The free agency period in the NFL is a time for all 32 teams to take stock of their roster and try to fill their positional needs. For the Washington Redskins, several areas need to be addressed, like the offensive line, tight end position, and wide receiver position. So far this month, they’ve done a few small things to better their roster, but nothing spectacular.
So as we continue through the NFL offseason, one question kept sticking in the back of my mind: What is Washington’s plan at the wide receiver position? What will the starting lineup look like come September, and who will the rotational players be? Let’s try to answer that question by breaking down what we know, and go from there.
Projected starters: Terry McLaurin, Kelvin Harmon, Steven Sims Jr.
Is it ideal to have your top three options all be entering their second year in the league? Not exactly, but it could be a lot worse. What we saw from McLaurin all year should provide enough confidence to label him as your WR1 for the extended future, and Sims late-season heroics were highly encouraging as well. Putting him in a Scott Turner offense should be fun to watch. As for Harmon, he was the least impressive of the three, but his size and physicality still paints a bright future for him as more reps come his way.
Projected rotation: Trey Quinn, Cam Sims, Darvin Kidsy
This is where the problem lies… Depth is a buzz word for any fan who is uncertain about their roster strength, and the Redskins currently don’t have much depth at the position. Sure, all three of these players have shown flashes of ability that warrants more playing time, but none of them have taken advantage of those minutes on the field. If you had to trust any one of them to come up big in a key moment, my guess is that you would struggle to do so. It’s not out of the question that any one of these players makes a jump this offseason and becomes a reliable option, but until we see it, I’m not going to pencil them in there.
Potential Targets: Breshad Perriman, Devin Funchess, Robby Anderson
The Redskins were expected to make a splash in free agency by picking up a big name receiver, and so far it hasn’t happened. They did everything they could to convince Amari Cooper to rejoin many of his college teammates in Washington, but the Dallas Cowboys were able to lure him back to Jerry World.
Luckily for Washington, the free agency market is moving pretty slow this year, and there are still some solid names on the open market. Perriman had a breakout end of the 2019 season when he was asked to take over as the WR1 in Tampa Bay, and he showed what he could do when given the spotlight. Redskins coach Ron Rivera is also very familiar with Funchess, who he coached in Carolina for a couple of years. As for Anderson, he may be the hottest name on the market, but until he starts asking for a little bit less money, I don’t see anything happening there.
Draft Targets: K.J. Hill, Antonio Gandy-Golden, Chase Claypool
One of the reasons that free agency has been moving so slowly for the WR position is due to the deep draft class we have at the position this season. There are a number of WRs expected to be drafted in the first round, with names like Jerry Jeudy, Henry Ruggs III, and CeeDee Lamb highlighting the leaderboard. For the Redskins, assuming that they draft Chase Young with the No. 2 pick — all signs point towards that — they will be forced to wait until the third or fourth round to take a WR. They can still get some great prospects in that range, but it won’t be the projected WR1 type like the aforementioned names.
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