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The Official ES 2021 Free Agency Thread / Tracker Fitzpatrick, Curtis Samuel, William Jackson, LB Mayo, C Larsen WR Humphries, CB D. Roberts, KR D. Carter , LT Charles Leno, S Bobby McCain signed

Riggo-toni

By Riggo-toni
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bakedtater1

bakedtater1

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29 minutes ago, jsharrin55 said:

For those who have more time and/or more knowledge.  They keep saying Fitz hasn’t been to the playoffs.  I know he signed with a torn down Miami team.  Has he ever had a solid defense on the other side?  Ever had a solid oline and weapons?  I like the pickup, just curious how excited I should get.  Haha

I love this post..seriously..I was thinking the same thing earlier....we desperately need someone opposite of Terry Mclaurin..if so and with competent wr play and our d a second year in the books he could do good

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Skinsinparadise

Skinsinparadise

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Posted (edited)

 

Few wide receivers have been dealt a tougher hand than Terry McLaurin during his first two seasons in the league, but that could all change thanks to the free-agency acquisition of quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick.

The veteran signal-caller agreed to terms with the Washington Football Team on a one-year deal worth $10 million, ESPN's Adam Schefter reported on Monday. He will enter training camp as the presumptive Week 1 starter, with competition from Taylor Heinicke and Kyle Allen.

 

McLaurin hasn’t had anything approaching plus quarterback play during his time in D.C.  So far, the budding star has dealt with a combination of Case Keenum, Dwayne Haskins and Alex Smith under center (save for cameos from Colt McCoy, Allen and Heinicke). Over McLaurin’s career, that group has combined for an overall PFF grade of 62.4, 29th in the league. They are even lower in terms of expected points added (EPA) per play (30th), and the group is actually being dragged up by the performances from Smith and Heinicke late last season.

 

Bad quarterback play is never a good thing for a young wide receiver, but McLaurin has been hamstrung not just by the quality of the players throwing him the football but also by their style of play.

 

Smith has long been one of the league's most pathologically conservative passers, and that tendency was even more pronounced when he came back from injury in 2020. His 5.4-yard average depth of target was the lowest in the league by over a full yard, and Allen (6.4), Keenum (6.7) and

 

McCoy (7.3) weren’t much better during their appearances in the starting role. Haskins made it up to 7.9 yards on average, which would have ranked 29th out of 41 qualifying quarterbacks in 2020.

The entire quarterback room has combined for just 38 big-time throws over McLaurin's two seasons in Washington. The top five quarterbacks in the league had more big-time throws than that in 2020 alone — and that doesn't even include the ones they added in the playoffs.

Ryan Fitzpatrick vs. Past Washington Football Team QBs: PFF grade and rank since 2019 (among QBs with 250 or more dropbacks)

QB PFF Grade Rank
Ryan Fitzpatrick 76.0 18th of 44
Alex Smith 66.9 29th of 44
Dwayne Haskins 56.6 41st of 44
Kyle Allen 53.4 43rd of 44
Case Keenum 54.9 42nd of 44
 

DeVante Parker had been underachieving in Miami until Fitzpatrick entered the lineup in 2019. Then he had a breakout season in which he ranked fourth in the league in receiving yards while finishing with nine touchdowns. Both Parker (8th) and fellow Miami receiver Preston

Williams (3rd) ranked in the top 10 in terms of contested-target percentage, showing Fitzpatrick's willingness to let them go up and make plays.

Not only does Fitzpatrick know that those 50-50 shots are an inevitable part of the game, but he also embraces it. Last season, after he had been benched for Tua Tagovailoa and then put back into the game after Tua had struggled, he was caught on camera coaching the young rookie up on the sideline and explaining that sometimes quarterbacks have to throw a contested ball. His logic was simple: sometimes quarterbacks aren't going to have all day to get through a progression to find somebody who is as open as they would like them to be.

 

This is certainly true generally in the NFL, but Fitzpatrick has probably always been more unhesitant to pull that trigger than other passers. It's not always great for his stats or even the team, but it will certainly give a boost to a wide receiver’s best friend — opportunity.

McLaurin has seen 219 targets since he came into the league, 21st among all receivers over that time, but he has been almost the only viable target in Washington. He trails Allen Robinson II, who can make a similar claim, by more than 80 targets.

 

Fitzpatrick coming on board should generate a rapid increase in McLaurin’s target volume. And it will only get higher if Fitzpatrick can provide enough of an upgrade at quarterback to allow the team to sustain some more drives and be more efficient on offense.

Fitzpatrick has been quietly playing the best football of his career over the last three years, yet he is only ever seen as a bridge to a new young quarterback. He ranks 15th among 42 qualifying passers in PFF passing grade over those three seasons, making him a slightly above-average passer in any given season.

Edited by Skinsinparadise
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CommDownMan

CommDownMan

Posted
Posted
Just now, clskinsfan said:

Doesnt surprise me with how stacked the draft is at the position. 

 

Feel like this happened to RB over time as well.  How many times over the years were RBs drafted top 5 vs now?  With the volume coming out it shouldn't be too surprising to see WR change a bit as well.

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COWBOY-KILLA-

COWBOY-KILLA-

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@bakedtater1 @jsharrin55

 

He should be set up here better than he has in a min. A good D, decent weapons, decent Oline and it’s his Job to lose for the most part.
He’s a little up and down. Has moments of brilliance and moments were he can’t get out of his own way.


He’s been better and more stable the last  4-5 years though. Great team guy, willing to mentor, try’s to positively influence the whole team really.

 

I don’t want to pump sunshine though: he’s 59-86-1 as a starter. The last two times he’s been the starter outright the whole season, he’s produced the following:

 

2019: 3500 yds 20TDs 13 Ints. 15games 5-10

 
2015: 3900 yds 31 TDs 15 Ints 16games 10-6

 

so get ready for a ride, it’s should be fun and may be super fun. I think it’s ok to get a little excited at what could be. 

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CommDownMan

CommDownMan

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5 minutes ago, COWBOY-KILLA- said:

@bakedtater1 @jsharrin55

 

He should be set up here better than he has in a min. A good D, decent weapons, decent Oline and it’s his Job to lose for the most part.
He’s a little up and down. Has moments of brilliance and moments were he can’t get out of his own way.


He’s been better and more stable the last  4-5 years though. Great team guy, willing to mentor, try’s to positively influence the whole team really.

 

I don’t want to pump sunshine though: he’s 59-86-1 as a starter. The last two times he’s been the starter outright the whole season, he’s produced the following:

 

2019: 3500 yds 20TDs 13 Ints. 15games 5-10

 
2015: 3900 yds 31 TDs 15 Ints 16games 10-6

 

so get ready for a ride, it’s should be fun and may be super fun. I think it’s ok to get a little excited at what could be. 

 

But I know that Miami 5-10 was not *meant* to be a great team.  That was Tank for Tua year, right?  I feel like he took a team that was supposed to win 0 games and got to 5.  So I'm probably going to get a bit too excited...haha. 

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