Davis finally living up to potential at tight end Fred Davis knew he had set the tone for the afternoon with his first reception. The trick now is having that afternoon set the tone for the season.
The fourth-year tight end went as high as his 6-foot-4 frame would take him to snag Rex Grossman’s first-quarter throw Sunday, pulling it down and holding on for a 23-yard gain. The catch was a big part of the Redskins’ first scoring drive of the season in a 28-14 win over the Giants.
“For me, a tight end, it’s that first catch,” Davis said. “When you first get that first ball, now it’s time to go. I think that’s what it was for me.”
When Davis walked off the field with five catches and a career-best 105 yards, he had in his possession the kind of performance long sought from the 2008 second-round draft pick, though not completely unexpected in a contract year.
“It wasn’t anything that we didn’t see before,” Redskins coach Mike Shanahan said. “When a person gets the opportunity to play and start and he makes some big plays like Fred did, he took advantage of an opportunity showing people in the NFL that he belongs.”
Because Davis’ best season (48 receptions, 509 yards, six TDs) came with Chris Cooley injured during the latter half of 2009, last weekend also was a tantalizing peek at the potential of playing two top tight ends both at their best. But Davis’ emergence isn’t expected to come at the expense of his eight-year veteran teammate, who has heard just about enough of the argument over which one of them should start.
“To have guys make plays on offense is what makes you a good offense,” Cooley said. “For both of us to be in the game, which we both talk about a lot and both feel should be in the game making plays, is going to be huge for this offense.”
Having Davis and Cooley on the field at the same time allows Shan?ahan to stay committed to the run while also forcing the defense to choose whether to add extra protection against the pass.
“We create an advantage because with us both in you have to decide if you want to play us in a base defense, if you want to play us in a nickel defense,” Cooley said. “We’ll start creating a lot of big pass plays if people are going to play us in base.”
And that’s where Davis comes into play. Having shed 15 pounds in the offseason (he’s listed at 258), he’s as quick and athletic as a receiver when he lines up wide. But the numbers advantages come inside, too, where he made key catches against the Giants.
“I wanted to be able to run all day and be able to make plays down the seam,” Davis said. “I see tight ends make plays down the seam, and in this offense, you can make a lot of plays at the tight end position, so I just wanted to benefit from it.”
