Washington sent away a lot of assets for the rights to draft Robert
Griffin III in Round 1 of the 2012 draft, a move many questioned
at the time. The Redskins also drafted Cousins that same year in
Round 4. Cousins is now being paid franchise tag money after leading
the team to the 2015 playoffs while RGIII was allowed to leave for
Football Siberia (a/k/a Cleveland). Head Coach Jay Gruden preferred
Cousins’ pocket presence and conventional playing style from his
first day on the job despite being forced into a relationship with
Griffin, and he’s turned the former Michigan State Spartan into
one of the league’s best young quarterbacks. Cousins threw for 4166
yards with 29 touchdown passes last season while most importantly
limiting his interceptions (11). He was the most accurate quarterback
in the league with a completion percentage of 69.8%, despite taking
his shots downfield.
After a terrific 2015, Cousins finds himself as the unquestioned
leader of the team and surrounded by a talented and dynamic collection
of skill players heading into the 2016 season. Cousins doesn’t impress
anyone physically or even with his skill set, but even when he struggled
early in his career, he showed the “it factor” that led many to
believe he was capable of being a starting quarterback in this league.
The team drafted TCU WR Josh Doctson in Round 1 of the NFL draft
this season to give him yet another weapon in his arsenal. Cousins
doesn’t yet have the name recognition of many of the other quarterbacks
that he outperformed last season, which makes him a great target
for those owners that like to wait out quarterbacks during their
draft. He could easily see another top 10 finish.
Opinions on Matt Jones’ 2016 value will likely be one of the most
varied among running backs heading into fantasy drafts. He appears
to be firmly entrenched as the team’s starter with only seventh-round
pick Keith
Marshall a threat to his role, but his struggles holding onto
the football (4 lost fumbles on 144 carries) and his poor ypc (3.4)
in 2015 makes him easily replaceable. Jones is a massive back at
6’2” and 231 pounds, but he has quick feet and is an asset in the
passing game. He showed flashes of dominance spelling Alfred Morris,
but also disappeared for weeks at a time as well. He’s reportedly
worked on his ball security and has looked impressive in OTAs and
minicamp. In what should be a high powered offense, he should be
able to post nice fantasy numbers if he holds onto the job. While
the Redskins do have a third down back on the roster in Chris Thompson,
Jones is an asset in the passing game which will help build his
fantasy value. He caught 19 passes for 304 yards (16 ypr) with a
TD in limited action in 2015. As long as he holds off Marshall,
and it seems likely that he should, Jones could turn into a draft
day steal finishing with RB2 numbers. Fantasy owners that like to
go wide receiver, tight end or quarterback in the early rounds would
do well to land Jones in round four or five.
Chris Thompson is coming off shoulder surgery so his roster spot
could be in jeopardy, but if he sticks and remains healthy he
should see a significant role in the passing game. He caught 35
passes for 240 yards and 2 touchdowns last season and was a favorite
of Gruden due to his quickness and explosiveness out of the backfield.
He was also effective in a limited role running the ball, but
it’s hard to imagine him holding up for a full season with
a heavier workload. Should the team resign Pierre Thomas it likely
means that Thompson’s shoulder is not healing well and would
likely signal the end to Thompson’s tenure with the team.
However if he sticks around Thompson makes a decent waive wire
add in PPR leagues to cover for bye weeks and injuries.
DeSean Jackson is coming off an injury plagued 2015 season where
he played in only nine games, catching 30 balls for 528 yards
and 4 touchdowns. He’s about to turn 30 and is entering into the
final year of his contract which should motivate him to stay on
the field as he seeks what will likely be his last significant
contract next offseason. Jackson can still be a dynamic player
when healthy as evidenced by his 17.6 yards per reception last
season. He’s long been one of the most dangerous players in the
league with the ball in his hands, and is arguably a more complete
receiver than his reputation as a “deep threat” suggests. The
Redskins’ passing game took off down the stretch last season once
Jackson and tight end Jordan Reed were both healthy, and the team
will surely try and squeeze all they can out of the veteran wideout
before likely letting him walk after the season. Based on the
injury discount, Jackson could turn out to be a draft day bargain
who could end the season as a low-end WR2.
After the Redskins used their first round pick on TCU receiver
Josh Doctson, many in the media thought Pierre Garcon would be
released saving the team $8 million against the cap and over $11
million in real money. However the team decided to keep both DeSean
Jackson and Garcon and head into the season with solid depth at
the position. Garcon’s stat line in 2013 (113-1346-5) is
clearly the outlier as he’s been consistently mediocre during
his other seven seasons in the league. It’s hard to imagine
him surpassing his 72-777-6 numbers from last season, where he’ll
be the third option in the passing game behind Jordan Reed and
Jackson. Of course, that duo hasn’t exactly been the most
durable during their career, but there’s a decent chance
that Doctson and second-year receiver Jamison Crowder would see
the greater increase in targets should one of Reed or Jackson
go down. Like Jackson, Garcon is also in his walk year but unlike
Jackson he’s not really a game changer and his lame duck
status makes it more likely the team phases him out of its offense
in favor of the younger weapons. If Doctson lives up to his first
round billing and Crowder builds on his nice rookie season, Garcon
could fall further down the pecking order.
The Redskins used their 2016 first-round pick to draft Josh Doctson
out of TCU. Doctson has missed most of OTAs and minicamp with
a foot injury. While the injury is not considered serious, the
missed time is a setback for a rookie trying to earn playing time.
Quarterback Kirk Cousins has leaked the team’s plans to
use Doctson in the redzone “quite a bit” and head
coach Jay Gruden has compared the rookie to his former player
A.J. Green, so fantasy owners will need to keep this kid on their
radar. Doctson has decent size at 6'2”, 202 pounds and needed
only three seasons at TCU to set school records in career receiving
yards (2,785) and receiving TDs (29), averaging 15.5 yards per
catch. His vertical ability allowed him to consistently make grabs
even when well covered, and it wouldn’t be shocking to see
him pass Garcon on the depth chart at some point during the season.
A late-round flier on the rookie could pay nice dividends.
Jordan Reed finished the season as No.2 ranked fantasy tight end
(87-952-11) even though he missed two games. Injuries have always
been an issue for the explosive Reed. He’s missed 14 games
in his first three seasons in the league and he’s already
missed the team’s minicamp after suffering an ankle injury
this pre-season. At 6’2” 237, he’s the classic
mismatch new breed of tight end, being too big and strong for
safeties and too fast for linebackers to cover. Despite his injury
history, which included multiple concussions, the team rewarded
him with a five-year $46.5 million extension which includes $22
million in guaranteed money. While risky, his playoff performance
against the Packers, catching 9 balls for 120 yards and a score
shows how valuable he is to this offense and Kirk Cousins’
development. If he stays healthy, he should continue his dominance
on the field and in the fantasy rankings for the tight end position.
The risk-adverse may not want to pay the price tag on draft day
despite the tangible upside.
