Free Agent Fits: Wide Receiver

Taking a look at a couple of wide receivers that the Washington Commanders could potentially target in free agency

While Washington Commanders new general manager Adam Peters played down the likelihood of Washington being big spenders in free agency this week, the fact remains that the team has a lot of cap space and a lot of holes to fill. It’s probably true that they won’t be signing many flashy names at the top of the market because they do have a lot of needs and the money can only stretch so far, plus Peters wants to focus more on building through the draft and supplementing through free agency. But I suspect they will still be pretty active. Look back to Adam Peters first year with the 49ers for example, they didn’t splash out on many big contracts, but they did add 12 players in the first week of free agency. 

Earlier this week I took a look at a few interior offensive lineman that the Commanders could look to target in free agency. Today I thought I’d look at some wide receivers. Receiver might not necessarily seam like a huge need for Washington given the team has Terry McLaurin on a big contract and a first-round pick invested in Jahan Dotson. But behind those two, Washington is lacking. Curtis Samuel is a free agent the team could certainly look to retain and this draft class is loaded with receiver talent, so they could certainly look to boost the group that way, but there are some supplemental options in free agency the team could consider. 

Now as we’ve established, Washington is highly unlikely to be at the top of the market for wide receivers. Anyone dreaming of Tee Higgins, Michael Pittman or Mike Evans will be let down, especially as those three guys will likely be franchise tagged and retained by their own teams. But you don’t have to shop at the top of the market to find some players that can fit. So here are two options that could be potential fits for Washington. 

Good value: Josh Reynolds, 29

Reynolds isn’t the household name that will sell tickets and get fans excited, but that’s not what Washington need. They have Terry McLaurin as the fan favorite receiver, so what they need is depth and experience at the position with skill sets to round out the group. The knock on Washington’s wide receiver room for a while now has been lack of size. McLaurin is 6-foot, Dotson is 5-foot-11. Even if Samuel is brought back, he’s also 5-11. Reynolds is 6-foot-3 and would immediately add some variable size to the room. 

But it’s not just size that Reynolds offers. Reynolds is a physical receiver that is not afraid of contact. He will stick his nose in to go make a catch knowing he’ll take a big hit to do so. That kind of willingness to sacrifice your body to make a play for the team endears him to not only his quarterback, but also the rest of the team. 

Here you can see a few examples of Reynolds physicality. On the first play of this clip, Reynolds runs right up the seam as part of a four verticals concept. The Seahawks rotate to a Cover-3 scheme, meaning Reynolds' route up the seam is the primary option for the quarterback. That’s indeed where the ball goes, but the deep safety does his best to make up ground and get across to try and break up the pass. He’s not able to get there in time to prevent the ball from getting to Reynolds, but he does arrive just a fraction after the ball and lands a big hit on the receiver. Reynolds does a great job keeping his focus on securing the pass and just takes the hit on the chin. He’s rewarded for his toughness with a touchdown as a result. 

On the second play of the clip, Reynolds aligns outside to the right of the formation and runs what’s known as a “now slant”. He breaks inside almost immediately off the snap and looks for the ball from his quarterback, who pulls up from faking a hand off to make the throw as quickly as possible. With the play happening so close to the red zone, the corner and safety aren’t that far away, but Reynolds does well to use his size to shield the ball from the corner and then brace for impact from the safety. Again he takes another big hit from the safety, but again he doesn’t shy away from it and does his best to fight for every possible yard available. 

That willingness to be physical is key for certain styles of offense. The Lions, for example, love to try and attack the middle of the field but there are receivers who shy away from going over the middle due to the number of bodies in the middle of the field that can lead to a lot more punishment. Reynolds is not someone that shies away from that and will happily run over the middle all game if required. 

In this clip you’ll see multiple examples of Reynolds catching the ball over the middle of the field. On the first play, Reynolds runs the deep dig part of a dagger concept. The window to make this catch is pretty tight, with four Rams defenders around him, but Reynolds doesn’t back down and instead focuses on going to make a play on the ball. He does just that, making a nice hands catch away from his body despite a flash of a defender across his face late. He then continues after the catch over the middle for additional yards, bouncing off a few defenders and absorbing more contact in the process. 

In the second play of the clip, you’ll see Reynolds make another nice adjustment to the ball. He again runs a deep dig route, but this time on the back side of the play. The quarterback works to his right off the snap before coming back across the field to find Reynolds. He anticipates the throw well, trusting Reynolds to clear behind the underneath defender, but Reynolds gets there a little quicker than the quarterback anticipated. That forces Reynolds to adjust to a ball that is slightly behind him. He does a great job jumping to slow his momentum and turn his body to make the catch look as smooth as possible. Once he secures the pass, he continues turning in the air and lands facing the end zone so he can seamlessly continue up the field for a big gain after the catch. 

He makes another adjustment in the third play of the clip, again turning back to a ball put on him rather than out in front. This enables him to spin out of the catch away from the inside defender and again get vertical to maximize the gain. On the fourth and final play of the clip, Reynolds again works over the middle and this time does a good job shutting his route down. The throw is deliberately placed behind him because the safety over the top is ready to drive down on anything out in front. Reynolds recognizes the intent of the throw and throttles down his route, turning back to the ball and pivoting up the field away from the incoming safety, gaining an extra seven yards after the catch. 

The latest version of Kliff Kingsbury’s offense that we’ve seen, the 2022 Arizona Cardinals, showed that Kingsbury likes to find ways to attack the middle of the field. To do that, you need receivers that are physical and willing to take the potential punishment that comes with that. Terry McLaurin is of course an ideal candidate for that, but Reynolds would give Washington another option with a bit more size to help out. 

Reynolds has never been a big name receiver, but he has been a glue guy on multiple successful teams. He was drafted by Sean McVay’s Rams and learned there how to be more than just a pass catcher. Obviously he learned how to run routes and the importance of his alignment and the details of his breaks to attack leverage, but he also learned how to make himself valuable in other ways. Receivers can be an extremely valuable part of the run game with their willingness and ability to block. With McVay’s Rams, receivers being able to block is a must. The same is true for the Lions under Dan Campbell and Ben Johnson. We’ve already seen Reynolds is a physical receiver and that translates to the run game too.