Washington passes on Jamin Davis for offensive playmaker in 2021 re-draft

The Washington Football Team shocked a lot of fans when they pounced on linebacker Jamin Davis with the No. 19 overall pick last year.

At the time, it was viewed as a reach — probably a full round too early — and his first season validated those concerns. While Davis played in 16 games, he made just eight starts and logged a lowly 56% snap share.

What makes that percentage look even worse is that Davis struggled for snaps after starting middle linebacker Jon Bostic’s season-ending injury in Week 4. Down the stretch of the regular season, he was losing reps to David Mayo, a sixth-year journeyman who’s mostly been a special-teamer in his career.

Now, not all hope is lost concerning Davis. Towards the end of the year, he shifted to a weakside linebacker role and showed real potential. While it’s unfortunate he didn’t pan out as a mike, he could make a real impact in Year 2.

Still, that doesn’t change the fact that Davis was overdrafted, which begs the question of who Washington would take in a re-draft. Per Ryan Fowler of The Draft Network, USC wideout Amon-Ra St. Brown would be the pick.

Did Washington make a mistake drafting Jamin Davis?

It’s easy to say in hindsight, but St. Brown, who managed to slip to the fourth round (!), would’ve been a great selection for Washington. Give credit to the Detroit Lions for finding tremendous value in the former USC standout.

Fowler notes that Davis Mills almost got the nod over St. Brown, but it’s important to remember Washington had Ryan Fitzpatrick, Taylor Heinicke and Kyle Allen all on the roster at the time. A QB was likely never going to be the pick.

In St. Brown, Washington would have a proper running mate for Terry McLaurin. For the season, the former Trojan finished second among rookie receivers in catches (90), fourth in receiving yards (912) and third in touchdowns (six). The only rookies ahead of him were Ja’Marr Chase, Jaylen Waddle and DeVonta Smith.

Those numbers become even more impressive when you consider St. Brown averaged just 32 receiving yards over the first 11 games. That kind of puts into perspective how much he dominated over the final six weeks.

Here’s St. Brown’s game log during that stretch.

• Week 13: 10 catches (12 targets) for 86 yards and a TD
• Week 14: 8 catches (12 targets) for 73 yards
• Week 15: 8 catches (11 targets) for 90 yards and a TD
• Week 16: 9 catches (11 targets) for 91 yards and a TD
• Week 17: 8 catches (11 targets) for 111 yards and a TD
• Week 18: 8 catches (10 targets) for 109 yards and a TD

St. Brown was the No. 1 guy in Detroit’s passing game, too. He saw defenses best cornerbacks every week and faced double teams and bracket coverage on a consistent basis, and still posted these numbers…as a fourth-round rookie…with Jared Goff throwing him the football!

In this particular re-draft, there were mostly wide receivers, cornerbacks, and edge rushers available for Washington (LB Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah went three picks earlier). With Kendall Fuller, William Jackson, Chase Young and Montez Sweat locked in as starters at cornerback and edge rusher, we fully endorse the Amon-Ra St. Brown pick at No. 19 overall.

If only we could go back in time and rewrite history.