Chris Doering

[Thinking Skins]

How fast is this guy. I remember hearing that he excelled in Spurrier's system at Florida, but I also remember that he's got the speed of, well, a very slow guy. This intrigues me because I know Gardner isnt known for his speed either, and if Doering could excel in SS's system w/o speed then why not cant Gardner do the same thing?

[Posse81]

Great point...I'd love to hear some feedback from Gator fans.

[The Evil Genius]

Didnt Gardner run a 4.48ish at the combines last year?

I mean, the difference between a 4.48 and and a 4.38 can't be that much.

[@DCGoldPants]

I think its funny you mention that. They are timing you running straight. How about when you run certain routes?

[The Evil Genius]

Good point Bufford.

The thing is, seperation while route running is hard to time.

Gardner always seemed to be open last year, it was holding onto the ball that was his problem.

The game that he did, he busted out for 200+ yards.

[bulldog]

wide receiver must be the most misunderstood position in the NFL because more people have run Rod Gardner down after a rookie campaign that exceeded that of many other 2001 draftees, including several taken before him.

I guess it is just Gardner's lot that some people have 7 years worth of patience with ne'er-do-well Michael Westbrook and 5 years with Kenard Lang, but Rod who showed a lot more as a rookie than these two discards from the team, gets no time or patience with HIS development.

By the logic of some here, players like Michael Irvin and Cris Carter would have, based on their rookie seasons, been cut unceremoniously and been out of the NFL.

Luckily, they were given more than one year to show what they could do in the NFL

Seattle fans are excited about what Koren Robinson may do this season. Bengals fans are excited about what Chad Johnson may do this season.

But Redskins fans?

A number of them are ready to ship Gardner off for a mid round draft pick and go with #3 draft pick rookies and undrafted free agents who have been on the practice squad the past year or two :laugh:

Man, am I glad the front office isn't listening to YOU

[GboroGator]

I don't remember what Doering's 40 time is (not blazing), I just know he was usually open. More often than not, he played in the slot position in the Fun 'n Gun and ran exceptional routes. Plus he has probably got the best hands of any of the receivers. If he makes the team, it will be as the slot guy. He and Wuerffel have great chemistry together. So, in the pre-season, I'd expect Wuerffel to look his way a lot if they are on the field together.

[GURU]

I seem to remember pretty clearly that Doering ran a 40 in the 4.8 range for scouts.

Now, that's slow, even for a college receiver. But Doering seemed to constantly get open, especially in the red zone, to the tune of 17 TDs one season.

A lot of writers seemed to keep saying that the Skins receivers, last season, had trouble getting open. But from watching the games, the biggest problem was the quarterback, specifically Tony Banks, not getting the ball to the receivers on time when they were open. In any WCO, timing is key. Routes are designed to break open at specific times. If you have a QB who is reluctant to let go of the ball for fear of messing up, well, it screws everything up.

It's very difficult, in my opinion, to assess the Skins receivers because of that very fact.

It will be interesting to watch which receivers, if any, emerge. I believe Gardner can be a star in Spurrier's offense because he is a better athlete than any receiver he had at Florida. If Gardner can learn to read defensive coverages, and that's the key in this offense, the sky's the limit.

[maanders]

While it is true Doering is not the fastest receiver, he is very smart and precise in running his routes (which is why the QBs who played with him at Florida always mentioned him as their "go to" guy). He is more of a posession receiver and is not afraid to go over the middle. While I wouldn't say he is on the same level as Steve Largent was, he is that style of receiver.

[PediGator]

Just for the record, us "Gator fans" have never questioned Gardner's ability to succeed in this offense. That seems to be more of a media driven fear inherent in "Redskins fans." He will have to improve his route running and ability to read defenses, but other than that, there's no reason wharsoever to think he can't flourish in the system.

[bulldog]

my question is if Doering has such good hands and is so instinctive in his route running how come he failed to land on an NFL active roster last season?

how come he has failed to do much of anything in several years in the NFL?

I know people love to go back to what a guy did in college, but Doering is 28 years old

we aren't in Kansas anymore :laugh:

at some point Maryland fans had to realize that Del Cowsette was not going to be a star defensive tackle in the NFL despite being taken by the hometown team.

at some point Florida fans are going to have to realize that the odds of a lot of these ex-alums making it in the league is a long shot, even with Spurrier in town.

you have matthews, wuerffel, green, anthony, doering, gillespie as ex-Flordia players on the roster.

My guess is half of these guys will make the team and out of that perhaps one or two will become prime contributors.

[maanders]

I'm not saying Doering will make the team. Who knows? The question was if Doering is not that fast, how was he so successful in college? I was pointing out what made him successful in college. Will that be good enough to transfer to success in the NFL? We will all find out during the pre-season...for all the ex-Gator players. As many have said, if they don't cut it in a system they know, they won't cut it anywhere.

[Jimbo]

I watched Doering with the Broncos a couple years ago and I believe he was their leading receiver in preseason. He always seemed to be open and I could never understand why he was not given a chance to play. I don't recall seeing him drop a pass.

I picture him as a Ricky Proehl type you can go to on 3rd down to make the catch.

I'm not sure if it's his speed, blocking ability or health that gets him cut but it sure isn't his route running and hands.

[GboroGator]

He didn't make the squad in Jax, mainly because Tom Coughlin is an idiot. Coughlin also ran off Willie Jackson from the Jags. Seems he caught too many balls and heard the cheers of Gator fans in the stands. For some reason, Coughlin doesn't like that. Doering was cut in Denver, mainly because he played the same position as McCafferey, then he blew out his achillies.

I think if he gets a fair shot, he's got a good chance of beating out underachievers like Thompson who have been on the Skins far too long for doing nothing. I think if your looking for a Gator receiver to get cut, I think Reidel Anthony is the likely one to go.

[bulldog]

well you are right there. from the early camp reports Anthony hasn't caught a damn thing so far :laugh:

that and the poor performance out of the chute by Matthews is somewhat surprising.

I thought Matthews would step up and outduel a mediocre stable of competitors to win the starting job.

Instead he has looked like the guy that could be cut :mad:

It is early and things do seem to see-saw each year once the preseason games arrive and the early camp phenoms hit the 'wall'

So, maybe Matthews is just a slow starter.

I am just glad now that we didn't give up a draft choice for him on draft day.

[Thinking Skins]

I remember last year hearing that Gardner's route running skills are much better than those of Westbrook. I'm not sure if that means that they're at the level of Doering's but if thats the main thing that it takes in this system then I think Gardner will be good in this system.

his pass catching skills are supposed to be top notch, though he did have his share of problems with that last year. But I think that he can really have a chance to show his talent.

[REDSKINGATOR11]

As a gator fan as well, you can sum up Doering as follows:

Great Hands

Precise Routes

No Fear

Great Seperation ability (based on getting close to the defender and making a timely cut NOT on speed)

Average Speed

Special Teams Tackling ability????

[Jimbo]

RG11, you may have hit the nail on the head concerning special teams. The big reason why Doering doesn't stick on rosters could be his play (or lack thereof) on special teams.

It will be interesting watching him during the preseason to see if the achilles problem hinders his cutting and separation out of the break.

[Skins24]

from Peter King:

3. I think I like Jacquez Green's chances of being an impact player, finally. I don't like Reidel Anthony's chances of doing the same. I do, however, like the chances of Chris Doering, speaking of ex-Florida receivers. The guy dives around like he's playing for his football life, which he is.

[GatorEye]

Watching him as a Gator, I first thought of him as slow and unathletic. I was wondering how he could even be on scholarship much less on the field with all the other talent we had at receiver. Yet week after week he was making the big catches and always seemed to be so wide open. As our announcer used to say - "Doering was quaranteened for a touchdown!"

Maybe he appeared to be such a small threat that the defense ignored him and just let him run free. It's hard to imagine that week after week though.

He reminds me of Wayne Chrebet only he's had a better career than Doering. Maybe that will change now that he is in the right system.

[DeathByLinebacker]

Doering's also way taller than Chrebet. One thing he brings that the other WR contenders don't is 6'5".

[W&M]

For those who were wondering whether Rod Gardner can get open or not ... please don't look at last year for evidence.

Last year, we run a bunch of hooks, comebacks, curls, trails .... the kind of stuff that doesn't excactly help a WR explode out of cuts and into space. Then you add to that the fact that our QB sucked and were late with the ball .. and our WR's look covered.

Spurrier will give these guys a chance to make their space and be players.

Personally, I'm not worried at all about gardner. Aside from obvious size and strength, he also has tremendous leg explosion (watch him jump) which will given him that separation.

As for Speed, no Gardner is not a J.Gree or R.MOss, but I'll be he's faster than C.Carter, H.Moore, M.Irvin, and K.Johnson. And he did manage to get deep last year. He can run fast enough, particularly if a DB has defend all routes.

I'm not worried about Rod at all. Ditto for J.Green and Locket ... nd I still think D.Thompson is due for his year!

[Hoosierskin]

We have been over this time and again! It is the ability to get open and run precise routes that matter! Not speed!

In a nutshell, Gardner will flourish in Spurrier's system because Spurrier thought highly enough of him to recruit him. He ended up at Clemson but now he finally gets his chance with Spurrier.

Gardner had a great rookie season despite Marty ball. I would also say that it was Gardner who did not have as many drops as poor passes thrown his way. He adjusted and almost made great catch after great catch. In fact, he had Moss-like catches on many occasions during the season. So to say he cannot catch the ball is ridiculous. It is a team sport! Look who was throwing him the ball!

[codeorama]

I don't know how much speed he has, but he was legit while I was there Fri-Sun. He caught several TD's, at least 1 vs. the #1 D, and he was open alot. I think he will and should make the team because he was all over the place catching balls and played special teams as well.

[OrangeSkin]

C'mon people, he is WHITE! This his main problem. He would be on the level of Randy Moss right now, but he is the wrong color. Same with Skaggs. This kid would have landed at FSU or Miami, but they were like, "Oh, damn cracka thinks he can play some ball!"

I'm kidding, in case you didn't notice.