Santana Moss: 'You have to use those guys that can be game-changers'

There has been plenty of optimism surrounding the arrival of the new coaching regime in Washington and one person joining the chorus of praise around the new offense, directed by offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan, is veteran wide receiver Santana Moss.

After the team's walk-through on Saturday afternoon, Moss expressed his optimism regarding the new scheme and also in the way he will be used in the offense. Moss said he has been extremely impressed watching film of the Houston Texans, who have used the offense in recent seasons, and that he believes the Redskins have a chance to be very successful within the scheme.

His strongest words came when describing his excitement at being moved around the field as opposed to the one-position only structure he played as the 'X' receiver in the past few seasons.

When asked if he liked being shifted around, Moss replied, "Hell yeah." Asked then about his former role that was strictly as an 'X' receiver, he expanded on that idea.

"That's ridiculous," Moss said. "If you ever seen me with a ball in my hand there's no way in the world that one guy, anybody on the field that's a playmaker, that has been a punt returner half his life that can carry the ball well no matter what situation, [that] he should be used at one spot. You feel what I'm saying? It's almost like putting Reggie Bush in the backfield all day and saying, 'Just run the ball through the hole.' He's doing his thing by getting screen passes, lining up on the outside, running here, you know what I mean?

"You have to use those guys that can be game-changers and I feel like I consider myself one of them because that's what I've been doing. I'm not saying it because that's what I want to be. I've done it. You feel me? So when I have a chance to do that, then you're suiting me best. When I don't have a chance to do that then you're not in my best interest. I'm just out there being a regular person."

Moss said he was excited about the capability of the offense and its ability to mix things up to confuse defenses. Moss said the scheme prevents defenses from being able to predict what's coming based on formations or splits. "We have a solution for everything that they going to bring to us," he said.

Often double- and triple-teamed last year, Moss seemed optimistic that this offense would find ways to get him open.

"You know me, I like to let everything pan out and do what it do, but just seeing what it did last year I was impressed," Moss said. "I am good friends with Andre [Johnson] and to watch him be the No. 1 receiver for two years in a row and everyone knows he's the guy, to [still] get open, those guys will tell you I call those guys all the time. 'What are y'all doing that we not doing?' 'Oh 'Tana you just in one spot. 'Tana you just playing.' 'Y'all vanilla.' You know what I mean?

"And then 'Dre breaks it down about who's calling the plays and how he's calling the plays off of what he sees that would separate him from any other guys in this league because his coaches put him in the best situation not to be the guy who is bracketed all the time. Or if you gonna bracket him then I'm going to have somebody else wide open so we can expose that side of the field and maybe they'll even it out and play a little more disciplined defense or more disciplined football.

"When we was playing last year, it's nothing against what he was doing but it was just, you know, it was evident. Y'all could see it from the sideline. That's why I would say there's nothing I can do but what I can do. So if I'm the clear out guy on that play, I'm going to be that clear out guy because I know hopefully somebody else should be open. But I think this offense is going to give us all totally a chance to disguise some things and get in some sets to make them guess a little bit."

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(washingtonpost.com)