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Redskins: ‘Change’ of position for Pierre Garcon

http://was.247sports.com/Bolt/Redskins-Change-of-position-for-Pierre-Garcon-38023166

In an attempt to get the ball to Pierre Garcon more in 2015, the Washington Redskins have changed his position. No, he’s still a wide receiver, but his role/alignment within the offense has changed.

It was just two seasons ago that Garcon led the NFL in receptions with 113. His production in 2014 dropped to just 68 receptions.

According to offensive coordinator Sean McVay, who appeared on 106.7 The Fan’s Grant and Danny,

“Well, one of the things we did this offseason, when you really go back and evaluate it, is we were able to switch DeSean to the X position and Pierre to our Z,” said McVay. “When you talk about the skill set you’re looking for from a Z, a physical receiver that’s a good a blocker in the run game, he can slant routes, some of those intermediate and short routes, and he also has to be physical to run some of those intermediate deep in-breaks.

“That’s where Pierre’s greatest strengths are.”

In general terms, the X receiver, which is now DeSean Jackson, is the one furthest away from the tight end, lining up wide and on the line of scrimmage. The Z is off the line of scrimmage, allowing the tight end to be eligible. The Z is generally the receiver that goes in motion.

By sending Garcon in motion and playing him off the line of scrimmage, the feeling is that Garcon can exploit defenses but also play to his strength as a blocker in the run game.

A move that McVay says has shown promise in OTAs and should allow the staff to target Garcon with more frequency in the pass game.

“When you look at what he was able to do transitioning from the X to the Z position, I thought he did an excellent job. He was one of the bright spots of OTAs without a doubt, consistently working day in and day out, setting a great example for the rest of those guys in that room.

“And I think we’ll do a much better job of being able to get him involved because of the type of player he is, with him being at that Z spot. And when you look back at the year he ended up having [in 2013], we did a good job, and Coach and Kyle Shanahan did a nice job of moving him around to put him in positions to be that primary target and now, with some of the players that we have, the DeSeans, the Jordan Reeds, you can just operate your offense and he will get more touches just being at that spot.”