Tag: Antonio Gandy GOlden

Washington will have some tough decisions to make at wide receiver

The competition at wide receiver has been outstanding in training camp so far. Washington will be forced to make some tough choices over the next month.

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One year ago, you could argue that wide receiver was the weakest position on the Washington Football Team. Second-year pro Terry McLaurin was special — but there was little else.

Boy, how things change.

Washington signed Curtis Samuel in free agency to serve as the team’s No. 2 wideout. Samuel was coming off a career year and can line up all over the place on offense. The WFT also added reliable but injury-prone veteran Adam Humphries.

Then, in the NFL draft, Washington was fortunate when North Carolina wide receiver Dyami Brown fell to the third round. Suddenly, the Football Team had some depth at wide receiver.

Washington would also return some promising younger players such as Cam Sims, Steven Sims Jr., Kelvin Harmon, Isaiah Wright and Antonio Gandy-Golden. There was also seventh-round pick Dax Milne.

One week into training camp, it’s clear which players are making the 53-man roster. McLaurin, Samuel, Brown, Cam Sims and Humphries all feel like locks to make the roster. Humphries could be a surprise cut, but he has a nice rapport with quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick.

The biggest question is, how many receivers will head coach Ron Rivera keep?

Most NFL teams keep five or six receivers on the roster. That number could vary depending on which players contribute on special teams.

Washington needs a punt returner. Of those players in camp, Sims Jr., DeAndre Carter, Wright, Milne and Humphries could all get looks at punt returner. Sims has done it before but hasn’t been overly successful.

Carter is the player to watch. The 28-year-old is on his eighth NFL team and can return punts. He’s also had a strong camp as a receiver. That versatility could help him land on Washington’s 53-man roster.

Sims Jr. entered camp squarely on the roster bubble after struggling at times last season. He has looked good this summer.

Sims Jr. has talent. He looked like a future keeper in 2019.

Next is Gandy-Golden. A fourth-round pick last season, Gandy-Golden failed to make an impression before his injury last season. The 6-foot-4 Gandy-Golden is impressive and is another receiver standing out this summer.

A player who is quietly off the radar is Harmon. As a rookie in 2019, Harmon caught 30 passes and looked to be a part of the future as a reliable possession receiver. The previous coaching staff really liked him. Unfortunately for Harmon, he was injured before training camp began last summer and was lost for the season.

He’s back — and catching everything.

Wright caught 27 passes as a rookie undrafted free agent in 2021. He can also return punts.

Milne, the rookie from BYU, has also impressed coaches in camp. He seems like a longshot, more like someone who could begin his career on the practice squad.

What has helped these receivers so far in camp is the absence of Samuel. Nursing a groin injury and also on the reserve/COVID-19 list, Samuel has yet to practice. It has opened the door for others, and they have taken advantage.

Regardless of what happens between now and the end of the month, Washington has some tough decisions to make at wide receiver. The team is going to cut multiple good players who will latch on somewhere else. It’s likely the preseason could make or break some of these young receivers.

Being in a position to cut good players is a problem Washington is glad to have.

Washington activates Antonio Gandy-Golden off IR, releases WR Dontrelle Inman

Washington has activated rookie WR Antonio Gandy-Golden off of the IR, making him eligible for Sunday’s game, while releasing WR Dontrelle Inman.

The Washington Football Team made some roster moves on Saturday, activating rookie WR Antonio Gandy-Golden off of the injured reserve and releasing veteran WR Dontrelle Inman as well.

There was a feeling that AGG could be activated at some point before Sunday’s game, with him returning to practice recently and looking good coming off of a hamstring injury that landed him on the IR earlier this season. Before his injury, he was struggling to find much production in the offense, but there is a hope that the rookie can step into a bigger role, especially with the health of WR Terry McLaurin in question.

Washington released WR Dontrelle Inman off of the roster in order to make room for AGG, which comes as somewhat of a surprise, but is not too shocking, considering his production so far this season. Inman has 18 catches for 163 yards and two touchdowns in Washington but has only 1 target since Week 6 against the Giants.

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Washington is hopeful that Antonio Gandy-Golden can return to practice soon

Rookie WR Antonio Gandy-Golden has been on the IR since Week 7, but there is some hope that he can return to practice soon.

Some more good news is coming out of Washington a day after their monumental win over the previously undefeated Pittsburgh Steelers. It came out on Tuesday morning that Washington is hopeful that rookie wide receiver Antonio Gandy-Golden can return to practice at some point this week, with an eye on returning to the field within the next couple of weeks.

Gandy-Golden, who was drafted in the fourth round of the 2020 draft, has spent the last several weeks on the injured reserve with a hamstring injury. Before he went out, his rookie season hadn’t gone quite as planned, on able to rack up two total touches for 25 yards in his five games played. It’s way too early to make anything of that, but there is still some high hopes for the rookie who many in Washington thought could have a big impact in his first year.

It’s not too early, as AGG could be coming back into an offensive system that is absolutely rolling, with a QB in Alex Smith who has shown a propensity to spread the ball around. Keep an eye on his return, and get excited to see the rookie play.

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Grading the rookies in Washington at the halfway point of the 2020 season

With half of their rookie season behind them, we handed out grades to the young players in Washington who are starting out their careers.

With seven weeks of the 2020 season in the rearview mirror, it feels like a good time to take stock of the season and reflect on what we’ve seen thus far. For the Washington Football Team, things started out with a bang after a thrilling comeback victory over the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 1, but it’s been a frustrating watch ever since, minus the blowout win over the Dallas Cowboys last weekend.

Fortunately for Washington, the young players on the team have been performing pretty well for the most part, and it seems to be yet another successful draft class that was put together in 2020. Here are our grades for the rookies class so far this season.

Final Injury Report: Geron Christian listed as questionable for game vs. Cowboys

The left side of Washington’s offensive line will be in doubt on Sunday, with Christian now questionable to play.

We were told on Thursday that LT Geron Christian missed practice due to some soreness in his knee, but coach Ron Rivera expected him to be fine on Friday and set to play this weekend. Well, on Friday, Christian missed practice yet again, which puts his status for Sunday in serious doubt, with the next guy up being LT Cornelius Lucas.

Christian is listed as questionable on the final injury report of the week, but it’s fair to assume that he won’t play vs. the Cowboys, which will leave the left side of Washington’s line once again in a tough position, after LG Saahdiq Charles went down with an injury last week as well.

Elsewhere on the injury report, it’s not a shock to see WRs Antonio Gandy-Golden and Isaiah Wright listed as out for the game, as the injuries that they suffered last weekend were expected to hold them out for a couple of weeks, with hopes that they can come back after the bye week.

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WR Antonio Gandy-Golden ruled out for rest of game with hamstring injury

Antonio Gandy-Golden came up limping with a hamstring injury, and he has been ruled out for the rest of the game.

Just a few plays after rookie LG Saahdiq Charles limped off the field with an apparent knee injury, rookie WR Antonio Gandy-Golden was helped off the field with a hamstring injury, and he has now been ruled out of the game.

Gandy-Golden started at WR for Washington, but he came up limping on a play where there was a miscommunication between he and Kyle Allen, resulting in an incomplete pass. He went and got his leg checked out and wrapped by trainers, but was quickly ruled out of the game. Washington now must rely on Terry McLaurin, Dontrelle Inman, and Isaiah Wright at the WR spot.

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The time has come for rookie WR Antonio Gandy-Golden to step up in Washington

It’s been slow-going for Antonio Gandy-Golden thus far, but a change at QB could be just what he needs to get his NFL career off the ground.

Washington wide receiver Terry McLaurin is banged up with a thigh injury. Steven Sims has been sent to the injured reserve. Dontrelle Inman is dealing with some ailments as well. Week by week, the wide receiver corps in Washington start to dwindle a bit more than it had the week before.

It’s time for rookie WR Antonio Gandy-Golden to step up and become the player that the team thought it was drafting in the fourth round of the 2020 NFL Draft.

It’s a bit unfair to ask a rookie receiver to play a significant role in an NFL offense, but life is unfair; ask Dwayne Haskins. The fact of the matter is that Washington is in desperate need of some production from the WR position, and they’ve gotten to the point where they are relying on undrafted rookie Isaiah Wright to be a major part of the offense — to Wright’s credit, he’s been impressive so far.

There are reasons that AGG has been slow to get his NFL career off the ground, and HC Ron Rivera admitted on Friday that a lack of preseason and OTAs had a significant impact on him, as well as a preseason injury.

Still, though, it’s getting to a point in the season where we need to start seeing some production from the rookie. Luckily, a change recently took place in the offense that might significantly benefit AGG. With Kyle Allen now at QB, and the playbook expanding, I expect to see OC Scott Turner draw up a few more plays for the young rookie WR and get him into more complex offensive schemes that will let him shine. Whether or not that happens this week is yet to be seen, but there’s a chance that we could see a breakout from this Antonio in much the same way we saw one from Antonio Gibson last week.

If not this week, it needs to be soon. Washington needs help at the WR position, and they drafted AGG to be the one to provide a boost.

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Injury Report: Gandy-Golden dealing with concussion; Fuller limited with knee injury

The first injury report in Washington shows Antonio Gandy-Golden has a concussion, and Kendall Fuller is dealing with a knee injury.

The first official injury report for the 2020 season is out, and of course with this being Washington, there are a few key guys listed as limited.

The biggest news is that rookie wide receiver Antonio Gandy-Golden has been dealing with a concussion throughout training camp, which would explain some of his absences. He has been full-go at practice as of late, though. It was also reported that Saahdiq Charles, Kendall Fuller, and Thomas Davis have all been limited as well.

Charles, the rookie LT, missed almost all of training camp with a calf injury, but he has since suited up and taken part in some position drills after making the 53-man roster cut. Fuller, the CB who Washington brought back home this offseason in free agency, has missed a grip of time so far with a knee injury, but hopes are that he can suit up for Week 1 against the Philadelphia Eagles.

We also saw that Thomas Davis was not listed with the starting linebacker group on the first official depth chart, which can now be explained due to his limited listing on the injury report.

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McLaurin says Antonio Gandy-Golden is faster than he looks, can ‘jump out of the gym’

Washington will be forced to rely heavily on Antonio Gandy-Golden in his rookies season, but he’s been able to impress so far in camp.

It’s not normal for an NFL team to rely heavily on a rookie player to have a big impact during their first year in the league, but that’s exactly what the Washington Football Team will be hoping for from rookie WR Antonio Gandy-Golden.

With the unfortunate loss of Kelvin Harmon earlier this offseason, the expectations for AGG got significantly higher, and the team will likely need to ask a lot more of him than they originally would have had the receiving corps been at full strength.

Luckily for Washington, there have been some good signs coming out of training camp about the rookie’s progress, topped off by the comments made by second-year WR Terry McLaurin on Thursday morning.

AGG’s ability to go up and get the ball was highly noted during the scouting process ahead of the draft, but his 4.6 40-yard-dash time at the combine left a bit to be desired. However, McLaurin notes that he seems much faster than the watch says, and he should provide a solid deep threat for the Washington offense.

It may be a bit much to ask AGG to produce something along the lines of what we saw from McLaurin during the 2019 season, but any production that Washington can get from their new rookie receiver will be much-needed. Gandy-Golden won’t be forced to sit on the bench and acclimate to the league during his rookie season; he’ll have a chance to go out and prove what he can do right from the jump.

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Jim Hostler says ‘no idea’ who starting WRs are outside of Terry McLaurin

Washington’s new WR coach used complete honesty when saying that he has no idea who the starting WRs will be alongside Terry McLaurin.

One of the biggest concerns in Washington comes on the offensive side of the ball, where there is a major lack of talent and depth at the wide receiver position.

Terry McLaurin led the way in 2019 as the only player who was worth talking about at WR, and going into the 2020 season, it seems that he will have to do the same, at least to start.

That question of who will join McLaurin at the top has been common among fans all offseason, but the team has done little to improve the situation, as far as major moves go. They drafted Antonio Gandy-Golden and signed both Cody Latimer and Dontrelle Inman in free agency, but those were the only additions. On Thursday,  Washington’s new wide receiver coach had complete honesty when talking to the media when he admitted that even he has no idea which player will fill the WR2 role next to McLaurin.

There are several candidates, with the aforementioned Gandy-Golden having high hopes from fans, and Inman seemingly the most suited to fill that veteran role, however, it seems that Steven Sims Jr. will have the best chance. He was easily the second most impressive WR in Washington last season, and many believe that he will thrive in Scott Turner’s offense.

There will be a lot of competition in camp though, and all eyes will be on the WR position.

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