Santana Moss Compared Josh Doctson's Ball-Attacking Ability To Randy Moss
WaPo - Finally healthy after being limited to two games last season with Achilles’ injuries, second-year receiver Josh Doctson was expected to play an important role in the Redskins’ offense in 2017, and help make up for the offseason departures of Pierre Garcon and DeSean Jackson. He may eventually do so, but in Week 1, the Redskins’ 2016 first-round pick was nothing more than a 6-foot-4, 228-pound decoy. Doctson was on the field for less than one-third of Washington’s offensive snaps and he wasn’t targeted once by quarterback Kirk Cousins in a 30-17 loss to the Eagles.
“I don’t think it’s a readiness issue; I think he’s ready to go,” Redskins Coach Jay Gruden said Monday when asked about Doctson’s workload. “I think it’s something more that he has to perform. He has to play well to earn more playing time. He hasn’t practiced a whole lot; last year, he didn’t practice a lot. This year, he has been in and out of the starting lineup a little bit. I think once he establishes himself as an everyday player, he’s going to get the reps, and he’ll prove that he is one of our top receivers. … But he has got to earn that right like everybody does.”
Former Redskins receiver Santana Moss, among others, can’t wait to see Doctson earn more playing time.
I think personally, watching the game, watching the way this guy catches the ball, watching the way this guy runs routes all preseason long, in camp, to me, he might be the best receiver on this team.”
Moss raved about Doctson’s fluid route-running, described his body control as “like a ballerina” and compared his leaping ability to an all-time great.
“He attacks the ball like no other,” Moss said. “He has that Randy Moss kind of way of going over a guy’s head and attacking that ball. That’s what he does well. He did that all throughout his college years.”
At this point Josh Doctson has to be the most hyped up Washington Redskins of all time. Coming out of college every clip I saw had my jaw on the floor. But then he was hurt all of last year and saw like 9 snaps total. Then training camp this year, every Redskins beat writer, journalist, podcaster, and broadcaster reported that Doctson was a man among boys. Everyone has raved about his route running, his size, his speed, his catching ability. Been called the full package and the perfect WR. And then week 1 happened, and nothing. Zilch. No targets. Barely saw the field.
If you read the full Washington Post article, some of Doctson’s lack of playing time is a bit of tough love. Since he’s always hurt, Gruden is playing other guys (see Grant, Ryan) ahead of him. Call me crazy, but if Doctson is this team’s best WR and can suit up on game day, he needs to be on the field regardless of how much time he practiced in the preseason. If he’s healthy now, get him involved in the offense. Especially with how bad the offense looked in the first half vs Philly, they needed him out there to stretch the field. Wins and losses matter a little more than Gruden proving a point. On a scale from 1-RG3, Doctson appears to be about a 7.7 on the fragile scale. But if he’s active and suited up, he needs to be playing. Let him break his leg on the field, not on the bench.
I hope we get to see this mysterious wunder kid Josh Doctson get more snaps this week vs the Rams. It sure would take a lot of pressure off of Terrelle Pryor, who has been thrusted into the number 1 WR spot maybe prematurely. Having Doctson line up opposite of him would be huge for the Skins. Time to make it happen.