[UPDATE] HTTR24-7; Film Sessions: Leonard Hankerson and Josh Morgan's 2012 Season Targets and Catches (VIDEO)

[KCClybun]

 

 

 

 

 

Leonard Hankerson

57 Targets
38 Receptions
6 Drops
543 Yards
3 Touchdowns

Discussions about Leonard Hankerson are always interesting. Hankerson was drafted in 2011 and was hyped up to be a potential starting receiver from day one. Instead, he spent half of his rookie season inactive, and after a break out game versus Miami, he was injured and on the shelf again.

The disappointment in Hankerson not turning into our number one receiver, the addition of Josh Morgan and Pierre Garçon, not to mention the spectre of a couple receivers Vinny Cerrato drafted that turned out to be bust, has colored opinion of him a touch.

 

http://httr24-7.com/film-room/film-sessions-leonard-hankersons-2012-season-targets-and-catches-video/'>Click here to read more

 

 

 

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Just finished Josh.

 

 

49 Receptions
78 Targets
7 Drops
510 Yards
2 Touchdowns

The signing of Josh Morgan was met with some raised eyebrows a year ago, but the D.C born Redskin quickly won people over with his work ethic and attitude…and then lost it after a boneheaded but completely overblown penalty versus the Rams. Still, Morgan seemed to redeem himself in the eyes of most fans with his hard running and a few spectacular catches.

 

Click here to read more.

[LiveStrongSkins]

I've said for a while now we need to be patient with Hankerson. A lot of what he struggles with is mental. As he matures as a player he will start to break through. Third round picks need time to develop, last year was essentially his rookie year. The facts are he is fast, he's strong, and has the ability to get deep.

[bedlamVR]

There will be people who will come on with their minds made up about Hankerson - I think a lot of the critisims of Hankerson have some merit but watching that video, especially for the first few minutes you have to be wondering what Hankerson is doing on the field ... in the early games the only catches he made were when he was WIIIIIDE open on fairly simple crossing patterns ... Worse he seemed to avoid contact and have fairly limited awareness of where he was on the field going down short of the marker etc...

 

But then you watch a little longer and past the Steelers game and there is a mood change, by the time you get to the second giants and first Eagles games and you see him gaining confidence and getting his feet beneath him - I think the Browns game you see him snatching the ball out the air with 4 defenders near by .. 

 

What I am getting at is throughout the season there is a definite change in his game ( an improvement from game 1 to game 16) and if that improvement continues then maybe he can be a keeper ... Will he be a No.1. in the Andre Johnson/Calvin Johnson mold ... will he be nothing but a frustrating tease of talent and size that never contributes more than 600 yards a season .... - give me a time machine and I will get back to you on that ...but what I saw was a guy developing on the field ...

 

before you bash him remember this is only year 3 and remember where he was taken ... if he had no flaws in his game he would not have slipped to the 3rd round ... you want to get your dominant receiver in the 3rd and 4th round like TO or Branden Marshell you have to give him similar amounts of time to get his game on - neither TO or BM had amazing break out rookie seasons - You also have to give someone coming off a major injury a little more leeway ....

 

Let the bashing go on ...

[520skins]

Last year at the beginning of the season he seemed pretty tentative but im assuming that was due to him not having full confidence in his hip. As the season progressed and his rapport w rgIII grew he became more aggressive and his confidence built. In my opinion i think hank will have a big season this yr w a full season under his belt and a full healthy offseason as well

[TSO]

I've had the same opinion since last year after the hip injury: I think Hankerson is underrated around here, however, there are two aspects of his game that I'm most worried about that he has yet to show much improvement on.

 

First is his physicality. He has the body to be REALLY annoying to tackle for DBs, but he basically starts going down almost immediately and allows them to just basically jump on him. He almost never lowers his shoulder and punishes them for trying to tackle him.

 

Second is his deep ball skills. I never liked them. He seems to have trouble adjusting to the trajectory of the ball and going to get it at it's highest point when deep. He can do it fine on anything short to intermediate. But once he's deep the ball basically has to fall in his lap and there can be no one around him for it to be a catch.  

 

What's interesting is I said the same thing last offseason, and what we saw this year from him was much the same except, towards the end, he started to improve a bit in not going down as easily. But not enough. He still lacks the will to punish would be tacklers. As noted already by a few posters, though, that may have been due to his hip injury and it taking some time for him to be confident enough. Still, even though he did improve towards the end, like I said, he has yet to show me a willingness to punish guys. Garcon LOOKS for that chance. Morgan does as well. 

 

My hope is that he finally improves in both of those areas because, if he does, HE IS a no. 1 WR. The guy has all the tools. I don't think people recognize just how fast and smooth he is in pads out on the field. His size makes him look a lot slower than he is. If he gets better at both of those things, he's going to be just as good as Garcon is for us. Yes, I totally stand by that.     

[KCClybun]

...Do wide receivers do a lot of lowering the shoulders to punish defenders?

 

I mean, Calvin Johnson is in-freaking-credible, but I can't remember a time when he ever trucked a DB. Stiff armed the crap out of them, maybe, but never really lowering the shoulder. I think being a wide receiver requires a different kind of physicality. I agree that he does have to get better at breaking tackles, but I do like that he's always gets upfield, even if he does get tackled. A minimal gain can still be a gain. I think more functional strength could help him improve in that area.

 

 

As for his deep ball, no, he's not the best deep ball guy. I do think that a decent amount of the flack he gets for it is somewhat overplayed. I went back and watched those deep balls, and I don't know if I'd define all those balls as a simple manner of jumping up to get it or diving to make a catch. When the quarterback can put the ball on your hands you don't really have to dive.

[2v2nv]

To me it looked like he was afraid of getting hit. It looks like he is usually trying to get the ground after every catch. In the beginning of the video it looked like Rg3 was trusting hanks height, hoping he would catch while blanketed. Later in the movie they seemed to cut back on that.

He doesn't look too explosive after the catch either which may be part of what I mentioned earlier or the injury.

I will say one thing, watching rg3 zip the ball out quickly was fun to see again. It looks like he knew the defenses play before they even snapped it. Pass protection on that movie didn't look terrible in that either.

[TSO]

...Do wide receivers do a lot of lowering the shoulders to punish defenders?

 

I mean, Calvin Johnson is in-freaking-credible, but I can't remember a time when he ever trucked a DB. Stiff armed the crap out of them, maybe, but never really lowering the shoulder. I think being a wide receiver requires a different kind of physicality. I agree that he does have to get better at breaking tackles, but I do like that he's always gets upfield, even if he does get tackled. A minimal gain can still be a gain. I think more functional strength could help him improve in that area.

 

 

As for his deep ball, no, he's not the best deep ball guy. I do think that a decent amount of the flack he gets for it is somewhat overplayed. I went back and watched those deep balls, and I don't know if I'd define all those balls as a simple manner of jumping up to get it or diving to make a catch. When the quarterback can put the ball on your hands you don't really have to dive.

 

I hope you're not getting me wrong here, I love Hank and think it's unfortunate how hard people here are on him. When people were all over him about his dropped balls, I defended him on that and said he just needed to improve (even slightly) in two areas to become a star. That was last year around this time. I just want to see him become the super star he has the talent to become. The guy has it all. I want him to USE IT ALL. Heck, if he stays at the level he's at right now, I think he's a good no. 2 WR.   

 

As for most WRs lowering their shoulders, no, they do not. I probably was overstating that, when what I meant was just being more punishing overall. Lowering the shoulders just happened to be the only thing I could think of. Stiff arms, keeping balance and letting guys bounce off, etc... are all part of what I meant with that. Hankerson has the body to do so and our coaches placed a special emphasis on YAC which has a lot to do with being aggressive and punishing tacklers. Isn't that why we gave Garcon all that money? Garcon's physicality simply can't be compared with Hank's right now. 

 

And I agree, I like Hank's ability to turn up the field quickly. I mentioned in my post how underrated his speed is. 

 

As for Calvin Johnson, he definitely uses his body better than Hankerson after the catch, that's for sure. And especially on the deep ball. If he doesn't lower his shoulders, that's fine, but as you mentioned he stiff-arms the heck out of guys. That's just being physical in a different way. I mean, I guess it doesn't just have to be about lowering shoulders... I just want to see Hank make it hard on guys to tackle him. He simply doesn't do it except with his speed. The guy is a beast and can pummel some of the DBs that he just lets jump on him because he's already diving to the ground as soon as he feels them near. Forget even pummeling, I want to see him let them just bounce off of him. Just once, lol. Instead, he almost gives them the tackle by sort of leaning into them.

 

And I don't think I'm overstating his deep ball issues at all. I think the coaches feel the same way. He was getting a ton of deep ball opportunities early on in the season and then it was almost completely taken away from him. He just doesn't get to the high point of the ball that well on deep balls. Santana Moss, who is plenty shorter, does a much better job of it. Now, the emergence of Robinson going deep may have also been a contributing factor, but had Hankerson shown from early on that he can make plays happen deep more often than not and when the ball isn't perfectly thrown, Robinson may have never even got the chance.        

[Momma There Goes That Man]

I like Hankerson, I am excited to see how he develops. Even if he never improves beyond what he was last year he can still be a very good #2/3 WR for us.

I do hope he continues to improve for us though and utilizes his full skillset and measurables to become a dominant WR to defend. Having that opposite Garçon would be a nightmare.

[Skinsinparadise]

Agree with the sentiment that he needs another year to establish himself.   I guess for me and granted I could be totally wrong becuase its a small sample and I don't of course see practice -- for better or worse, Santana, Morgan, Garcon seem to play tough and with spunk.  Hankerson doesn't come across that way to me -- ditto in his interviews.  I recall Trevor Matich watching the Redskins in camp and highlighting on the air that Hankerson as the guy he has doubts about becuase he says he practices with a notable lack of intensity. 

 

Then conversly I was at the game a year ago against Miami where he was an animal and dominating and I thought this dude is the real deal.     

[RG3Hunna]

I honestly think hankerson just doesn't fit what we're trying to do here from the WR position (not saying he's bad or anything but we do put an emphasis on yac). Hankerson looks like a solid young possession receiver, but I think what is holding him back is his fear of being hit. I can spot countless times in that video where he doesn't even fight for yardage,which is laughable at his size. I've seen brandon banks fight for yards get lit up and get back up in to the defenders face.

 

Not every WR has to be a superstar, I get that. not every receiver has to be physical, I get that also but 4:30 in the video your team is down 13-20 in the 4th quarter it's 3rd and 14 and you go down 1 yard short to avoid contact? There's several instances in the video where Hank gave up and went down if a defender was in his way. It really makes you question if he wants it bad enough? Is he really giving you 100% or is he running with a swivel scared to take a hit? Because the tools are there for Hank to be a solid #2.

 

The positive is Hank is very young but i'm afraid if he never gets over that fear of being hit he will be replaced, especially with the available cap we have next year.

[KCClybun]

Amukamara took his legs out.

 

I know that was a big deal when it happened, the fact that Hank didn't dive for the first down, but I looked at it time and time and time and time and time again and I could swear Amukamara took his leg out. It looked to me like he was covering up to take a shot from Blackburn and Amukamara clipped his leg and he slid.

 

I don't think he was avoiding contact there. I wish I had the All 22 to get a better look at it, but it really seems to me like Amukamara had more to do with him sliding than Hank being unwilling to take a hit. But maybe that's just me.

[DaGoonie55]

I like this kid.  I think he has the raw talent to be a good player in the league.  I also believe that Morgan, Garcon, and Moss will bring him around.  Intensity is contagious - thats how we won 7 in a row.  I really think he'll come around and be a solid contributor with random games of OWMYGAWD sprinkled throughout.

 

HTTR

 

 

I will say one thing, watching rg3 zip the ball out quickly was fun to see again. It looks like he knew the defenses play before they even snapped it. Pass protection on that movie didn't look terrible in that either.

 

AMEN!!!!!

[bowhunter]

It's obvious that Hanks strength is not running after the catch. I like the kid and would love to see him really turn on however.

[RG3Hunna]

Amukamara took his legs out.

 

I know that was a big deal when it happened, the fact that Hank didn't dive for the first down, but I looked at it time and time and time and time and time again and I could swear Amukamara took his leg out. It looked to me like he was covering up to take a shot from Blackburn and Amukamara clipped his leg and he slid.

 

I don't think he was avoiding contact there. I wish I had the All 22 to get a better look at it, but it really seems to me like Amukamara had more to do with him sliding than Hank being unwilling to take a hit. But maybe that's just me.

I mean I understand what you mean however it's constant with Hankerson, it's like he doesn't even make an effort to fight for yards. I can understand if you make an effort and lose every time, at least you're making the effort, you know what I mean?

 

If you look at his game tape at 1:23 he actually makes an effort to fight for yards it takes 3 defenders to bring him down, he shrugged the first tackler off of him and gained an extra half a yard. If Hankerson could bring that every down and get over his fear he would be a legitimate #2, the tools are there. If you go to 4:22 he gets the 1st down absolutely zero defenders around and he just falls down, there's 3-5 yards extra he could pick up, it's fear that's derailing his potential. 

 

But he's young hopefully he puts it together this year. 

[SWFLSkins]

Look for Hank to continue to develop the way he did at the U. He is a hard worker and not a trouble maker. It is not how you start, but how you finish, He has history of working hard and finishing strong. I think that continues.

[stp240]

Awful display by Hankerson. 

 

I was as excited as anyone about Hank, he came from the U and he was big and fast. 

 

But after watching these 2 videos....I want Briscoe 10 times out of 10.

 

Here he is scratching, clawing for every first down.  The man wants it!  That is a man I want on this football team!  There should be no room for Hankerson on this team after that embarrassing effort last season.  He looks like Antwaan Randle El!  Hank cant even take 3 steps without stumbling.  Calvin Johnson??? are you blind?

 

I hope Shanahan can swallow his ego on this one and admit Briscoe is better than his draft pick.

 

Briscoe at 21 (rookie)    >    Hankerson at 24 (2nd yr)

 

Compare

 

[stp240]

[SJValleySkinz]

 

Devin Thomas' highlights from college are even better so he must be a star in the NFL right?

[KCClybun]

I mean I understand what you mean however it's constant with Hankerson, it's like he doesn't even make an effort to fight for yards. I can understand if you make an effort and lose every time, at least you're making the effort, you know what I mean?

 

If you look at his game tape at 1:23 he actually makes an effort to fight for yards it takes 3 defenders to bring him down, he shrugged the first tackler off of him and gained an extra half a yard. If Hankerson could bring that every down and get over his fear he would be a legitimate #2, the tools are there. If you go to 4:22 he gets the 1st down absolutely zero defenders around and he just falls down, there's 3-5 yards extra he could pick up, it's fear that's derailing his potential. 

 

But he's young hopefully he puts it together this year. 

 

But I also see examples of him not shying away from contact. At 1:13 he gets the first down and then leans head first and gets blasted by the linebacker. 1:40, 2:09, 2:24, 4:05, 5:35, 6:39, 7:17, 7:25, 8:24.

 

I also see a guy who catches the football with his hands above his head quite a bit, which is one of the scarier things a receiver can do.

 

I think Garcon and Morgan are more physical presences, but...I think when I watch Hank, I see a poor man's Hakeem Nicks. I don't think Nicks is like a physical, tackle breaking machine or anything.

[KCClybun]

Awful display by Hankerson. 

 

Briscoe at 21 (rookie)    >    Hankerson at 24 (2nd yr)

 

Yeah, Briscoe is...great.

 

I'm gonna make a highlight video of all 5 targets and 2 catches Briscoe had in a Redskins uniform. Because you may not be aware of this --- perhaps you have a TARDIS and lose track of the year --- but this year (which is the year that Briscoe was actually a Redskins, not a Buccaneer on a team that had zero other options at wide receiver and had no problem releasing a kid clearly more interested in being on crappy VH1 reality shows than playing football) was Briscoe's second year. Same as Hank. Go figure.

 

And Briscoe's 35 receptions for 387 yards, totally better than Hank's 38 receptions for 543. Like, -156 yards better. (Negative numbers are good, right?).

 

But clearly that's just Shanahan draft bias. Not like Josh Morgan had 48 receptions for 510 yards. Or like Briscoe was only active for 6 games.

 

...Oh wait...

[KDawg]

Good job NLC. Let me add, that as a Miami Hurricane fan, I've seen Hank play often. I have said since the day he was drafted that he will make spectacular plays, and then he'll drop some easy ones.

Why he's dropping them seems a bit of a mystery. Some say his vision isn't great. Some say its a lack of focus. Some say its because he tries to turn up field and doesn't watch the ball in. The latter is the reason I suspect he's dropping balls. He wants to make a play so badly that he's turning him head before the ball is caught...

But that's who Hank is. It's who he's always been. He can be a solid NFL wide receiver, but he needs to be given the opportunity to grow a bit. This year he should show some positive strides.

Keep in mind that last year was essentially Hank's rookie year when it comes to gameday burn.

He can be a VERY good possession receiver for us, and I'd anticipate that they'll be seeing if he fits that role like Morgan currently does during this season.

[RG3Hunna]

But I also see examples of him not shying away from contact. At 1:13 he gets the first down and then leans head first and gets blasted by the linebacker. 1:40, 2:09, 2:24, 4:05, 5:35, 6:39, 7:17, 7:25, 8:24.

 

I also see a guy who catches the football with his hands above his head quite a bit, which is one of the scarier things a receiver can do.

 

I think Garcon and Morgan are more physical presences, but...I think when I watch Hank, I see a poor man's Hakeem Nicks. I don't think Nicks is like a physical, tackle breaking machine or anything.

Exactly, yea I agree, I saw instances where he fought for yards, my whole point was if he can be more consistent with that "effort" in regards to fighting for yards it will make him a better player. The tools are there, I think even the most pessimistic hankerson fan can admit Hankerson has tools to be a SOLID #2.  Yea I see a poor man Nicks when I watch Hankerson, however the thing nicks does is fight for yards, even though he loses a lot of those battles, he still gives you everything he has. 

 

But yea I agree with everything you're saying, I just wish he would fight for more yards, he leaves a lot of yards out on the field because he catches the ball turns and if he sees defenders he thinks "drop to the ground" rather than "what move can I make for another yard or two"

 

The good thing though is he packed on some pounds, I think this year he's going to give us that effort. It's scary how good Hankerson could be if he became physical, the instance at 1:23 shows how much of a load he could become if he became more physical and that's prior to the weight gain.

 

But yea thanks for the breakdown NLC, we all love all the work you do. 

[SWFLSkins]

Leave it to NLC and KDawg to use logic and sound reasoning to address the Hankerson question. Great job fellas. I can't really add anything, oh yeah Malcom Kelly and Devin Thomas never added as much as Hank has, one third round pick vs. two two's. 

[RG3Hunna]

Awful display by Hankerson. 

 

I was as excited as anyone about Hank, he came from the U and he was big and fast. 

 

But after watching these 2 videos....I want Briscoe 10 times out of 10.

 

Here he is scratching, clawing for every first down.  The man wants it!  That is a man I want on this football team!  There should be no room for Hankerson on this team after that embarrassing effort last season.  He looks like Antwaan Randle El!  Hank cant even take 3 steps without stumbling.  Calvin Johnson??? are you blind?

 

I hope Shanahan can swallow his ego on this one and admit Briscoe is better than his draft pick.

 

Briscoe at 21 (rookie)    >    Hankerson at 24 (2nd yr)

 

Compare

 

I disagree, though I would like Hankerson to fight for every yard like briscoe shows in the video, Hankerson is still the better WR prospect. We gave briscoe a chance to move up the depth chart, he dropped a wide open catch that would have went for a TD. I would love for briscoe to stay on the roster, but I don't think he beats Hankerson on the depth chart, Hankerson just needs to become more physical, which some players develop that with experience. 

 

I remember when Portis was with us his first year or two(before he packed on all those pounds), we played the giants and he was shying away from contact and instead of punishing defenders he was turning his back scared to take a hit. Then he put on pounds and become one of the more physical players in the league, his pass blocking especially was legendary. I think we need to be patient and allow Hankerson another year to get comfortable before we start talking about getting rid of him.