Factoid

May 24, 2019

James Washington

Can he be viable No. 2 in Pittsburgh?

With Antonio Brown in Oakland, Pittsburgh needs another wide receiver to step up next to JuJu Smith-Schuster. They signed Donte Moncrief, and that's one possibility, but so is last year's second-rounder James Washington (and this year's third-rounder Diontae Johnson). Who will be the guy?

Washington has a year in the offense and working with Ben Roethlisberger, so there's that. The Steelers drafted Washington in the second round a year ago, which at the time dovetailed with the trade of Martavis Bryant (to Oakland, as it happens). But perhaps they also had an inkling a split with Brown was coming soon.

But he'll need to show a lot more than he did as a rookie. In a couple of late-season games, he caught 3 for 65 against New England and 3 for 64 against Cincinnati. But the overall numbers weren't good. Among all wideouts with at least 30 targets a year ago, only three had a worse catch rate than Washington (and nobody is counting on them to be viable players in 2019).

WIDE RECEIVER CATCH RATES, 2018
Player	Tm	Tgt	Rec	Ctch%	Yds	TD
Michael Thomas	NOR	147	125	85.0%	1405	9
Ryan Switzer	PIT	44	36	81.8%	253	1
Tyler Lockett	SEA	70	57	81.4%	965	10
Phillip Dorsett	NWE	42	32	76.2%	290	3
Cole Beasley	DAL	87	65	74.7%	672	3
Danny Amendola	MIA	79	59	74.7%	575	1
Albert Wilson	MIA	35	26	74.3%	391	4
Adam Thielen	MIN	153	113	73.9%	1373	9
Chester Rogers	IND	72	53	73.6%	485	2
Rashard Higgins	CLE	53	39	73.6%	572	4
Jarius Wright	CAR	59	43	72.9%	447	1
Cooper Kupp	LAR	55	40	72.7%	566	6
Sammy Watkins	KAN	55	40	72.7%	519	3
Adam Humphries	TAM	105	76	72.4%	816	5
Emmanuel Sanders	DEN	98	71	72.4%	868	4
Taylor Gabriel	CHI	93	67	72.0%	688	2
Dontrelle Inman	IND	39	28	71.8%	304	3
Jordy Nelson	OAK	88	63	71.6%	739	3
Keenan Allen	LAC	136	97	71.3%	1196	6
Will Fuller	HOU	45	32	71.1%	503	4
Alshon Jeffery	PHI	92	65	70.7%	843	6
DeAndre Hopkins	HOU	163	115	70.6%	1572	11
Tyler Boyd	CIN	108	76	70.4%	1028	7
Seth Roberts	OAK	64	45	70.3%	494	2
Mohamed Sanu	ATL	94	66	70.2%	838	4
Amari Cooper	2TM	107	75	70.1%	1005	7
Calvin Ridley	ATL	92	64	69.6%	821	10
Stefon Diggs	MIN	149	102	68.5%	1021	9
Julian Edelman	NWE	108	74	68.5%	850	6
Doug Baldwin	SEA	73	50	68.5%	618	5
Brandin Cooks	LAR	117	80	68.4%	1204	5
Keke Coutee	HOU	41	28	68.3%	287	1
Ryan Grant	IND	52	35	67.3%	334	1
D.J. Moore	CAR	82	55	67.1%	788	2
JuJu Smith-Schuster	PIT	166	111	66.9%	1426	7
DaeSean Hamilton	DEN	45	30	66.7%	243	2
Demarcus Robinson	KAN	33	22	66.7%	288	4
Geronimo Allison	GNB	30	20	66.7%	303	2
Julio Jones	ATL	170	113	66.5%	1677	8
Demaryius Thomas	2TM	89	59	66.3%	677	5
Robert Woods	LAR	130	86	66.2%	1219	6
Taywan Taylor	TEN	56	37	66.1%	466	1
Nelson Agholor	PHI	97	64	66.0%	736	4
Laquon Treadwell	MIN	53	35	66.0%	302	1
Davante Adams	GNB	169	111	65.7%	1386	13
Golden Tate	2TM	113	74	65.5%	795	4
Dede Westbrook	JAX	101	66	65.3%	717	5
Willie Snead	BAL	95	62	65.3%	651	1
Mike Williams	LAC	66	43	65.2%	664	10
Kendrick Bourne	SFO	66	42	63.6%	487	4
Chris Hogan	NWE	55	35	63.6%	532	3
Tre'Quan Smith	NOR	44	28	63.6%	427	5
Tyreek Hill	KAN	137	87	63.5%	1479	12
Trent Taylor	SFO	41	26	63.4%	215	1
T.Y. Hilton	IND	120	76	63.3%	1270	6
Christian Kirk	ARI	68	43	63.2%	590	3
Tyrell Williams	LAC	65	41	63.1%	653	5
Mike Evans	TAM	138	86	62.3%	1524	8
Randall Cobb	GNB	61	38	62.3%	383	2
Odell Beckham	NYG	124	77	62.1%	1052	6
Chris Godwin	TAM	95	59	62.1%	842	7
Antonio Brown	PIT	168	104	61.9%	1297	15
Jakeem Grant	MIA	34	21	61.8%	268	2
Sterling Shepard	NYG	107	66	61.7%	872	4
Larry Fitzgerald	ARI	112	69	61.6%	734	6
Chris Conley	KAN	52	32	61.5%	334	5
Robert Foster	BUF	44	27	61.4%	541	3
Anthony Miller	CHI	54	33	61.1%	423	7
Curtis Samuel	CAR	65	39	60.0%	494	5
Dante Pettis	SFO	45	27	60.0%	467	5
Isaiah McKenzie	2TM	30	18	60.0%	179	0
A.J. Green	CIN	77	46	59.7%	694	6
Maurice Harris	WAS	47	28	59.6%	304	0
Jamison Crowder	WAS	49	29	59.2%	388	2
Kenny Golladay	DET	119	70	58.8%	1063	5
Zach Pascal	IND	46	27	58.7%	268	2
Allen Robinson	CHI	94	55	58.5%	754	4
Equanimeous St. Brown	GNB	36	21	58.3%	328	0
Corey Davis	TEN	112	65	58.0%	891	4
Kenny Stills	MIA	64	37	57.8%	553	6
Josh Gordon	2TM	71	41	57.7%	737	4
Allen Hurns	DAL	35	20	57.1%	295	2
Paul Richardson	WAS	35	20	57.1%	262	2
Ted Ginn	NOR	30	17	56.7%	209	2
Deonte Thompson	2TM	30	17	56.7%	161	0
Marvin Jones	DET	62	35	56.5%	508	5
Josh Doctson	WAS	78	44	56.4%	532	2
Tim Patrick	DEN	41	23	56.1%	315	1
Quincy Enunwa	NYJ	68	38	55.9%	449	1
Devin Funchess	CAR	79	44	55.7%	549	4
DeSean Jackson	TAM	74	41	55.4%	774	4
Tajae Sharpe	TEN	47	26	55.3%	316	2
Zay Jones	BUF	102	56	54.9%	652	7
Torrey Smith	CAR	31	17	54.8%	190	2
Josh Reynolds	LAR	53	29	54.7%	402	5
Jarvis Landry	CLE	149	81	54.4%	976	4
Antonio Callaway	CLE	79	43	54.4%	586	5
Keelan Cole	JAX	70	38	54.3%	491	1
Michael Crabtree	BAL	100	54	54.0%	607	3
Donte Moncrief	JAX	89	48	53.9%	668	3
Marquise Goodwin	SFO	43	23	53.5%	395	4
Terrelle Pryor	2TM	30	16	53.3%	252	2
Robby Anderson	NYJ	94	50	53.2%	752	6
Pierre Garcon	SFO	46	24	52.2%	286	1
Marquez Valdes-Scantling	GNB	73	38	52.1%	581	2
DeVante Parker	MIA	47	24	51.1%	309	1
Courtland Sutton	DEN	84	42	50.0%	704	4
David Moore	SEA	53	26	49.1%	445	5
Jermaine Kearse	NYJ	76	37	48.7%	371	1
Aldrick Robinson	MIN	35	17	48.6%	231	5
Michael Gallup	DAL	68	33	48.5%	507	2
Marcell Ateman	OAK	31	15	48.4%	154	1
DJ Chark	JAX	32	14	43.8%	174	0
John Brown	BAL	97	42	43.3%	715	5
James Washington	PIT	38	16	42.1%	217	1
Kelvin Benjamin	2TM	67	25	37.3%	380	1
Chad Williams	ARI	46	17	37.0%	171	1
John Ross	CIN	58	21	36.2%	210	7

Moncrief, note, wasn't dramatically better last year, although at least he has the excuse of working with Blake Bortles.

Rookie wideouts not doing much isn't a big deal; Brown himself didn't do much when he was a rookie in Pittsburgh. Washington will get a crash course in the preseason, so maybe. He's working with a great quarterback and there's a great No. 1 wideout across the field to take attention away from him.

But you're definitely going pretty much sight unseen if you select Washington and hope you're getting a viable fantasy starter.

--Andy Richardson

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