Lackluster Effort: Skins Outlast Rams

If there's one thing I can tell you about yesterday's game at FedEx Field, it's that the boo birds were out in full force. The anemic Redskins offense seemed to hit an invisible wall around the 8 yard line against the Rams, and the fans really let them hear it. As I mentioned in the preview, the Rams were a typical letdown opponent for the Skins, and as the middle-aged gentleman behind me pointed out all game, we got those S.O.S (Same Old Skins). Booing the offense in their home stadium while in the victory formation is certainly a new phenomenon in DC. I'm not used to seeing fans so upset with a mediocre efforts (hell, I've probably been to 150 Redskin games and they've probably lost at least 80 of them). The booing was absolutely merciless. It didn't fall on deaf ears either:

BACKUP Linebacker Robert Henson: "All you fake half hearted Skins fan can .. I won't go there but I dislike you very strongly, don't come to Fed Ex to boo dim wits!! No I didn't play but I still made more than you in a year and you'd [gladly] switch spots with me in a second, I was talking to the fans [who] said the crazy stuff, I'm use [to] heckling but I've never been booed in my own stadium. Again that was for the half hearted but if everyone wants to jump in come on."

You know what, I do agree that we won the game, and the booing was excessive with a team kneeling to secure a victory. My wife and I clapped and sang Hail to the Redskins at the end, but it also didn't mean that I was thrilled with the offensive effort. The defense played a strong game overall, and the only guy I booed was Justin Tryon. Surprise, he's a joke. On offense, every single guy this side of Chris Cooley deserved an earful. Cooley was the most reliable, consistent target on the field, and the play calling was absolutely horrendous. Henson needs to understand that the boos were for Jim Zorn's offense and his idiocy, and not the defense. On top of that, to second a point that Brian Mitchell made on Postgame Live, SHUT UP AND GET ON THE FIELD BEFORE YOU RUN YOUR MOUTH. Calling out fans for not making as much money as you is childish, and the you will probably never hear the end of this one.

Back to the offense...It seemed to me that we only ran to the right side ONCE in the entire second half. The biggest concern I have for the offense coming out of this game is the overall lack of confidence that Jim Zorn shows in Stephon Heyer, Will Montgomery (even though he's not the starter), and Jason Campbell. If you think enough of Montgomery to be in the game, you have to give him a chance to block. The only time I saw the run game go to his side, Clinton Portis had around an eight yard run. Secondly, if you have first and goal at the ~8 (which we did at least three times), mix up the damn playcalling. Run left, draw, throw away/run left does not constitute variety. Every defensive coordinator in America knew what plays were coming, let alone Steve Spagnuolo, who saw the Skins twice last year. It's just getting to be a big fat joke. Unless something is fixed quickly, the Redskins might get more than boos the next time they come to Landover. Losing to the Lions is not all that unreasonable now.

Your Sieve of the Game:

Devin Thomas, Wide Receiver. Didn't make it onto the box score (except for one kick return), but dropped a guaranteed touchdown and almost tipped it up for an interception. Dude was on the field today and contributed NOTHING. Runner Up: Fred Davis (1 catch, -2 yards)

Redskins 2009 Preview: Wide Receivers

Through July, I will be running positional breakdowns for the Washington Redskins. Each assessment will be broken down into four areas: Past Statistics, Experience/Potential, Positional Competition, and Intangibles.

Today we’ll take a look at one of the most maligned group on the Redskins roster from 2008: the wideouts. There are a couple of known commodities and several unknowns, but there are a few things about this position that are certain. The wide receiver position was one of the most inconsistent and unreliable positions as a whole in 2008, and they must find more weapons and soon, or the entire offense, and ultimately the whole team will suffer as a result.

Past Statistics

We’ve already examined the tight ends, but they’re going to be lumped in here a little bit also. The Redskins’ Receivers as a whole made up the 22^nd best group in the NFL in 2008. They collectively racked up 3291 yards over the course of the season on 265 receptions. Out of those numbers, the wide receivers collected 159 catches or about sixty percent of the offense. This is not a terrible number for a west coast offense considering that the team has such weapons like Chris Cooley as well as Clinton Portis out of the backfield. In comparison, the top passing offense (the Saints) only had about 49% of their passes hauled in by receivers. However, the only wide receiver in the top 50 in catches, yards, and first downs was Santana Moss. Behind Cooley and Moss, the Redskins lack any sort of an elite talent that shows itself on the field. Randle El had a nice little season for a 3^rd receiver (53 catches for 593 yards), but it’s obvious that they need a true number two guy. Moss has proven himself as a deep threat with fifteen catches of 20+ yards, but Randle El and the rest of the group only combined for six. Unless the wide receivers can spread the field, the offense will be limited in running the football and looking for tight ends in the red zone.

Experience/Potential

Moss and Randle El will both be on the wrong side of 30 by the opening game of the 2009 season. Both have nice hands and are great components to a passing game. Unfortunately, both struggle to hit 5’10” in their measurable, and that doesn’t scare many people. Randle El has become a very reliable possession receiver, but he must stay healthy and find ways to stay open against bigger cover corners as well as linebackers (when he’s lined up in the slot). Everyone in the league knows that the Redskins have talent on the outside, but they don’t have reliable size, so they adjust their defenses accordingly. That brings me to the young guys. There is a lot of possible potential on the roster. We’ve already touched on Devin Thomas and Malcolm Kelly in previous posts, but at least one must find a way to become a difference maker and soon. Both stand taller than 6’2” and have the athleticism to frustrate defensive coordinators, but both showed an unwillingness (or inability) to work hard enough to crack the gameday roster regularly in 2008. Again, the wide receivers must be able to stretch the field for Jason Campbell in order to help the running game and tight ends, so Kelly and Thomas find themselves in the pressure cooker in 2009.

Positional Competition

The most interesting factor here might be the departure of longtime vet and special teamer James Thrash. Between Moss, Randle El, Kelly and Thomas, there should be only one more spot available for a newcomer. Enter Roydell Williams, Marko Mitchell, Keith Eloi and Marques Hagans. Williams is a four year vet that started his career in Tennessee. He was a fourth round draft pick and had his best season in 2007 before a foot injury sidelined him and led to his release prior to last season. Williams has decent size at 6’0”, but he’s a little light, weighing in at only 187 lbs. Mitchell was a seventh round draft pick in 2009 and was a big force for Nevada in college (literally). He checks in at 6’4”, 218, and has big play ability, averaging over 18 yards per carry over his collegiate career. His highlights can be seen here. His big knock is that he tends to catch the ball close to his body, but he has the big hands to adjust. Eloi is a physical freak (as evidenced below) out of Nebraska-Omaha. He’s got a size disadvantage but ridiculous leaping ability, and also carries value as a strong returner. Hagans is a converted quarterback from (vomit) UVA, who never impressed me as a particularly great athlete, but always seemed to have a good bit of fight in him. He’s also smallish at 5’10” 205, and has nine career receptions for 108 yards. Whichever guy comes out of this group could have a big impact this season, especially considering the injury history of Malcolm Kelly and the willingness for the coaching staff to find a playmaker to compliment Moss.

Intangibles

While this group doesn’t have a lot of size (that contributes yet at least), the veterans have heart. Moss and Randle El have no fear in going against bigger guys and running through the middle of the field. Both have made a strong effort with the young guys this offseason, and have a great team-first attitude. Whether or not that translates to the field will be a big question, but the young receivers certainly aren’t short of leaders ahead of them. The only big loss here is the leadership and tenacity of a guy like James Thrash, who was a HUGE locker room guy and a fan favorite.

Final Assessment

The Redskins have a great deal of untapped potential, and could be one of the better units in the league if they can develop their young talent. However, they will be handcuffed if that talent doesn’t show a better work ethic and willingness to learn this time around. If Kelly and Thomas don’t turn around their careers quickly, they will be thrown into the bust pile and could set back the offense quite a bit. I don’t look for Kelly to have a huge impact this season considering his ongoing knee problems, but I do believe that Devin Thomas will improve on his 2008, and will probably throw in 30-40 catches. That should be enough to take some pressure off this group, but they certainly will remain one of the weak links on the roster in 2009.

Last Week’s Poll: Evaluating 2nd Year Receivers

Sorry for the delay on the post…I’ve been up in West Virginia visiting family the last two days. I thought I’d offer a little insight on last week’s poll and what you all thought of our now second year receivers. First of all, let’s get a little more voting in next time! I’ll try and have a little variety to cover all of your favorite teams over the next few months. If you feel strongly about your answer or don’t feel like your answer is there, tell me why I’m wrong in the comments section. It will help when the time comes to look at the results.

Before we predict where how many catches Messrs Davis, Thomas and Kelly will haul in 2009, let’s take a quick look at each of their individual 2008 campaigns.

Devin Thomas:

Thomas had the best season of this group in 2008…that’s not saying much. Thomas finished 20^th in the NFL for all rookies in receptions (15), 24^th in yardage (120), and 38^th in average yards per catch (8.0). This was not exactly spectacular for someone who was expected to have a quick impact on the outside for the Redskins. Thomas had only one touchdown on the season, which was on an end-around and didn’t manage to make a big impact in the red zone or on third downs (only 46.7% of his catches were first downs, good for 33^rd among rookies). Overall, Thomas showed a few small flashes of talent but had little to no consistency whatsoever.

Fred Davis:

Sleepyhead Fred had a dreadful 2008 after getting everyone’s hopes up on tape. In his defense, Davis often found himself with limited snaps and limited opportunities with the presence of Chris Cooley on the roster, but not beating out Todd Yoder for the 2^nd spot is inexcusable for someone with his skill level (and don’t get me wrong, I love Yoder). Davis hauled in 3 balls for 27 yards on the season with no touchdowns. It’s not even worth listing his rankings among NFL rookies.

Malcolm Kelly:

Kelly rarely dressed during last season, and when he did, he failed to make any impact. For the guy that was supposed to help the diminutive Redskins receiving corps the most in terms of size (6’4”, 227 lbs), Kelly came up small. He only found himself dressed for five games after a prolonged bout with knee problems (as a result of poor offseason conditioning), and caught 3 balls for 18 yards. Kelly managed to catch one ball that amounted to a first down on the season.

Analysis of the Poll: Where do we go from here?

Considering that these three totaled nine first downs, one touchdown (not even receiving), and no stats in the top 20 among NFL rookies, it’s pretty safe to say that last year was a bust. I was a little surprised to see that half of the voters thought the guys would total between 60-79 catches next season, considering that they would all fall somewhere between 10 and 30 catches each. I was among this group, but I felt like I was being extremely optimistic. The only way I believe that this group reaches this milestone is if one can crack the starting lineup and rack up at least 35 catches. I do believe that Thomas is perfectly capable of this, but I’m also not hedging my bets on it. I don’t look for a lot out of Kelly with his reputation to slack a little, and Davis has an uphill battle ahead of him while playing second fiddle to fan-favorite Chris Cooley. Davis’s numbers were obviously affected a little bit by Cooley’s career season last year (in yards and catches), and you’d better believe that Johnny White Guy won’t back down next season. Cooley only caught one touchdown last season (five less than his previous low), and racked up a career high in fumbles (3), most of which took place during key possessions. That’s not favorable for a guy like Davis, who has a reputation for being a practice wonder and a game spectator. A guy like Cooley is going to outwork him any day of the week, and it will continue to pay off on the field. If I had to make a prediction right now, I’d guess that Thomas will fall somewhere in the 25-35 range, Davis will grab 10-20 and Kelly will probably get about the same. Let me know what you think!

Next Week’s Poll: Where is Tech most likely to fall in-conference this season? Vote in the right-hand column.