I absolutely love the Josh Doctson pick. Love it, love it, love it! The kid is a star. I love the player. I love the skills. I love the lack of off-field issues. I love his head coach at TCU. I love how this pick is a plan for both the immediate, and the future. Heck, I even love the name! It just rolls off the tongue. Doctson has it all.
First off, Doctson can get up. He put up a 41-inch vertical at the combine, and is probably the best receiver in this draft at high-pointing the football. He does not have the blazing speed of fellow rookies Corey Coleman or Will Fuller, both of whom who were selected before Doctson, but he still ran a surprisingly speedy 4.50 40-yard dash at the combine. Doctson may not be a straight-line burner like Coleman or Fuller, but he is much more reliable in intermediate routes. Coleman had 10 drops a year ago, and Fuller catches the ball with his body, struggling with drops throughout his Notre Dame career. Doctson might not be able to consistently out-run defenders, but his leaping ability and size (6’2) mean that he will be able to out-jump smaller cornerbacks on deep balls. At the very least, he comes in as an automatic red-zone threat for quarterback Kirk Cousins (his 25 touchdowns over the last two years show he has a nose for the end zone).
Doctson fits well with what the Redskins are doing right now. Last season, Jay Gruden let Cousins really air it out. The running game was not much of a threat, but Washington still consistently moved the ball downfield because of the weapons around Cousins: WR DeSean Jackson, WR Pierre Garcon, and TE Jordan Reed. If all those guys are healthy and performing in 2016, then Doctson just adds to the embarrassment of riches at wideout. But Jackson and Reed provide injury concerns (Jackson missed six games last year, Reed has missed 14 games in his first three seasons), while Garcon turns 30 in August and has seen his production start to slip since 2013. If any of these players start to miss time or underperform, then Cousins will still have another go-to guy in Doctson.
Doctson also allows the Redskins to part ways with either Garcon or Jackson after the season. Garcon will be a free agent after 2016, and Jackson can be easily cut from his expensive deal. A productive season from Doctson gives Washington more flexibility at the wide receiver spot next offseason.
Receiver might not have been the biggest need for the Redskins in this draft, but Doctson is an incredible talent who does fill a hole for Washington. Coming into the draft, the Redskins had a plan to take the best player available, and they stuck with that strategy. GM Scot McCloughan’s draft approach created phenomenal depth at a skill position, which could send this already successful offense into another stratosphere.