International Energy Agencys projections to show that at the current rate of progress, only 91 percent of the world will have electricity access in 2030, while only 72 percent will have access to clean cooking. Improvements in energy intensity are also projected to fall short of the 2030 goal while the share of renewables will only reach 21 percent by that time.

Those estimates underscore the need for urgent action.

Energy is the cornerstone of economic growth. With access to modern, reliable and affordable energy, a child can study at night, small businesses can thrive, women can walk home under the safety of working streetlights and hospitals can function efficiently and save lives. That is why reaching Sustainable Energy for Alls (SEforALL) objectives of universal access to modern energy, doubling the rate of improvement of energy efficiency and doubling the share of renewable energy by 2030 is crucial.

To make meaningful improvements, higher levels of financing and bolder policy commitments, along with the willingness on countries part to embrace new technologies on a much wider scale are essential, according to the report.

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Global Tracking Framework 2017 - Progress Toward Sustainable Energy - World Bank Group

The Redskins' two free agent signings on the defensive line are coming off big years, and head coach Jay Gruden believes that can continue their upward trend in Washington.

Head coach Jay Gruden explained at last weeks NFL Annual Meetings that the Redskins strategy for upgrading the defensive line in free agency was practical. They would attempt to lure in a high-profile and lucrative player or find two slightly cheaper players with competing skill levels.

Defensive end Calais Campbell was indeed on the Redskins list, but after he signed with Jacksonville, Washington found two players Stacy McGee and Terrell McClain -- they believe can be extremely productive together on the defensive line this season.

Would you rather have one or would you rather have two good ones? Gruden asks. I think we feel good about the two good ones we got.

McGee caught Grudens attention on film during an October game against San Diego last season, when the 6-foot-3, 310-pounder racked up 1.5 sacks , four tackles and two forced fumbles.

The Oklahoma product spent time playing with Redskins left tackle Trent Williams for a couple seasons with the Sooners and also won a state championship in wrestling during his senior season at Muskogee High School, two factors that helped his attractiveness.

Hes a big, physical guy and hes an interesting player, Gruden said. I think he hasnt tapped on his potential yet. Hes strong, hes an ex-wrestler, obviously Trent [Williams] knew him very well, had good things to say about himfrom Oklahoma. Im excited about him. Did a little bit of work on him, with people who coached him out there and had a lot of good things to say about him. Were excited about him.

In his four seasons in the league, McGee has totaled 44 tackles and three sacks, two and a half of which came last season in just nine games.

They are going to see a man hungry out there hunting, pursuing the ball and trying to bring greatness back here to the Redskins, McGee said in a Redskins Nation interview.

McClain has had a similar rise in production during the last few seasons with the Cowboys, after struggling during his first four years in the NFL, splitting time with Carolina, New England and Houston.

After missing the majority of 2015, McClain bounced back last season. He started in 15 games and posted career highs in tackles (40), sacks (2.5) and forced fumbles (2), becoming a reliable presence up the middle at age 28.

He didnt do a whole lot his first couple years but he just came on like gangbusters, Gruden said. I like the fact that guys continue to stay with it and work and you see their work pay off. Their developmentsometimes their development doesnt happen until age 27, 28, 29 and it just hits and it clicks and he is a force to be reckoned with as far as his ability to track down plays and hustle.

While the defensive line is in a state of flux losing Chris Baker and Ricky Jean Francois, banking on the emergence of Anthony Lanier II and Matt Ioannidis, transitioning to a new defensive line coach in Jim Tomsula Gruden has confidence that someone such as McClain will take on a leadership role and adapt nicely to the culture the team has been establishing the last couple of years.

Both McGee and McClain expressed their excitement to play under Tomsula, too, and are ready to grow into what the Redskins hope will be consecutive seasons playing at a high level.

I know that if you come from Dallas and you play for Rod Marinelli youre going to have what it takes to be a defensive lineman, Gruden said of McClain. Youre going to play hard, youre going to do things the right way and then it will be an easy transition because we have a defensive line coach here whos going to expect the same things in a big way. Hell fit right in.

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Jay Gruden Excited To See McGee, McClain Continue To Progress - Redskins.com

Photo: Courtesy Of Santa Cruz Warriors

Damian Jones plays with Santa Cruz on Jan. 6, chipping in 13 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks in a 126-124 loss to Grand Rapids.

Damian Jones plays with Santa Cruz on Jan. 6, chipping in 13 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks in a 126-124 loss to Grand Rapids.

Golden State Warriors center Damian Jones (15) in the second half of an NBA basketball game Monday, Feb. 13, 201, in Denver. The Nuggets won 132-110. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Golden State Warriors center Damian Jones (15) in the second half of an NBA basketball game Monday, Feb. 13, 201, in Denver. The Nuggets won 132-110. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Warriors thrilled with Damian Jones progress in D-League

Overshadowed by the Warriors 10-game winning streak is the fact that their roster could look much different next season.

Nine of Golden States 15 players will be free agents this summer, including almost its entire frontcourt. The only center signed beyond this season? Rookie Damian Jones, who has made significant strides in recent weeks with the Warriors Development-League affiliate in Santa Cruz.

After topping the 13-point mark only once in his first 20 games with Santa Cruz, Jones has averaged 18.3 points, 8.1 rebounds and 2.5 blocks over his past 11. Two of his best performances came within the past two weeks: a 23-point, 12-rebound, four-block outing March 23 against Austin, and a 25-point, seven-rebound, five-block masterpiece Friday against Los Angeles.

Were thrilled with Damians progression, said Kerr, who has recently watched video from Jones latest D-League stint. Its the whole point of the D-League, to be able to send a guy like Damian down. Hes not going to play a lot for us, but he can get consistent minutes.

Jones, 21, has logged nine D-League assignments since returning from a torn right pectoral muscle in late-November. His development goals have been modest: give consistent effort, attack the glass and grasp the spacing necessary to become a reliable interior defender. In recent months, Jones has cut down on fouls and emerged as a dominant two-way player in the D-League.

The plan is for him to stick with Santa Cruz through the D-League playoffs, which begin Wednesday against Oklahoma City. Kerr said Jones, who is averaging 1.7 points and 1.8 rebounds in nine NBA games, could be recalled to Golden State for a game or two during that span if possible.

Connor Letourneau is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: cletourneau@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @Con_Chron

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Warriors 'thrilled' with Damian Jones' progress in D-League - SFGate - SFGate (blog)