Redskins Deny Bryant Johnson Visit Scheduled

[Stuck in TX]

He has good hands, and is a decent possesion reciever. I love ARE however, given his speed and size IMO he is a true slot reciever. with Moss at #1, Johnson at #2, El at #3, and Caldwell and McCardell (if he doesnt retire) thrown in there on four and five wide sets, we could be good at reciever. Unfortunately, Hackett is unproven and ALWAYS injured, and we need a true #2 deep threat on the other side of Moss. thats what Lloyd was supposed to be, remember? with depth in the late rounds of the draft, we could potentially have the best WR corps in the league behind the Pats.

[EARTHQUAKE2689]

I am really not sold on Johnson at all. I just don't see him being any better than Reche Caldwell. I say draft a WR, it is a pretty deep class there for the first 3 rounds

[Beemnseven]

Originally Posted by EARTHQUAKE2689

I am really not sold on Johnson at all. I just don't see him being any better than Reche Caldwell. I say draft a WR, it is a pretty deep class there for the first 3 rounds

See, I like Caldwell too, but he and Moss aren't going to form a formidable 1-2 punch at wideout. And this is one of the tough spots we're in: Draft a wideout and wait 2 or 3 seasons before he becomes a viable threat, or spend valuable cap space, and risk the bust/bad chemistry possibility with a free agent.

Either way, we've got to do something at wide receiver. The group we have now just won't cut it.

[SmootSmack]

Originally Posted by Beemnseven

See, I like Caldwell too, but he and Moss aren't going to form a formidable 1-2 punch at wideout. And this is one of the tough spots we're in: Draft a wideout and wait 2 or 3 seasons before he becomes a viable threat, or spend valuable cap space, and risk the bust/bad chemistry possibility with a free agent.

Either way, we've got to do something at wide receiver. The group we have now just won't cut it.

Can we afford to wait a year and make a push in 2009 for a free agent like TJ Houshmandzadeh or Marques Colston?

[Beemnseven]

Another year of Moss and Cooley being our most dangerous receiving threats? I guess if they're prepared for another mediocre offense, yes -- but if we're going to wait for 2009 we might as well draft somebody and ride out the WR learning curve.

Or maybe we have someone already on the roster who will come out of nowhere and knock our socks off.

[SmootSmack]

Originally Posted by Beemnseven

Another year of Moss and Cooley being our most dangerous receiving threats? I guess if they're prepared for another mediocre offense, yes -- but if we're going to wait for 2009 we might as well draft somebody and ride out the WR learning curve.

Or maybe we have someone already on the roster who will come out of nowhere and knock our socks off.

Well, that's the thing. I mean long-term are we better off keeping with the relative status quo (and maybe drafting a WR) and wait until 2009 to sign someone or should we go ahead and grab someone like Hackett now because there are no guarantees that we can sign a top-flight receiver in 2009?

[Ruhskins]

Originally Posted by SmootSmack

Can we afford to wait a year and make a push in 2009 for a free agent like TJ Houshmandzadeh or Marques Colston?

I think the team should go after free agents like Johnson or Hackett, who are true free agents and not other team's refuse. I think either of these two players would be a good compliment to Moss and ARE. They are not #1 WRs, but at least they can compliment our two best receivers (and Cooley).

Right now the only true #1 WR in the market is Javon Walker....otherwise, we would need to trade for CJ (too expensive and unlikely), larry fitzgerald (a possibility, since it is the cardinals we're talking about) and Roy Williams (pretty unlikely...although we could fool the Lions into taking a 5th round pick if available LOL).

[celts32]

Originally Posted by SmootSmack

Can we afford to wait a year and make a push in 2009 for a free agent like TJ Houshmandzadeh or Marques Colston?

I would be willing to wait for those guys but the way this free agency is going the past couple years with average players great huge deals what would a player of TJ's caliber get on an open market? I think he could get about 30 mil gaurenteed based on what some of these other players are getting. And thats if he even gets to free agency...with the higher salary cap teams always seem to have the cap room to tag their better players or sign them to new deals before they reach free agency. So while I would wait I just don't think you can count on really good players making it to free agency anymore.

[Dirtbag59]

I still can't believe that the average starter raked in $7-8 million per year, during Free Agency.

[That Guy]

when johnson starts for the cards he's not very good. if he came here, there's a good chance he could end up as either a good #3 or a borderline #2. if he wants lots of cash (which reportedly, he does) then we should pass.

outside of CJ or roy or fitz (or maybe walker), there's not much going on at WR this offseason. and all those trade possibilities don't seem likely right now, so it's either bring in possible problem child walker, try to get a deal for hackett as depth, draft a guy, or do nothing.

[djnemo65]

I'm not sure what kind of money is being offered to Johnson but I'm sure it's more than he's worth. I would have no problem paying big money for a true star but Johnson isn't really an upgrade over the crew we have now. He's a compliment of sorts, but an expensive compliment.

I previously advocated signing him before I saw the money players like Bernard Berrian were going to get. At this point I'd rather either pay top dollar for a true gamebreaker (which is not possible this year) or try and hit through the draft. Dropping 6-7 mil per on a guy who's only decent makes no sense, and is not a luxury we can afford right now.

[SC Skins Fan]

Any chance Bryant Johnson is trying to use the Skins as leverage to squeeze out a few more dollars from the Bills? We still haven't had a confirmed visit by the Skins (though lack of information wouldn't really be a new thing).

[KLHJ2]

I agree with not overpaying for a FA WR. There are a few solid WR's in the draft that are going to be available in the 2nd and 3rd rounds. Mike Mayock believes, and I agree that there are no 1st round WR's available this year. Fortunately for us, we can get a good developmental guy that can be inserted into the number 2 spot when we go 3 wide. In our 2 WR packages we have the option of keeping ARE in the number 2 slot or putting Reche there if we get him resigned.

I concur that Moss is a solid number one as long as a veteran QB is throwing to him. Our offense is going to go as Jason Campbell does. If Jason struggles, then the team will struggle, regardless of who is playing the WR positions. Case and point, Randy Moss in Oakland VS him in NE. In no way am I saying that our recievers are Randy Moss, but I am saying that the QB can make or break recievers. Sadly the reverse is also true, however I do not feel that our guys can hurt Campbell as much as Campbell may potentially hurt them.

I love Campbell and I want to see him develop, but right now he is light years away; and a new offensive system isn't helping matters much.

[SC Skins Fan]

Originally Posted by angryssg

I agree with not overpaying for a FA WR. There are a few solid WR's in the draft that are going to be available in the 2nd and 3rd rounds. Mike Mayock believes, and I agree that there are no 1st round WR's available this year. Fortunately for us, we can get a good developmental guy that can be inserted into the number 2 spot when we go 3 wide. In our 2 WR packages we have the option of keeping ARE in the number 2 slot or putting Reche there if we get him resigned.

I concur that Moss is a solid number one as long as a veteran QB is throwing to him. Our offense is going to go as Jason Campbell does. If Jason struggles, then the team will struggle, regardless of who is playing the WR positions. Case and point, Randy Moss in Oakland VS him in NE. In no way am I saying that our recievers are Randy Moss, but I am saying that the QB can make or break recievers. Sadly the reverse is also true, however I do not feel that our guys can hurt Campbell as much as Campbell may potentially hurt them.

I love Campbell and I want to see him develop, but right now he is light years away; and a new offensive system isn't helping matters much.

Light years away? Seriously? I agree that a new offense isn't a good thing for him, but I don't see "light years away."

To your point about Santana Moss and Jason Campbell. Admittedly, Campbell missed him on some deep shots early in the year, but Moss was injured in the Giants game week 3, he played horribly when he came back against Green Bay (a game that Jason played well in and receivers dropped multiple passes), and then had some OK games along with the 121 yard game in Dallas.

Yes, Moss played well at the end of the year (though he had exactly 1 100 yard game with Campbell and exactly 1 100 yard game with Collins), but that was also the first time he was fully healthy since the beginning of the season (in those games he had 89 yards against Philly and 82 yard against NYG).

I think if you fairly evaluate Campbell's performance last year, especially that three game stretch from Philadelphia to Tampa (Buffalo was a bad situation and he was hurt against Chicago) you see a guy on the verge not a guy who is "light years" away. Maybe you didn't mean to imply such a huge gap, but your language certainly suggests that he is years away from being a decent QB and that he somehow held back Moss (rather than Moss's injuries) last year.

[KLHJ2]

Originally Posted by SC Skins Fan

Light years away? Seriously? I agree that a new offense isn't a good thing for him, but I don't see "light years away."

To your point about Santana Moss and Jason Campbell. Admittedly, Campbell missed him on some deep shots early in the year, but Moss was injured in the Giants game week 3, he played horribly when he came back against Green Bay (a game that Jason played well in and receivers dropped multiple passes), and then had some OK games along with the 121 yard game in Dallas.

Yes, Moss played well at the end of the year (though he had exactly 1 100 yard game with Campbell and exactly 1 100 yard game with Collins), but that was also the first time he was fully healthy since the beginning of the season (in those games he had 89 yards against Philly and 82 yard against NYG).

I think if you fairly evaluate Campbell's performance last year, especially that three game stretch from Philadelphia to Tampa (Buffalo was a bad situation and he was hurt against Chicago) you see a guy on the verge not a guy who is "light years" away. Maybe you didn't mean to imply such a huge gap, but your language certainly suggests that he is years away from being a decent QB and that he somehow held back Moss (rather than Moss's injuries) last year.

He brought up his completion percentage to 60%, but he stiil threw 12 TD's and 11 INT's. His QB rating was only 77. He needs to get through his progressions quicker, get rid of the ball quicker, deliver the deep ball more accurately, stop forcing the ball in the redzone and learn a new offense this offseason. That is a task, hence the words "light years away". It was a bit of an exaggeration, but so were the words "on the verge" IMO. How about we compromise and say "still developing with promise".

Moss was injured a couple of times and had the worst game of his life @ Green Bay. However, Todd Collins, a career backup had over a 100 QB rating through 4 games with the same corps of WR's. Todd Collins by no means has all of the physical tools that Campbell does, but he is more seasoned. Collins is nowhere near being one of the better QB's in the league, but right now he has a leg up on our beloved Campbell.

The bottom line is I want Campbell to succeed and be of the same caliber as Peyton, Rothlisberger, McNabb or Brady. Simply put it is going to take more time.