What's the Story With McCants?

The thing to remember, though, Ramseyfan, is that McCants missed a significant portion of the minicamps and training camp due to a shoulder injury. That time was critical to his learning the offense, and it also allowed guys like Thrash and Jacobs to establish themselves on the depth chart. So it's not just that once McCants actually did start practicing, that he didn't perform well; he had two other solid receivers competing with him that didn't miss nearly as much practice time as he did, and they both performed exceedingly well-- showing a good understanding of the offense, running excellent routes, and catching nearly all of the passes that were thrown their way.

Yes, Gibbs watched film of McCants, and was excited about his potential, and that's why they signed him to a nice new contract. But once that deal was signed, McCants simply didn't show up in practice. I don't care how good he looked at times last year, he had to carry that over and show improvement in the offseason in order for Gibbs to want to put him on the field. Obviously, that wasn't the case.

There are some people that practice well and others who play well. McCants is the latter and not the former. But, that isn't sufficient justification, in my mind, to keep him off the field. Thrash and Jacobs are excellent recievers, however, neither of them are the tall big jumping red zone target that McCants is; they're both speedy deep-threats. I'd like to see McCants in the mix because our current lineup has not been as effective in the red zone as I'd like.

I also am unsure as to why the Rock is not in on short-yardage situations. He pushes the pile and proved his ability to do so last year when Dockery was a rookie and Samuels was injured. He just seemed to be able to do what Portis has been relatively unsuccessful at - 3rd and short situations.

I've been puzzled by a few personnel moves Gibbs has made:

-cutting Bauman but keeping Jimoh (yes I know Bauman was short)
-cutting Ohalete but keeping Clark (yes I know Ohalete wasn't speedy)
-bringing in a 34 year old QB in Brunell for $40 million
-cutting Regan Upshaw but keeping Demetric Evans

I don't question that Gibbs will bring us a SB trophy and I know I don't know half of what he knows, but some of his personnel moves have left me saying, "he did what?"

I think the decisions to keep Evans and Clark were because Blache and Williams wanted young speedsters to fit the defensive scheme

ohalete didn't want to be here once sean was drafted...

I've got to say that I like what I've seen with Gardner. I was ready to lynch him early but he is coming around as a Redskin guy. He doesn't blame Brunell, stresses teamwork and of late has been making the catches when the ball actually is thrown in the field of play.

I've been puzzled by a few personnel moves Gibbs has made:

-cutting Bauman but keeping Jimoh (yes I know Bauman was short)
-cutting Ohalete but keeping Clark (yes I know Ohalete wasn't speedy)
-bringing in a 34 year old QB in Brunell for $40 million
-cutting Regan Upshaw but keeping Demetric Evans

I don't question that Gibbs will bring us a SB trophy and I know I don't know half of what he knows, but some of his personnel moves have left me saying, "he did what?"
So now we're second guessing cutting Bauman, Ohalete and Upshaw? I guess I'm missing something here, but to me it seems we don't miss these guys one bit.

There are some people that practice well and others who play well. McCants is the latter and not the former. But, that isn't sufficient justification, in my mind, to keep him off the field. Thrash and Jacobs are excellent recievers, however, neither of them are the tall big jumping red zone target that McCants is; they're both speedy deep-threats. I'd like to see McCants in the mix because our current lineup has not been as effective in the red zone as I'd like.
I agree that some players simply don't perform well in practice, but they bring the goods on gameday. I also agree that Jacobs and Thrash don't possess the physical attributes that makes McCants a solid red zone threat. But there's also a numbers game to consider, as far as the active roster limit of 45 players, and there are several factors that play into McCants not being a part of that active list:

1) Gibbs likes to have lots of O-linemen and TEs available for substitutions and injuries. He has been carrying 8 O-linemen and 4 TE/H-backs on the active roster for each game. The linemen are needed for depth, and the top three TEs/H-backs all see frequent action in offensive sets, while the 4th (usually Royal) is mostly a special teamer. Remember, Spurrier had little use for tight ends and H-backs.

2) The heavy use of TEs and H-backs limits the opportunities for multiple receiver sets; generally Gibbs uses no more than 3 wideouts in any formation. He only carries 4 wideouts on the gameday active roster. Spurrier carried at least five.

3) The 4th receiver must play well on special teams. McCants apparently doesn't fit the bill there. Thrash has been excellent on punt coverage, and his special teams skills are a major reason why the Redskins traded for him.

4) Jacobs has been seeing more and more action as the 3rd receiver, and also as Coles' reliever, and he seems to be gaining the confidence and favor of the coaching staff. Jacobs also plays special teams.

5) Gregg Williams uses a lot of players on defense, and all of the non-starters are special teams contributors.

6) The primary red-zone threats at this point are Gardner and Cooley. Both are big, physical receivers, who also have performed well enough outside of the red-zone to be starters. McCants would be more of a red-zone specialist, and since there is little room on the active roster for non-starters who don't contribute to special teams, that specialization makes him a less appealing option for the active roster.

So now we're second guessing cutting Bauman, Ohalete and Upshaw? I guess I'm missing something here, but to me it seems we don't miss these guys one bit.

Bauman was a solid nickel in my opinion and made an oustanding dimeback. So yes, I'm second guessing cutting him in favor of Ade Jimoh.

Ohalete was a ball hawk, even if somewhat raw. I remember there were a TON of Iffy fans on this site (me included). So when he is cut in favor of Ryan Clark, yes, I have my doubts.

Upshaw was pegged as our starting RDE last year. Granted, he got us more penalties than sacks, but he at least had the potential to provide a pass-rush from the line (not the secondary or LBs). He wasn't starting quality and was rightly supplanted by Daniels, but he was a better backup than Demetric Evans and he had a small salary.

Our defense has performed marvelously, so ultimately, the credit goes to the coaching staff and players currently on our roster. However, I personally liked Bauman and Ohalete and was a little confused when they were cut. They weren't exactly slow or too costly to keep (both had league minimum salaries).

Our defense has performed marvelously, so ultimately, the credit goes to the coaching staff and players currently on our roster.
Well said. I guess we don't miss those guys after all.

They're not exactly tearing it up elsewhere and Upshaw is out of football completely.

bauman was a decent gunner on ST too, but we have 3 good corners and i guess ade was better on ST this year...

all this talk about gardner, thrash, jacobs improving and mccants not activated is making my head spin... what does it really matter when our quarterback's best years are about a half decade behind him?