FanPost

Some insight on Anthony Armstrong from Hog's Heaven

So, once again I took a trip to one of our sister sites to find out about a WR. I posted the question on Hog’s Heaven about our newest WR via waiver claim, Anthony Armstrong. The questions I put to them were as follows: Who is Anthony Armstrong as a Receiver? What are his strengths and weaknesses? Why did he lose his roster spot? Do you think he still has the ability to contribute in this league?

Not surprisingly, as Armstrong was a roster cut with ultimately no trade value, the responses so far have been limited. In writing this post, I am under no illusions that he will radically transform the quality of our WR corps. That being said, two seasons ago he had one of the highest YPC in the league and seemed to be a solid player who can stretch the field, so I wanted some insight from Redskins fans about what they thought about him.

As of today, I only received three relatively substantive responses, which, as I noted, is not surprising. The first response, which I will quote below, received several “rec’s”, so perhaps there were other skins fans who agreed with the assessment. As you will see, people are wowed by his speed and his ability to get behind the D. Fans also love his ability to make some impressive catches. Other guys mentioned his ST contributions and the fact that he is something a feel good “fan favorite”; a hard working dedicated player who was selling jewelry a few years back. That’s the good. The bad can be summed up with three concerns. The first is that he struggles against press coverage. The second is that he does have some mind boggling drops (a speedster who can make impressive catches can drop easy ones as well – reminds me a bit of the evil side of Chris Chambers). The third, as we ourselves know as phins fans, is that he is injury prone.

Here is one of the few responses I got:

He surprises almost everyone he goes up against with his speed. He can make incredible catches, but will much more often make lousy drops. He can play special teams, including as a returner. He struggles greatly to beat press coverage. With a free release off the LOS he can be a poor man’s Mike Wallace. He lost his roster spot because he couldn’t beat press coverage, and the Redskins have younger options with more upside. AA is 29, I believe, so the common thinking is that he won’t improve much at this point. With a featured role, he could average 18 yards a catch and put up 700 yards. Still, he’s not a guy anyone wants to be their number 2 starter. If he is, it’s a sure sign your team is lacking in depth. Still, with the Dolphins receiver AA could start a couple of games and do well, provided he doesn’t get on Sherman’s bad side. It’s not that he’s a bad character guy, it’s just that he has limitations that frustrate coaches.

by TheGreenMonk on Sep 2, 2012 12:01 PM EDT

All in all, if TheGreenMonk is accurate in his forecast that, with a featured role, Armstrong can get about 700 YDs and a high YPC avg, I think that will have made this waiver claim an incredible pickup. Still, that is only true because of the lack of depth we have at the position. Certainly, we would all prefer a guy who can have 1000+ YDs, even in this no-alpha receiver system. The only homer-ish hope I have for him to be something special is if the system here suits him and if Tannehill turns out to be really great and able to elevate Armstrong’s play. Nevertheless, I am happy with this acquisition for the time being. Whether, we trade for another WR this season or wait till the draft remains to be seen.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of The Phinsider's writers or editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of The Phinsider writers or editors.