Washington Redskins 2018 season tight end grades
Vernon Davis
Davis has been a solid player for the Redskins in each of the past few seasons, but it’s clear that the veteran is on the decline. At this point, Davis is merely a backup. And with Jordan Reed healthy for a majority of the year, Davis wasn’t given much of an opportunity to produce.
This year, Davis was only able to haul in 25 passes, the second-lowest total of his career. While he still was effective as a field-stretching threat at times, he simply wasn’t consistent enough as a receiver to have a big impact. And in the early stretches of the season, he was unable to develop much chemistry with Alex Smith.
To put Davis’ production into perspective, he had two or fewer catches in 11 of the 14 games he played. He also had 21 or fewer yards in nine of those contests. Simply put, he was more of a situational player than anything else. And in a team that was mostly devoid of receiver talent, that’s a bit disappointment.
Of course, there are some positives to Davis’ season. He put forth 14.7 yards per catch, the third-highest total of his career. And, he held up fine as a blocker when on the field as well. But these positives don’t outweigh the fact that he is nothing more than a backup at this point during his career.
This could have been Davis’ last season in Washington. While it wasn’t a bad season from him, it certainly wasn’t a great one. And since he missed two games with injuries, that’s an additional negative that hurt Davis in what amounted to a below-average season for the 34-year-old.