The Redskin Report

While we’ve all been griping about the hole at left guard left by free agency defection of Derrick Dockery and the inability of Todd Wade to pick up the nuances of a new position, the other big black hole on offense has gone relatively under the radar. (This was written before the Pete Kendall trade) Will anyone emerge as a legitimate number 2 wide receiver?

The Redskins tend to be assertive when it comes to filling needs. Last year we broke down what the Redskins needed to fix their pathetic pass defense in 2007 and the two major needs were filled (safety beside Taylor and a decent 3rd corner). Washington also felt they needed to upgrade at middle linebacker and voila, London Fletcher came aboard. But the wide receiver hole remained.

This is the cost of free agent (or trading and signing) busts. The Redskins have more than enough money tied up at wide receiver to expect solid production, but neither Brandon Lloyd or Antwaan Randle-El lived up to their substantial contracts.

Randle-El is the default number 2 guy, due more to Lloyd’s ineffectiveness than his own merits. Randle-El is the prototypical number 3 receiver- A quick jitterbug type player who can make things happen when he touches the ball and can get open against nickel corners, but he’s miscast as number 2 wide-out. According to Football Outsiders, Randle-El caught 51% of the passes thrown his way in 2006, a top notch receiver will be above 60%, a number 2 should be in the mid to high 50’s). And don’t think this was just a down year, in 2005 before signing the huge deal in Washington, Randle-El was at just 50%. (To compare, Santana Moss was at 64% in his pro-bowl year in 05 and dropped to 54% last year).

Despite those shortcomings, in comparison to Brandon Lloyd, Randle-El was a rousing success. If Randle-El doesn’t fit as a number 2 receiver, Lloyd appears to be miscast as an NFL player at all based on his performance last year. To add insult to injury, the Redskins actually gave up draft picks to acquire Lloyd. He does have one touchdown this pre-season, so perhaps Lloyd will elevate himself from the useless category this year (he also has about 4 drops, but we’ll ignore that for now).

The other options are less than enthralling. At his absolute peak, Todd Pinkston was a barely average number 2 receiver in Philadelphia. After a devastating injury, it’s doubtful that he even has enough left to even make the roster. Corey Bradford never even rose to Pinkston’s heights; he’s a bottom of the roster receiver at this point. James Thrash was once a number 1 receiver (nice one Eagles), but that was in a far away land where good wide receivers apparently aren’t required.

The saving grace for the Redskins receiving core has been Chris Cooley (sign that guy already). He’s the de-facto number 2 option and a damn good one at that. But next time you’re griping about the offensive line, remember the Redskins are a tweaked Santana Moss groin from having zero good wide receivers in the line-up. A very sobering thought for even the most optimistic Jason Campbell fans.