From Sportsblog.org re: Thrash and our WR corps
Posted: Thu Apr 01, 2004 3:46 pm
http://sportsblog.org/archives/2004/03/31/001085.php
The first part is the only relevant part - what they hay, I'll just cut/paste it...
The first part is the only relevant part - what they hay, I'll just cut/paste it...
Wednesday Thoughts
- Yesterday the Washington Redskins acquired wide receiver James Thrash in a trade with the Philadelphia Eagles, intent on using Thrash the only way he has ever been effective in the NFL… as a secondary target.
When the Philadelphia Eagles signed James Thrash three years ago, he was supposed to solve the teams wide receiver problem. Thrash never did that, mainly because he doesn’t possess the skills of a go-to guy. He is more of a possession receiver and that is the way Joe Gibbs will utilize him in the Redskins offense next year.
With Laveranues Coles, Gibbs has his deep threat, and now with Thrash, Darnerien McCants and Taylor Jacobs behind him, Mark Brunell will have plenty of targets to choose from. I didn’t mention Rod Gardner because I think he becomes expendable with the Thrash signing. Gardner has never shown why Vinny Cerrato made him a 1st round pick and doesn’t have the attitude that Gibbs wants in his players. He also is a prime example of why teams should never draft a receiver in the first round, unless they have the talent level of a Randy Moss.
These are the receivers that were drafted in the 1st round of the 2001 draft: David Terrell, Koren Robinson, Rod Gardner, Santana Moss, Freddie Mitchell and Reggie Wayne. With the possible exception of Moss, these guys have been total busts in their short NFL careers. (I don’t want to hear any complaints from Reggie Wayne fans, if there are any of you out there. With opposing defenses focusing solely on Marvin Harrison, Wayne should easily be catching more than the 68 passes he snagged last year.) A few members of that uninspiring draft class (Terrell, Robinson and Mitchell) have even managed to catch a bad case of Michael Westbrook Syndrome - disappointing years begat off-season hype which begats another disappointing year. It’s an endless, vicious cycle of suckiness.
By the way, among receivers taken in later rounds of the ’01 draft: Chad Johnson, Steve Smith and 2004 free-agent darling Justin McCareins.