Tag Archives: Washington Redskins

NFL

Davis, Robert (WR)

Card: Sage 2017
Acquired: 2017, Box Breaker

Georgia State wide receiver Robert Davis was a 4 year starter for the Panthers. He put together a good body of work over his time there with 222 reeptions for 3391 yards and 17 touchdowns. At 6’3″, 219, Davis had a pretty good pre-draft workout and snuck into the back end of a few teams’ draft boards. Eventually he was selected by the Washington Redskins with their 6th round pick in the 2017 NFL Draft, who are confident that they can groom him into a pro grade talent. After spending 2017 on the practice squad, Robert was injured during training camp and was placed on injured reserve for 2018.

NFL

Blanding, Quin

Card: Panini Contenders 2018
Acquired: 2018, Box Breaker

Quin Blanding played collegially for Virginia from 2014 to 2017. He contributed immediately to the secondary as a true Freshman and racked up impressive numbers. After setting Freshman tackle records with 123 in 2014, he went on to record 115+ tackles in every year he was at Virginia.  Blanding finished his college career with 492 total tackles, 9 tackles for loss, 1 sack, 16 passes defended, 2 fumble recoveries, and 10 interceptions for 108 yards and a TD.  Highly accoladed, Blanding earned the ACC Defensive Rookie of the Year Award (2014), Freshman All-American (2014), first-team all-conference honors (2015), and All-ACC Honors (2016, 2017).

So even though the numbers and accolades spoke for themselves, scouts soured on Blanding’s speed, and lack of ‘game-breaking’ presence. While this would not be a deal breaker in other drafts, the unusually high grade of defensive back talent continued through the 2018 Draft.  I had him sneaking in at the back of round 6 or early in round 7 as a developmental prospect for the Houston Texans, but Quin would go undrafted. He’d sign a free agent contract with the Washington Redskins, but be waived in final cutdowns.

Quin’s autograph is pretty pedestrian- especially for a guy who has a ‘Q’ in it. It really looks more like a signature than an autograph really.  The card itself is broken up well into 3 main sections: Player portrait, player stats, and player autograph. It’s a nice looking card, but I feel like the player portrait is a bit busy and overproduced.

NFL

Swearinger, DJ (2)

Card: Panini Contenders 2013
Acquired: 2017, EBay
See Also: DJ Swearinger

To say that DJ Swagg’s career went off the rails with the Texans would be an understatement.  After the tumultuous 2013 season, the Texans coaching staff was cleared out. In the meantime DJ started 12 games and contributed 2 interceptions, 6 pass deflections,  3 forced fumbles, a sack, and 52 tackles in 2014.

He’d be a surprising cut in 2015, and the Texans attempted to stay mum on the situation, but as these things go, somebody leaked to the media that Swagg refused to play special teams because of his lofty draft status (2nd round). Swagg was claimed by the Bucs for the season. He’d contribute in 7 games, forcing a fumble, and recording 8 tackles, before joining the Cardinals for 4 games.  Arizona liked what they saw, and employed DJ in almost every safety capacity they could use him in during 2016.  In 12 starts, he’d post 56 tackles, 2 sacks, 8 pass deflections, and 3 interceptions.  DJ signed a 3 year contract with the Washington Redskins in 2017 where he is expected to be their starting strong safety. He started all 16 games and posted his best year as a pro, lodging 79 tackles, .5 sacks, 10 pass deflections, and 4 interceptions for 32 yards. So far in 2018 he has put together a banner year for the Redskins improved defensive alignment balling out against the Giants recording 2 picks.

The 2013 Panini Contenders set had pretty solid, if not ordinary, design to it.  It’s purely designed in strong rectangles that break down the canvas into workable columns. The vertical autograph field is also somewhat unique. DJ’s autograph however, looks tired and sloppy on this card. The 2013 NFL draft was a terrible, terrible draft for the Texans of their 9 picks, only 3 players remain from that pool on the team.