Some other WRs that did little to nothing their rookie years: Lynn Swann, John Stallworth, Hines Ward. AB also did very little outside of those two playoff catches and the return TD against the Titans
Some other WRs that did little to nothing their rookie years: Lynn Swann, John Stallworth, Hines Ward. AB also did very little outside of those two playoff catches and the return TD against the Titans
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Many were high on Sammie Coates with all his "tape" but he has bounced from team to team with 1 rec for 12 yards (2018) and 4 years in the NFL. My money is on rookie Washington.Originally Posted by st33lersguy
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74 Steelers did not pass much but Swann (2 starts/11 regular season catches) led the league in punt return yardage (577) and made an epic back of the end zone toe tap TD catch in the AFC championship game.
https://www.pro-football-reference.c...S/SwanLy00.htm
I also recall Stallworth made a one handed TD catch that was incorrectly ruled out of bounds in the Raiders AFC championship game.
So there were signs Swan, Stallworth and AB could be very good. Zip from Washington so far.
FWIW Gerry Dulac of the P-G remains optimistic for some reason
Any concerns with Washington? Another Big 12 receiver who can't shine in the NFL. Thank you.
Gerry Dulac: Not concerns, just surprised, based on what I saw in the spring and summer. I think his problem is his awareness of the ball relative to his spacing on the field. I think the deep incompletion is a perfect snapshot of James Washington right now -- a player who is so gifted he can float acrobatically in the air to lay out for a pass, but also a guy who didn't have to dive for the ball because he was unaware of his spacing. I still think JW will break out...soon!!
https://www.post-gazette.com/sports/...s/201811280119
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I agree with Dulac, I feel strongly Washington will pull it all together.
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I think Washington NFL career will be just like college, starts slow and gets better & better each year
https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb...hington-5.html
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I think it's premature to make a call on Washington yet. Sanders and Brown didn't do much until the postseason and it was still a really limited sample size. We were all kinda spoiled with Juju's production last year and Bryant at the time flashing some freakish athleticism. I think Washington will be fine, most rookie WR's take a while to adjust to the NFL game.
Let's be real about Juju, that guy was a steal. If the NFL knew how good this guy was he probably would have gone top 15.
Still though it is 11 games into Washington's career, not the time to hit the panic button
That used to be the three year rule. But now a lot of the college offenses are not pro oriented so its not as long to develop as it used to be. WR is probably the hardest position to come out of college and play right away and while Washington showed promise in the preseason, hes shown little to nothing in the regular season. I think if/when Rogers returns, we will see Washington as a healthy scratch pretty often.
We'll see, we don't know how ready Eli is to play yet. I won't call Washington a bust unless I don't see any improvement next year. Promise in the preseason though, that's already more than what we can say about Sweed lol.
Dri Archer-like?
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Dude already showed that this year. I was pumped about him based on preseason showings. Bright lights came on and he wilted.
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I think Washington has a chance to be a difference maker. He appears to have a lot of personal character, and he has a history of doing the difficult things as a receiver. His confidence has taken a hit, and he is trying to find himself.
He is clearly feeling the pressure of NFL football and it is in his head. I believe there has probably been a lot of encouragement and support from teammates, but he is now being challenged to be better. Some may argue that "his quarterback is throwing him under the bus", some may believe that encouragement and support isn't working and they are trying to get him to play the game angry. Different players respond to different things.....I know....crazy....right?
https://www.behindthesteelcurtain.co...h-schuster-nfl
Good article that gives many reasons for optimism.
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good read, thanks!
Yeah, Ju-Ju was a steal. And not even the biggest steal amongst our starting WRs.
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Great read.
This is one of the reasons that football players that come from some of these spread offenses are hard to project as NFL players. The things that are discussed in the article are the reason teams have doubts about quarterbacks as well. Everyone knew what Patrick Mahomes could do physically. What they didn't know was how he would respond mentally to the huge step up in complexity in NFL offenses.
The offensive coaches make the pre-snap calls and adjustments from the sidelines in many cases.
Washington played in a system that didn't require him to run a full route tree. In addition to that, most NFL offenses require that the WR needs to read the defense exactly the way the quarterback reads the defense to make adjustments to the routes they run. So they not only have to learn to run the entire route tree at the next level, they need to learn to identify defenses and adjust on the fly. That's why you see miscommunication between the quarterback and receivers. Many people watching football just don't understand that. When you see Ben throw a ball outside, and AB comes inside on a route, someone didn't read the defense correctly. When you listen to the comments of people, everyone assumes Ben missed his receivers because he was inaccurate when in fact, it's two players seeing different things or simply one of them making a mistake.
Honest NFL receivers will tell you that the vast majority of these miscommunications are the fault of the WR when there is an established, experienced quarterback. People always say they're not on the same page when actually, it is one person that made the incorrect read.
This is how football works.
James Washington just needs to push through to the other side. He has all the tools to do it. It is simply a mental hurdle he needs to navigate and a confidence issue that will resolve itself with small successes that build upon themselves. I'm confident this kid will be fine. We all hope it clicks this year, but it may not be until next year that we see real growth. Most WRs don't tear it up in their rookie season because the complete acclimation to the NFL isn't easy.
Those many that were high on him had B&G blinders on then. If they actually watched his "tape" from College and the NFL Combine, they would see that he had many "double catches" and "fought the football" when making catches. Never mind that he wasn't a natural at tracking the deep ball in the air. Coates had elite size, speed and made plays when he caught the football.
I said when he was drafted that fans will be wringing their hands, gnashing their teeth and bitching the first time he drops a pass, but jumping on the bandwagon when he makes a big play. The guy was a slot machine.
You just had to watch Coates gauntlet drill on NFL Network at the combine and see he wasn't a natural hands catcher. Similarly, you just have to watch James Washington's NFL Combine workout tape and see that he catches the ball naturally, tracks the deep ball well and runs good routes.
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