Redskins’ rookie wide receivers struggle

Published 11:09 pm Saturday, October 18, 2008

WASHINGTON — On an unseasonably warm afternoon last week, the Washington Redskins’ wide receivers waited their turn to catch balls lobbed over their shoulders. Malcolm Kelly, a rookie from Oklahoma, stood with his helmet off at the back of the line. Devin Thomas, a rookie from Michigan State, made a move on cornerback Justin Tryon, yet another rookie. Thomas caught the ball and began yelling in mock celebration. He and Kelly then ran at each other, jumped in the air, bumped chests.

That, though, has been about the extent of delight for Kelly and Thomas. There remains a huge gulf between such midweek moments of frivolity and what happens on Sunday. The Redskins selected the two wide receivers in the second round of this year’s draft precisely because they have a quality Santana Moss does not. Moss is 5 feet 10. Thomas is 6-2; Kelly is 6-4. They were to be the options quarterback Jason Campbell could turn to on those days when Moss drew attention he could not overcome.

To this point, it hasn’t worked that way. Thomas and Kelly have combined for five catches. “These rookies, at least our guys, are seeing that it’s much harder than it looks,” coach Jim Zorn said before the St. Louis game.

The previous week, against Philadelphia, Thomas was on the field enough to help the offense when Campbell was struggling to get the ball to Moss. In the third quarter, as they held on to a two-point lead and faced third down, Zorn called a quick pass to Moss, who was lined up to Campbell’s left. Thomas lined up wide left as well. His job, eventually, was to block.

Campbell took the snap and immediately made the pass. Thomas laid into his man. Moss caught the ball. And then the penalty flag came out. Offensive pass interference on Thomas. Moss’ catch, as well as a first down, were erased. One play later, the Redskins punted.

“In that situation, what Devin did was completely out of character for the play,” wide receivers coach Stan Hixon said. “There wasn’t much more to say. The players knew it. He knew it. He made a mistake.”

But at this level, and at this point in Thomas’ development, mistakes have ramifications.

“We tried to get Devin Thomas more and more involved,” Zorn said later that week. “He has to play with more and more discipline, or he’s going to get less and less play. … He’s not ready, really, to take on any kind of responsibility, to be honest with you. We’re having to spoon-feed him there.”

Moss is part of the spoon-feeding. When the Redskins took the two wide receivers in the draft, Moss looked at it not as a threat but as a potential benefit. Unsolicited, Moss has approached the young wide receivers when he noticed a flaw in their technique.

Moss believes what the rookies have could help the Redskins, and therefore help him. Yet of the top 25 offenses in the league, only one other team, San Diego, has failed to get three wide receivers at least six catches. Moss has 29, Antwaan Randle El 26, but veteran James Thrash has just five. Thomas has four, Kelly — active for only two games because of a nagging knee injury — just one.

On Wednesday afternoon, Thomas trudged off the practice field, dripping with sweat. In his left hand, he held the helmet and shoulder pads of Randle El, a rookie doing a rookie’s duty, to this point the most he or Kelly have been able to help the team.

“What you gonna do?” Thomas said. “They give you their wisdom, you can’t blow them off.”