NBC analyst impressed with Leonard Hankerson

Evan Silva, works for Pro Football Talk as a writer and for Rotoworld.com as a writer/analyst (both of those fine sites are corporate cousins of ours). Last night, he put on his analyst hat and bored in on Leonard Hankerson during the two starts he had in 2011 before a hip injury cut his season short.

Silva put out his impressions this morning in a series of tweets. Here is what @EvanSilva had to say about the then-rookie wide receiver:

Watched & charted every snap from #Redskins WR Leonard Hankerson's two 2011 starts. Good-looking, smooth wideout. Fearless across middle.

Hank caught 13 balls (incl. 2-pt conversion on fade). 9-of-13 over middle. Two big-time leaping grabs over mid late in Wk 10 Dolphins game.

Hankerson played Z vs SF (Wk 9). Moved to featured X spot in Wk 10. Worked Vontae Davis -- one of NFL's top young CBs. Finished with 8/106

More Hank: Big body, knows how to use. Long, lean, athletic. Really moves well. Explodes into routes. HUGE hands. Bigger than Hakeem Nicks'.

All of this looks good but it needs to come with the warning that the sample size is very small. Over the course of 16 games defenses have a chance to adjust and try to take away what a receiver does well. 

But if Hank can perform like this all year, Robert Griffin III will have a go-to receiver on third down and the Redskins offense will have the sort of weapon it has been missing for quite some time.


(csnwashington.com)