Wide Receivers – Sum of their Parts

July 19, 2019

by Jay Evans (@jayevans84)

In this installment of my 2019 team preview I take a look at the wide receiver group for the Redskins.  I’ll analyze this group’s the short term and long term potential and how the Redskins receivers will fare during the 2019 season.

I last reviewed the running backs and if you believed I was drinking too much of the burgundy and gold Kool-Aid because I was overwhelmingly positive in my review, then this is the quick heel turn on those rosy predictions.

Trivia time: name the last wide receiver to make a pro bowl for the Redskins. Surely, it was the great season of 2016 when both DeSean Jackson and Pierre Garcon went over a 1000 yards. Wrong.

If you guessed Laveranues Coles and Santana Moss, then you probably cheated. Yes, the Jet-Skins represented the Redskins in 2003 and 2005. Those are the only two appearances in a pro bowl by a Redskin receiver since Gary Clark in 1991. Two. That is the entirety of the list and 2019 is unlikely to change the number.

The receivers aren’t terrible; we just don’t know what they are individually or as a group. The Redskins wide receivers are greater as whole than the sum of the individual parts, but their inexperience and unreached potential is concerning.

The wide receiver position is completely dependent on the surrounding environment and the team isn’t exactly the Fertile Crescent for developing receivers. The quarterback situation has been uneven for many years, what has had a negative affect on results; plus, the system is designed to share the ball.

Jay Gruden’s offense in D.C. has been predicated on manipulating the middle triangle of the field and spreading the ball around. While the Redskins lack a bonafide stud on the 2019 roster, it does have a blend of sizes, speeds, and talent. It remains to be seen if any of these players will become more, while adjusting to two new quarterbacks unfamiliar to the system.

The forgotten man of the receiving core is the one player who is not on a rookie contract and expected to make the roster. Paul Richardson signed a five-year, $40 million contract with the Redskins prior to the 2018 season. After a solid season with Seattle in 2017, the speedy wideout expected to breakout as the Y-receiver, a role once occupied by DeSean Jackson.

The Colorado product has a significant injury history, including two torn ACLs and a shoulder injury, which disrupted his first season with Washington. The former second-round pick will occupy the starting role on the outside and could turn in career numbers if he remains healthy.

When available, Richardson is aggressive in his stems and has above average start-stop capability. Though he is slight in his frame, the wide receiver works hard to beat press coverage and accelerates quickly. Richardson’s crisp footwork is evident in and out of his breaks and proves he has worked on his weakness since entering the league because his route running is significantly better than when he was younger.

The sole first round draft pick of the group is Josh Doctson. After three uninspiring seasons, the Redskins declined to pick up his fifth year option. Doctson finds himself as a fourth year player in a contract year and about to enter free agency after the upcoming season.

On paper, Doctson has all the requirements to be a number one X receiver, but on the field has struggled to become a complete player. At 6’2”, with 4.5 speed, and a 41 inch vertical, he has excellent measurable traits and has displayed the ability to high point passes in his three seasons.

However, Doctson’s biggest weaknesses coming from college continue to plague him. He never proved he could succeed without an offense that created lots of space and needed to become a better route runner to reach his potential. Doctson fails at beating press coverage and doesn’t display the necessary urgency in his routes needed from a lead receiver.

The breakout candidate of the receiving core is likely to be Trey Quinn.  He could lead the team in catches, reception yards and receiving touchdowns by the end of the year. The 256^th pick in the 2018 draft had a chance to play significantly as a rookie, but injuries landed him on the injured reserve list twice.

Once ranked as the 11^th best wide receiver coming out of high school, Quinn has a relatively small, but impressive resume. He is high school football’s all-time leader in receiving yards and Louisiana’s all-time leader in receptions. The former LSU Tiger, Quinn transferred to SMU and in his junior season caught 114 passes for 1236 yards and 13 touchdowns.

Quinn’s two best attributes are his hands and route running. Quicker than he is fast, Quinn has an excellent understanding of setting up defenders and manipulating his body to control leverage. Naturally catching the ball may sound as a prerequisite to be a NFL receiver, but surprisingly many struggle (ahem Vernon Davis).

With the surest set of hands on the team, Quinn is going to make whichever quarterback very happy as he works the middle of the field. He is a limited athlete by professional standards, and may never be an “outside the numbers” receiver, but with Jamison Crowder in New York, Quinn has the opportunity to command a lot of attention in the middle of the field.

Third round rookie Terry McLaurin is the most likely candidate to steal some of the targets from the rest of the group once fellow Ohio State Buckeye Dwayne Haskins sees the field. McLaurin had his breakthrough season on the opposite end of Haskins passes and the two will certainly build off of their rapport.  He spent five years in Columbus and comes to the Redskins with a mature game for a rookie. He was in a crowded wide receiver room in college and although he was plagued with poor quarterback play at times during his college career he still was available to develop strong route tree without receiving a large volume of targets.

Last season, McLaurin had more than 700 yards and eleven touchdowns on just 35 catches. Considered to be the best special teams player in the draft, McLaurin will see plenty of time on coverage units, while working his way up the depth chart and honing his game.

Fellow rookie Kelvin Harmon arrived in Washington after falling to the Redskins in the sixth round of the draft. Some scouts considered Harmon to be a day 2 pick, but a lack of athleticism saw Harmon plummet during the draft.

Poor testing numbers doomed Harmon’s chances at being drafted early, but his production is why he was considered a higher draft pick in the first place. He became the first N.C. State receiver to log 1000 yards in a season since 2003, and HE did it twice. His best attribute is his physicality and he utilized his aggressive nature to win matchups without elite physical traits. Harmon could see a good deal of his playtime in third down possession plays and redzone sub packages.

Cam Sims is an intriguing prospect who offers exceptional height to the receiver group. The Redskins signed the undrafted free agent, following the conclusion of the 2018 draft after an underwhelming career at Alabama. His combination of body control and size make him an interesting developmental prospect.

The Redskins kept the 6’5” Sims on the 53-man roster entering the 2018 season after he led all receivers in yards during the preseason. Where’s Marko Mitchell? Unfortunately Sims suffered a high ankle sprain on the opening kickoff of the season and was lost for the year.

Those six players are headed into training camp with the most security and are likely to make the final roster. The rest of the group is fighting for one spot at best to make the 53-man team.

Veteran Brian Quick has been with the Redskins the past two seasons, but only has nine total catches. Jehu Chesson was signed mid-season last year as the injuries mounted and is a strong special team player, but may be expendable because of McLaurin.

Robert Davis and Darvin Kidsy both spent time on the practice squad in recent seasons. Drafted in the sixth round of the 2017 draft, Davis was a questionable breakout candidate last season, but an injury in training camp ended his season and Kidsy caught one pass last season on the active roster.

A sleeper in the group to keep an eye on Steven Sims Jr. from Kansas. The undrafted free agent is another natural candidate for the slot position with a relatively small frame, he is shifty in his movements and can find space quickly. With an impressive camp Sims Jr. could find himself on the practice squad and could see a midseason call up if Quinn or others battle injuries.

This group is a bottom third of the league group with a couple players on the roster who provide some decent upside. Josh Doctson likely departs at the end of another frustrating season and receiver will be a priority next offseason when the 2020 draft is projected to be historically great.

Trey Quinn is the one to bet on to lead the Redskins in every major statistical category and snag in the later rounds of fantasy drafts (especially PPR leagues), but I don’t see a single wide receiver going over 1000 yards this season and certainly not a pro bowl. A more realistic scenario is that three or four players accumulate between 40-50 catches and around seven hundred yards.