One of the biggest questions when talking about the Washington Redskins offense heading into 2016 is this: How they will get the ball to all of these playmakers?
The Redskins boast a ridiculous amount of options for quarterback Kirk Cousins. At tight end, there’s Jordan Reed, Niles Paul, Vernon Davis, and Logan Paulsen. The running backs are Matt Jones, Keith Marshall, and Chris Thompson. Finally, the wide receivers consist of Pierre Garcon, DeSean Jackson, Jamison Crowder, Josh Doctson, and Ryan Grant. At least, that’s what most people will say, because somehow they tend to forget about Rashad Ross.
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No, I’m not going to lie to you and act like Ross lit the NFL world on fire in 2015, but he did have his moments. I’m also not going to predict 100-plus catches or 1,000-plus yards, because there are way too many mouths to feed on this offense for anyone to put up those numbers (Reed may find a way though). Ross will play his role in the offense however, and play it well.
The 26-year old was used mainly as the Jackson-fill-in. He would take over the role of taking the top off the defense when Jackson was unavailable. On the year, Ross put up eight receptions for 184 yards and one touchdown. It’s important to note Ross wasn’t playing full-time. In fact, there were some games where he didn’t even see any offensive snaps. I believe this had more to do with the amount of weapons the Redskins possess, and less to do with Ross’ ability as a wide receiver.
While I believe Ross can be an asset on offense, it’s his special teams ability that should have fans excited.
Those are crazy cuts mixed with blazing speed. When he got open space, he left a trail of fire behind him. I’m talking more flames than Joe Budden’s diss track on Drake. (You had to know I was going to bring this up, that was six minutes of straight fire.)
Scoring that return touchdown puts him in a (sadly) elite group for Washington. Here’s a list of Redskins’ players with kick return touchdowns since 2000. Rock Cartwright (1), Ladell Betts (1), Chad Morton (1), Antonio Brown (no not that Antonio Brown, 1), Brandon Banks (1), Andre Roberts (1), and Ross (1). In the last 16 seasons, the Redskins have returned seven kickoffs for touchdowns. In case you didn’t notice, nobody has returned multiple for the Redskins in the 2000s. Gross.
It should should also be noted that with Roberts’ release this offseason, Ross is the only one that’s still on the Washington roster (via Will Brinson of CBSsports).
Ross averaged 24.4 yards per return in 2015, that’s better than Redskins’ great Brian Mitchell. So he’s getting the Redskins into good field position most of the time, that’s something Washington has been lacking from their kick returners since, well, Mitchell.
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He may have been overlooked last year, but with Ross’ top-notch speed and excellent returning abilities, his contributions to the Redskins success in 2016 won’t go unnoticed.