Washington worth the gamble for Oakland

By Anthony Carroll  |   Thursday, June 29, 2006  |  Comments( 7 )

Oakland Raiders
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Out with Ted, in with Donnell.

Nearly four months after the release of 365-pound Ted Washington, the Oakland Raiders have sought and hooked another Washington.

Donnell Washington, listed at 6-6, 328 pounds, was selected in the early third round of the 2004 NFL Draft by the Green Bay Packers. The young defensive tackle started two seasons with the Clemson Tigers, starting in 26 games throughout his collegiate career. In 1,653 plays up front, the massive tackle stockpiled 155 tackles, nine sacks, and 52 quarterback hurries.

Heading into the 2004 Draft, Washington was compared to former Raiders defenseman, Chester McGlockton. Listed at a comparable 334 pounds, McGlockton, like Washington, entered the professional ranks out of the Clemson football program. In addition to the similarities on paper, both played with a very similar approach on gameday. Equally massive and athletic, Washington was praised for his ability to dominate the center of the line; however, constant questions surrounding his weight and stamina held down the lineman from become an instant select-and-start prospect.

Instead, the 25-year-old has been riding the bench in Green Bay for two long seasons. Yet to align for a single regular season snap, Washington's stat chart has remained vacant in every row and column, watching youngsters Colin Cole, Cullen Jenkins, and Corey Williams take over the bulk of possible rotations.

As a rookie, Washington remained on the sidelines due to a preseason injury. The third rounder was placed on the injured reserve list on September 1st of 2004 due to a severe foot injury. In 2005, Washington was able to avoid injury; however, he could not avoid lethargy. Despite a great balance of size and athleticism, coaches in Green Bay viewed their second-year prospect as a major underachiever, setting him aside to watch another regular season from the bench.

On June 9th, the Packers set their '04 mid-rounder free to roam the market. Three weeks later, the Silver and Black put a leash on Washington, hoping to make use of the third-year player's fallow talent pool.

Lingering in that talent pool rest a 40-yard dash time of 5.13 seconds, a 510-pound bench press, a 365-pound power clean, and a 380-pound hang clean.

For what is likely to be a minimal-set contract, Oakland's acquisition of Washington is hard to debate against. If the 328-pound defensive tackle can learn from a bare 2005 campaign, the Raiders' July 24th training camp commencement will jumpstart an era of hardnosed work for the young lineman.

If not, the early career of Donnell Washington will likely hit a dead end.

And, if Art Shell isn't already enough, that has to be enough motivation to start picking up the pace.

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Anthony Carroll can be contacted at acarroll@realfootball365.com
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About Anthony Carroll

Anthony Carroll began writing for RealFootball365.com on Sept. 26, 2005, making him one of the longest tenured contributors to the “365” team. As a senior writer, Anthony has taken on the task of delivering original content to the silver and black faithful year round, despite having to deal...
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