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James Washington

Can former Steeler emerge in Dallas?

With Amari Cooper in Cleveland and Michael Gallup having torn his ACL in January, the Cowboys are going to need other receivers to step up this season. There's CeeDee Lamb and Dalton Schultz, but a newcomer wideout will need to factor in. Just maybe it will be James Washington.

There was a time a couple of years ago when Washington looked like he was going to be Pittsburgh's latest successful pick at the position. In 2019, he caught 44 passes for a team-high 735 yards and 3 TDs -- more yards that season than either JuJu Smith-Schuster or Diontae Johnson. That was the year Pittsburgh signed Donte Moncrief in the offseason, and he flopped hard and was benched early in the season.

But Washington didn't build on that season; he proceeded to slip behind other wideouts over the past two years. There was a report recently that he's in a walking boot at Cowboys OTAs; expected to be cleared for training camp, but not starting out particularly well in his push for that top-3 job. Maybe Gallup recovers quickly, or maybe the Cowboys have some other youngster step up, like third-rounder Jalen Tolbert.

Looking at the stats for Washington, what stood out was a fairly lousy catch rate over the course of his career. In the four seasons he's been in the league, there have been 76 receivers who have, like Washington, had at least 200 passes thrown their way. Washington has managed to catch just 52 percent of those balls, 3rd-worst. Data from pro-football-reference.com used in compiling this table.

WIDE RECEIVER CATCH RATES (200 TARGETS), 2018-2021
PlayerTgtRecYdsY/RTDCtch%
Michael Thomas387314356811.41881.1
Hunter Renfrow276208229911.11575.4
Tyler Lockett419312425113.63674.5
Cooper Kupp504371464812.53573.6
Chris Godwin427308411813.42872.1
Cole Beasley412296311010.51471.8
Adam Humphries249177180110.2971.1
Davante Adams614432531012.34770.4
Adam Thielen404284344212.13970.3
DeAndre Hopkins537376471612.53270.0
Kendrick Bourne254176231213.11669.3
Keenan Allen589407452511.12669.1
Stefon Diggs573395491112.43368.9
Randall Cobb231159202712.71368.8
Emmanuel Sanders349240308912.91868.8
Amari Cooper460314417313.32868.3
Mohamed Sanu231157172211.0768.0
Deebo Samuel246167259815.61067.9
Tyler Boyd460312374312.02167.8
Jakobi Meyers248168195411.6267.7
Larry Fitzgerald29319819479.81167.6
Sterling Shepard333225247011.01167.6
JuJu Smith-Schuster392265293811.11967.6
Danny Amendola283191210311.0567.5
Russell Gage287193206510.7967.2
Justin Jefferson292196301615.41767.1
Robert Woods467311384512.41866.6
Julio Jones443294427614.51866.4
Brandin Cooks442293397413.61966.3
CeeDee Lamb231153203713.31166.2
Tyreek Hill520343485414.24366.0
Christian Kirk358236290212.31765.9
Jamison Crowder331217236710.91665.6
Dede Westbrook218143144910.1865.6
Calvin Ridley380248334213.52865.3
Antonio Brown300195238112.22465.0
Julian Edelman300195228211.71265.0
Tee Higgins218141199914.21264.7
Curtis Samuel276176199911.41463.8
Marvin Jones388246309712.62763.4
Golden Tate250158185911.81263.2
Allen Robinson465293356112.21863.0
T.Y. Hilton318200286414.31962.9
A.J. Brown295185299516.22462.7
Diontae Johnson405254276410.92062.7
Sammy Watkins249156200712.9962.7
Corey Davis263164236714.41362.4
Terry McLaurin357222309013.91662.2
Mike Evans479297472215.94362.0
Anthony Miller227140158911.41261.7
Marquise Brown317195236112.12161.5
Zay Jones237144156810.9960.8
Jarvis Landry475288356012.41560.6
Tim Patrick236143200914.01260.6
D.J. Moore498301431314.31460.4
Nelson Agholor312188246813.11860.3
D.K. Metcalf358216317014.72960.3
Darnell Mooney238142168611.9859.7
Keelan Cole244145194313.41059.4
Mike Williams370216356716.52658.4
Chris Conley242141190313.51458.3
Zach Pascal258150188812.61558.1
Josh Reynolds226131174213.31058.0
Robby Anderson436250314612.61957.3
Odell Beckham Jr.382218294313.51857.1
DeVante Parker351199281914.21656.7
Chase Claypool214121173314.31156.5
Courtland Sutton312175265815.21256.1
Kenny Golladay343192311216.21856.0
DJ Chark265147204213.91555.5
Michael Gallup348193290215.01555.5
John Brown267147223315.21455.1
A.J. Green273147206514.01153.8
James Washington218114162914.31152.3
Darius Slayton238124183014.81352.1
Marquez Valdes-Scantling247123215317.51349.8

Pittsburgh puts several other receivers on this table who had far better catch rates; they're running shorter routes than Washington, so the kind of work he was doing in the offense was a factor. And I notice Gallup also near the bottom of this table, so maybe not a big deal.

But my overall sense with Washington is his likelihood of hitting in Dallas is probably similar to his catch rate. Not much better than 50-50. Factor in that he's currently dealing with a foot or ankle injury of some sort, and I'm going to be a lot more likely to use a very late pick on Tolbert than a middle-round pick on Washington.

--Andy Richardson

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