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Spotlight - WR Peter Warrick & Kelley Washington, Cincinnati Bengals

Jason Wood's Thoughts

Peter Warrick acquitted himself nicely last year. After coming out of college with much fanfare and a reputation for making game breaking plays in a variety of manners, he struggled to establish himself as a difference maker in his first three seasons with the Bengals. Yet, under new head coach Marvin Lewis, Warrick set career highs for receptions (79), yards (819) and touchdowns (7); which collectively were good enough for Warrick to rank 16th among fantasy receivers.

Warrick benefited from the presence of Chad Johnson, who is among the top five or six best receivers in the league and draws frequent double teams. Johnson's ability to score from anywhere on the field opened the middle of the field where Warrick did his best work. Warrick lacks the ability to get separation, and he's not going to beat too many corners deep (witness his career 10.6 yards per reception) but he's sure handed, runs precise routes, and is a proven scoring threat.

Kelley Washington, seeing the field for the first time in 2003, is a physical specimen who lacks neither the confidence nor the athletic ability to differentiate himself on the field if given the opportunity. Yet, having one season of 22 receptions, 299 yards and 4 touchdowns isn't exactly a resume that begs comparisons to young Jerry Rice.

So what has changed between this year and last that would suggest Washington has a reasonable chance of overtaking Warrick as the team's WR2?

  1. Peter Warrick's knee injury - Peter Warrick tore knee cartilage in Week 16 last season, and although he played in the final game, Warrick underwent surgery this offseason to correct the problem. Warrick was forced to sit out the majority of the team's minicamps and according to HC Marvin Lewis, Kelley Washington played well in Peter's stead. To be clear, Warrick appears ready to participate in training camp and enters camp as the team's starter opposite Chad Johnson, but this bears watching as the team puts on the pads, is Warrick really 100% healthy?


  2. Carson Palmer at QB - Carson Palmer takes over for Jon Kitna as the Bengals' starting quarterback. Whether Palmer will be as productive in his first year is up for debate, but what's not in question is the fact that Palmer and Washington spent the majority of last season building a rapport during practice. As second teamers, it was Washington who caught a good chunk of Palmer's throws; the same throws that wowed the coaching staff enough to name him a starter this year despite Kitna's impressive showing.


  3. The System - Offensive Coordinator Bob Bratkowski wants the team to throw downfield. It was Palmer's ability to throw the deep ball with accuracy that primarily led to Kitna's displacement. It is that same focus on the vertical passing game which may serve to increase Washington's role. Warrick, talented as he may be, is a more natural slot receiver. Sure handed, able to make catches for first downs in traffic, but NOT a deep threat.

Positives for Warrick

  • Sure handed, and a precise route runner


  • A dangerous open field runner, used on reverses and draws as well as WR screens


  • A proven contributor in this offense, enters camp as a starter

Negatives for Warrick

  • Must show he's 100% healthy after offseason knee surgery
  • Limited downfield threat, averaged less than 11 yards per catch over his career
  • Invaluable as a punt returner, team could use him in that role & slot receiver to optimize his value

Positives for Washington

  • Physically imposing, has the size/speed combination that elicits comparisons to Terrell Owens


  • Has a rapport with Carson Palmer from spending time on the 2nd team together last year


  • Played well in Warrick's stead during minicamps

Negatives for Washington

  • History of injuries, including a fused spine


  • Attitude issues (think prima donna) doesn't resonate well with coaches, especially a hard nosed coach like Marvin Lewis


  • Must improve his route running and consistency to legitimately displace Warrick in the lineup

Final Thoughts

Both receivers are talented enough to start opposite Chad Johnson. In Warrick, you have a proven commodity who doesn't appear to have a 1,000+ yard level of upside but will make the most out of what he's given; convert first downs, work the middle of the field, and contribute as a runner and return man. Washington is "Mr. Potential" who has yet to prove himself, but showed glimpses last season (4 touchdowns in 22 receptions). Ultimately, I believe both players will be used heavily this year as Carson Palmer spreads the ball around. It wouldn't surprise me if Washington had slightly better stats than Warrick, or vice versa, but when you consider Warrick is being drafted as a WR3 in most drafts while Washington is being taken as a WR5/WR6; I think the smart move is to place your bets on Washington very late and let someone else count on Warrick repeating last season's success.


David Yudkin's Thoughts

A big question mark heading into training camp and the regular season is how the Bengals' offense will fair with unproven QB Carson Palmer leading the offense. Overall, QB that have had limited time as starters historically have not been very productive fantasy performers, although there have been some exceptions. Palmer may do well, but there's a decent chance he will struggle. There's little doubt that his primary target will be Chad Johnson, but how the rest of the WR workload will be divided is a bit of a mystery.

Bearing that in mind, let's review the outlook for the two players battling for the WR2: incumbent Peter Warrick and challenger Kelley Washington.

  • Warrick, 5'11", 195 lbs, was a first round pick out of Florida State (4th overall) in 2000. He looked promising his rookie season, totaling 740 combined yards with 6 TD, ranking as the #31 WR. His next two seasons, he didn't really live up to the promise and the hype expected of him, ranking 51st and 49th. Fans and coaching staff alike began to wonder if Warrick would ever be productive, but in 2003 he jumped to the #16 WR ranking with 962 combined yards and 7 TD.


  • Washington, 6'2", 223 lbs, suffered a freak injury playing baseball at the University of Tennessee. What was thought to be a concussion ended up requiring two vertebrae to be fused in his neck. Prior to the injury, Washington was projected as a late first round pick but instead fell to the top of the third round, where the Bengals snagged him as the 65th pick in the 2003 draft. The knock on Washington was his limited speed and poor route running, but his toughness and ability to catch the ball was never questioned.

Last year, Washington began to get more involved in the offense in the latter part of the season, scoring 3 TD in the final 5 games of the season. His neck injury did not seem to impact him much at all, although he did experience some hamstring issues that limited his time on the field.

This offseason, Washington earned praise and accolades after a very strong minicamp. Coach Marvin Lewis commented that "Kelley has been working extremely hard this offseason. He's competing with Peter Warrick to be a starter." Heading into camp, there has been some talk of Warrick potentially moving into the slot, which might negatively impact his overall value.

Positives for Warrick

  • First round draft picks often get the benefit of the doubt and get preferential treatment. The Bengals invested a lot in Warrick and that could still play in his favor


  • Warrick had a much better your last year and could be rewarded for being a lot more productive


  • Has first step quickness and quick off of the line, which would be a great benefit if the Bengals could manage to spread the field and get Warrick single coverage. Had a 77-yard TD last year

Negatives for Warrick

  • Some feel he has a questionable best work ethic. Has on occasion been labeled as lazy, dropping balls due to concentration lapses, and missing routes


  • How likely is Warrick to get almost 150 rushing yards again?


  • If Palmer struggles, it seems reasonable that Chad Johnson's numbers will not suffer but those of the other WR will

Positives for Washington

  • Received rave reviews from coaches during minicamp. and practice. The buzz was circulating on Washington


  • Any WR that could produce an 11 catch, 256 yard receiving effort (vs LSU) in a Division I college football game has to have some serious skills


  • Unlike Warrick, the scuttlebutt on Washington has been that he has worked his tail off and has made great strides to better himself and learn the game at the NFL level

Negatives for Washington

  • His neck injury was once feared to be so severe that it could have ended his career. Whether this will impact Washington's career short term, long term, or not at all is hard to predict


  • With Warrick having a very strong year in 2003, Washington will have an uphill battle to gaining the #2 WR job


  • Only has had 22 receptions in his brief career, so how much he has mastered the pro game is still unknown

Final Thoughts

Warrick probably will not rank as high as he did last year, although he should still be a decent consideration for fantasy teams that start 3 WR. Washington should continue to improve as the season progresses and at some point should at least get even production wise compared to Warrick. He may even surpass him altogether and limit Warrick to three WR sets. I'm not that optimistic as others are on Washington, as I don't see Washington becoming the clear starter and Warrick riding the bench.


Quotations from the Message Board Thread

To view the entire Player Spotlight thread (there's a ton of fantastic commentary in there), click here.

KKrew:
"I see the Bengals offense taking a slight step backwards in 2004. Why? Simply because they'll experience a few growing pains with Carson Palmer at the helm. CJ is the prime target & will continue to be 'the' guy. Washington & Warrick will share the leftovers ... which aren't all that bad."

Iwannabeacowboybaby!:
"I watched a lot of Bengals games last year and I was really impressed with K. Washington. He's got good hands, speed and gets open. Plus, Cincinnati's coaches were not afraid to throw to him in the redzone; they definitely had plays drawn up to go to him, that's huge."

Birdie048:
"The part of Kelley Washington I like is he & Carson Palmer did a lot of 2nd string work together last year. The 2 were always working together getting timing & chemistry down. Warrick had the "I am not the 2nd team" attitude and did not make any effort to work with Palmer. It will show this year."

smasher10:
"Kelley Washington is 6-3 225 lbs and built like a truck. Physically looks a lot like Terrell Owens. I'm a UT fan and watched him play there his freshman year, he dominated the competition. Yes, he was a 23 year old freshman but he hadn't played football in 4 years and just stepped in and killed people."


Peter Warrick Projections

Source
Rec
Yards
TDs
FntPts
Jason Wood
62
620
4
86
David Yudkin
65
700
6
106
Message Board Consensus
54
613
3
79

Kelley Washington Projections

Source
Rec
Yards
TDs
FntPts
Jason Wood
50
690
4
93
David Yudkin
45
600
4
84
Message Board Consensus
62
796
5
111
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