It’s 5 o’clock somewhere…
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Since late March, when wide receiver Olamide Zaccheaus signed a contract with the Washington Commanders, I’ve been putting forward my opinion that he will make the roster as WR4 behind Terry McLaurin, Jahan Dotson, and rookie 3rd round slot receiver Luke McCaffrey.
Here’s a large part of the reason why I think this will happen:
Olimide Zaccheaus will be WR4 on the Commanders opening day roster.
[other locks: McLaurin, Dotson, McCaffrey] pic.twitter.com/AVq2qnivv6
— Bill-in-Bangkok (@billhorgan2005) May 14, 2024
Note: I sent this tweet a day before it was reported that Washington had signed 31-yr-old veteran WR Damiere Byrd. Byrd had 13 catches for 238 yards and 2 touchdowns in 2022. In 2023, Byrd played only 19 offensive snaps and did not record a reception. He would slot in between Brown and Crowder if he were added to the tweet above.
In the competition for the 4th wide receiver spot, over the past two seasons (2022-23), Zaccheaus has had more receiving yards and as many touchdowns as every other receiver listed in the tweet above.
And that’s not a cherry-picked set of stats. In Zaccheaus’ two best seasons (2021-22 under Dave Ragone in Atlanta), he caught 62% of his targets for 939 yards and 6 touchdowns at a clip of 13.2 yards per reception.
Zaccheaus also brings positional flexibility to the offense; he is capable of lining up as either a z-receiver or slot receiver. Here’s a breakdown of his primary alignments from PFF:
You can see that, in his rookie year in Atlanta, he was on the field sparingly. In 2020, his snap counts increased, and it was clear that he was, at that time, primarily as an outside receiver, with more than 5 times as many snaps at the z-receiver spot than in the slot.
With the change from offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter to Dave Ragone in 2021, he was moved around the formation more, with a wide:slot ratio of 7:6. In 2022, for the first time in his career, Zaccheaus aligned for the majority of his snaps in the slot. This makes him an extremely valuable WR4, as he can substitute at any position on the field. And with more than 2,200 career offensive snaps, he knows what’s expected of him.
And let’s not overlook the fact that this coaching staff knows Zaccheaus very well. It was Dan Quinn’s Falcons that signed OZ as an undrafted free agent out of Virgina in 2019, and when Zaccheaus signed with the Philadelphia Eagles as a free agent in 2023, his offensive coordinator was Brian Johnson, who is now the Commanders’ Passing Game Coordinator. He also has history with Marcus Mariota in Atlanta. I have to believe that the coaching staff knew what they were getting when they brought the 6th-year receiver to Washington.
The only real mystery to me is what happened in Philly last season. Mention Olamide Zaccheaus to many NFL fans and, based on his lack of production in Philly in 2023, they will scoff and say that he ‘sucks’ or that he is a ‘practice squad player’. But Zaccheaus did well when in the very few instances when Jalen Hurts threw his direction. Consider this excerpt from a recent article from Bleeding Green Nation:
The Eagles seemingly signed OZ to compete with Quez Watkins for the third wide receiver role last year. OZ began the season as WR4, though, and never really climbed higher on the depth chart despite making the most of his limited opportunities. Whereas bad things happened whenever the Eagles targeted Quez, good things typically happened when OZ’s number was called.
Zaccheaus caught 10 of his 20 targets for 164 yards (16.4 average), two touchdowns, and zero drops. His two scores came in high-leverage situations. Olamide Zaccheaus has 2 TDs this year. 1) 34-yard reception on 3rd-and-10 against the Bucs. 2) 29-yard reception on 3rd-and-15 against the Bills.
In addition to these flashes, OZ was a player who did the dirty work. He contributed on special teams, logging 112 snaps there (25% of the team’s total). He caught a fake punt throw from Braden Mann late in the season against the Cowboys. OZ also did a good job of downfield blocking on some catch-and-run touchdown scores by DeVonta Smith and A.J. Brown. It’s a bit befuddling how he didn’t earn more offensive playing time in Philly.
Presumably, Eagle’s Offensive Coordinator Brian Johnson would have had a lot to do with Zaccheaus’ limited snaps and targets in Philly, but then, there was clearly something dysfunctional going on there last season. Here’s a rather troubling description of the situation from Bleacher Report:
Ahead of Philly’s NFC Wild Card Round matchup with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, ESPN’s Tim McManus dove deep into what has led to the team’s second-half slide. Among the factors was a “disconnect between the visions” of Sirianni, starting quarterback Jalen Hurts and offensive coordinator Brian Johnson.
According to McManus, the extent to which Johnson influences the offense is another issue:
“A source described Johnson as having to fit his own philosophy within an offensive structure belonging to Sirianni. And just how much autonomy Johnson has as a playcaller is unclear. Sirianni has acknowledged that he’ll step in to overrule a call on occasion, as he did on a critical third-and-long play against the Washington Commanders in Week 4 when Johnson wanted to pass and Sirianni dialed up a run, which didn’t pan out. The line is blurred enough that some offensive players don’t know for sure who is calling the plays and when, a team source said.”
McManus also referenced friction within the Eagles locker room, with a source lamenting “too much finger-pointing” and an inability to work constructively.
“Ideas for how to fix the offense varied by position group and came with natural biases, a team source said,” McManus wrote.
The general tenor around Philadelphia could shift dramatically based on how the postseason unfolds. However, McManus spoke to a source who said “the problems and issues are still there” regardless of the outcome Monday night.
The Eagles’ situation is a reminder of how a head coach’s job goes beyond just drawing up the right scheme and calling the right plays.
For the Eagles to bring in Zaccheaus, who had been productive as WR4 in Atlanta, and then keep him off the field was a puzzling move.
With the Falcons in 2022, Zaccheaus played 70% of the offensive snaps, had 40 receptions and scored 3 touchdowns.
In Philly, he played just 41% of the offensive snaps, and was targeted just 20 times all season, though he made the most of his chances, averaging 16.4 yards per reception, and scoring a touchdown on 20% of his receptions.
I have to think that Brian Johnson had a lot to say about the decision to bring OZ to Washington. I believe that he and Kliff Kingsbury will have a plan to both play and target Zaccheaus much more than the Eagles did last year. I am guessing that Johnson didn’t have complete autonomy under Siriani in ‘23, and that, if he had, he would have done more with his multi-talented receiver.
In his 5-year career, Olamide Zaccheaus has caught 61% of his targets at an average of 14.3 yards per reception. He has 10 touchdowns and 72 first downs on 104 career receptions. No one is suggesting that Zaccheaus will one day have a bust in Canton, but he is a proven, productive, and multi-positional backup on a team that has almost no proven depth behind Terry McLaurin. OZ is also a 4-phase special teams player with 510 career special teams snaps; this is an important element of the game for a WR4.
I believe in OZ, and I think you should too.