Washington Redskins: Three burning questions after two weeks

Wide Receivers

Lastly, the situation at wide receiver has transcended head scratching and become a full blown, pull your hair out dilemma. I was demoralized when Robert Davis was lost for the season. He is a thoroughly impressive prospect that was set to make a huge contribution to the Redskin’s offense this year.

To lose a big, strong, fast wide receiver who can not only block but does what every quarterback loves, which is catching balls when he’s not open, was devastating. Enter both Brian Quick and Simmie Cobbs.

Brian Quick, the first player picked in the second round of the 2011 draft was cut by the Redskins. But, due to the unfortunate injuries to Trey Quinn and Cam Sims, he was brought back. Jay Gruden appears to like Quick. Therefore his reluctance to play the 6’3 220 pound receiver is baffling.

The same can be said of Simmie Cobbs. NFL teams picked up on something that concerned them and Cobbs went undrafted this year out of Indiana. The 6’3 220 pounder now sits on Washington’s practice squad. So, it begs the question, if Gruden is not going to play Brian Quick, why doesn’t he promote Cobb to the active roster?

The point is that there are options. It is obvious that Alex Smith would benefit from having a big target that specializes in making tough catches in traffic. The Redskins wide receivers didn’t do anything against the Cardinals and they were missing in action again against the Colts.

Frankly, if the Colts secondary, one of the weakest in the league, can shut down the Redskins wide receivers it goes without saying that the coach has to try something different. If the starting WRs can’t get open maybe it’s time to insert the backups that have a knack for catching passes even when they are covered.

There are things that can be done by a 6’3 220 pound receiver that just can’t be accomplished by a 6’0 170 pound wide out.

By shutting down the passing game to the WRs, opposing defenses are able to contain both the running game and the short passing game rendering the TEs and RBs ineffective. This could make for a tremendously long season.

It wouldn’t be quite so maddening if the answers to some of these problems didn’t appear to already be on the roster, or the practice squad, or at the very least a phone call away. I’ll credit Gruden for admitting that some of the Redskins struggles were a result of his play calling. Yes, Paul Richardson’s 4.2 speed does not help too much running five-yard crossing routes and Josh Doctson’s superhuman ability to go up and get the jump balls is irrelevant if Smith isn’t going to throw him those kinds of balls.

Accepting the responsibility for the team’s ineptness is a noble gesture but that line has already grown old and we’ve only lost one game. Hopefully, Redskins fans will see some familiar names on the active roster next week. If not, Fed Ex Field will continue to have more and more empty seats as the season wears on.