Santana Moss: Continuity will make a difference

If there’s one thing that Santana Moss has experienced very little of during his six season with the Washington Redskins, it’s stability.

Moss has been the team’s leading receiver in each of those six seasons. But during that time, he has played for three different head coaches, in four different offensive systems with seven different quarterbacks and 17 other receivers.

John Beck would make it eight quarterbacks, but Moss believes that the continuity the Redskins are otherwise experiencing in their second straight year under Coach Mike Shanahan will make a big difference.

The Redskins’ offense has been able to move up and down the field in its first two preseason games, and Moss and fellow holdover receivers Anthony Armstrong and Terrence Austin say they all feel more natural having played a full season under offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan. That comfort makes a big difference, Moss ays.

“This is my seventh year, and we’ve never had the chance to grasp an offense,” said Moss, who last season had 93 catches for 1,115 yards and six touchdowns last season. “It was always change here, change coordinators, change this and that. This is one of those moments when we actually feel like we have an advantage now because we really have this offense in our hands for a second year now and have a chance to do something with it.”

Another aspect that Moss expects to make a difference is the maturation of Armstrong and Austin (both in their second seasons in the NFL), and the addition of veterans Jabar Gaffney and Donte Stallworth.

Mossreceived little help from the rest of the receiving corps last season. Besides Armstrong (44 catches, 871 yards, three touchdowns) the rest of the wide receivers combined for just 25 catches for 339 yards and no touchdowns. Moss still managed to produce despite drawing frequent double teams, but he expects that bolstering the receiving unit this year will take pressure off him and help the Redskins execute more effectively.

“It should help. But at the end of the day, teams are going to take out of the game whoever they want to take out,” Moss said. “If it’s me, it’s me. If it’s someone else, it’s someone else. But it should help more on critical downs. Now you can’t just look at that one person. Now you have different weapons and I think our offense as a whole, the personnel as a total, we have guys everywhere they line up on offense.”

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(washingtonpost.com)