Good things come in small packages
Malik Washington is a diminutive receiver (5’ 8 1/2”, 191 lbs) with great quickness, balance and acceleration, and an unmatched desire to succeed. He had the most receptions in the FBS in 2023 despite playing in only 12 games at the University of Virginia with a less than stellar quarterback, but he still averaged 13.0 yards per catch. He was a team captain at Virginia even though he played only a single season there after playing four years at Northwestern. He is a smart kid who committed only four total penalties in five years in 52 career games.
Washington ran a wide variety of routes despite playing 88% of his snaps from the slot. He has no fear, as he ran crossing routes, digs, skinny posts, sluggo routes and wheel routes. He combines quickness and suddenness along with elite hands. Washington caught 97.4% of his catchable balls (110 of 113) with some circus catches included. In spite of his size he caught 64.7% of passes in contested situations (11-17), which comes from his competitive spirit. Washington is also very elusive. He led the FBS in forced missed tackles (35), again despite playing in two or three less games than other receivers.
Malik Washington has a low center of gravity which makes him tough to tackle. He will often “pinball” off tacklers who don’t wrap up, which allows for sometimes lengthy gains. He also is very agile, with great body control to contort his body so he puts himself in the best possible position to make a catch. He shows great concentration to allow him to catch even balls that are deflected. His quick feet are in constant motion, even on stop routes, so he can make a tackle-avoiding move despite his opponent being ready to pounce. He then accelerates away for extra YAC.
As the great sports broadcaster Warner Wolf would say:
“Let’s go to the video tape.”
This is a simple route as Washington does a 20 yard “dig” route to the heart of the Duke defense. Washington is a hands catcher, but in this instance he jumps so he can catch the ball just below his chest in anticipation of getting smacked by a safety or linebacker. Once he makes his cut inside he keeps his eyes on the quarterback, so he doesn’t know who is around him. He takes the safe route to nestle the ball to his midsection with hands.
You can see he doesn’t just fall down on the catch once contacted. No, he catches, then immediately heads up field, but he is contacted by the free safety after a step or two. The safety aggressively wraps him up, but Washington fights for more yards. He takes another hit from a helping cornerback, then breaks away from both, only to be corralled by two other players. Tackling Washington is like tackling a bowling ball. He is small and hard as nails, with little to grab onto. For his efforts he turned a nice 20 yard pass play into a 26 yard pass play. This is who Washington is: never say die, don’t stop fighting until the echo of the whistle.
This is basically the same play run from the opposite side of the line. You get your 20 yard “dig” route run from the slot.
This time it works even better as Washington clears the dropping inside linebacker, then catches the pass as he clears the zone drop. He never breaks stride, lays a nice stiff arm on the safety then accelerates to the end zone. Washington is quick, with excellent acceleration. He lacks long speed, but in short areas (20-30 yards) he is as fast as anyone.
This next play is in the same game on the following drive. It’s kind of like “what play can I call that no one would expect?” Let’s run a fade route to the back corner of the end zone from a player at the inner slot, next to where the TE should be, and we’ll use our shortest receiver to make the play. That sounds good.
Washington is an athletic player with a tremendous desire to succeed. It’s like he is trying to always prove that he belongs in a sport where behemoths usually rule. Washington shows his agility on this play and also great body control. When you learn that Washington tied for the highest vertical jump amongst all the players at the combine, 42 1/2”, then you know why Virginia used him for this play.
One of the things I look for in a receiver is how well he catches the ball. It’s kind of what a receiver is supposed to do. What good is he (Allen Lazard) if he can’t catch the ball? It’s like having an auto mechanic who can’t fix your car. He can sing and dance and play the ukulele, but he can’t fix your car, so he is worthless to you. Fortunately Washington can catch the ball. He does that very, very well. As I stated earlier, he caught 110 of 113 catchable balls in 2023, some in impressive fashion, like here:
This is artistry to me. Washington starts with a jab step to the inside, which freezes the slot defender. He then breaks outside. This man is running full speed downfield with a defender in his hip pocket. He leaps, makes a fingertip catch, then has the innate ability to turn his body so as to land on his back shoulder pads so he doesn’t lose the ball. This is kind of like ballet, the athletic precision is a thing of beauty. It results is a first down. Now that’s hands.
This here is another beautiful play being run by a guy who knows how to manipulate a defender. This play is run from motion from the slot at full speed. No jogging here.
Again this is run with precision. Washington is in motion, but he wants to leave at the snap with his defender directly in front of him. At the snap he uses that great acceleration to eat up the 6 yard cushion quickly as he runs right at his defender. When he gets a yard from his opponent Washington cuts at full speed like he is running an out. His defender follows, but watch as Washington looks back for the pass like it’s coming his way. The defender can’t see behind him so he goes to make a play on the nonexistent ball.
Once the defender commits he is burnt as Washington continues with his out and up and is wide open for a big play. This ends up being a 49 yard pass play with the original defender racing down only to be whacked in the face by his own man.
This next play is just a nice set up with some great execution as Virginia is backed up on its own 15 yard line. This is a running formation, with all 11 offensive players in tight with equal blockers to each side.
At the snap Washington crosses the formation while the quarterback goes though the fake counter play to the right. The quarterback then lobs a two yard pass to Washington to the left, and Washington is off to the races. He works around a few defenders, then is finally tackled for a 29 yard gain. Washington is a very elusive player with the ball in his hands. He forced 35 missed tackles in 2023, which was the most of any receiver in the FBS.
Washington is a slot only player in the NFL, as he is not big enough to work outside with regularity. He is a small target for a quarterback, and NFL cornerbacks are pretty good. That doesn’t mean Washington has to play like a slot receiver. Don’t get me wrong, he can run drag, choice or whip routes just fine, but he is not confined to that.
You need a first down, then send your tight end up and to the outside on a five yard stop pattern that the safety will be all over. Washington runs a nice little 14 yard “dig” route right over the middle. Washington will press his man up field, then cross his face wide open in a place where it’s the easiest throw for the quarterback to make: right in front of his face.
How about another out and up from the opposite side of the offense, except this time the play is being run to the short side of the field. When Washington goes in motion he has to be behind the tight end at the snap because he doesn’t want to run out of room.
As Washington closes in on the sideline he looks back at the quarterback like he is expecting the throw. Now all he has to do is show his speed, great contact balance, and elusiveness to score, which he does. It starts with the nice head fake, then the hands catch above his head and away from his body, then the finish. Voila!
This next clip involves another out and up from the inner slot against a defender who is no match for the quickness of Washington. Washington is short, with quick feet, so he can make cuts at almost full speed, which larger players can’t do.
This is basically pitch and catch down the sideline. As long as the ball is accurate and on time it will get there long before the safety does. The throw is a little too far to the sideline, which takes Washington toward the out of bounds. He wasn’t going to get much more anyway, as the safety had the angle on him. Still, this is a nearly 50 yard gain which flips the field position for Virginia.
This next play is a screen pass as Washington works out of the backfield, but the play’s timing is off so the blocking kind of disintegrates, leaving Washington by his lonesome.
This play reminds me of the “keystone cops” for those of you who know what that is. For those who don’t there is Google. Once Washington escapes the backfield he has to elude one tackler (which he does) then he’s off to the races. Washington is fast, but he’s not 4.35 fast, he lacks long speed. Here he outraces almost the entire defense until he is run down by a defender with the angle on him. Still, this is a 60 yard play on a pass caught behind the line of scrimmage. Washington is like the Energizer bunny except he doesn’t have a drum and wears a helmet.
Since this is a Jets site how about a Jet sweep? Washington can work out of the backfield, or anywhere for that matter. He is a very flexible receiver who can be used all over the formation. (This is actually a pass that we will call a Jet sweep)
There isn’t a lot of great blocking here, but Washington gets what is there plus a little more. He is able to avoid a couple of defenders as he cuts back, which gains him an additional 7 yards. You can see how Washington is able to attack a defense vertically and horizontally, so they have to cover the entire field, which just makes him more dangerous.
One of the special things about Washington is that you rarely see him catch a ball, then immediately be taken down. He’s always moving forward or sideways to get to the point of moving forward. He is always falling forward for that extra yard or two. Here’s a “spin” on another way of falling forward.
This is the same type of action as in other routes, as you have the dig route with the short receiver pulling up coverage from the middle of the field. What you see here is a nice hands catch in front of his facemask. Then you see him peek at the players around him. He avoids one tackle, spins away from another, then is finally taken down. All around it’s a nice job and a first down.
For our last clip I wanted to show you something that all these clips have in common. It’s showing why there is tackle breaking, elusiveness, great hands catching, pushing for that extra yard and all the rest.
If you had a one word title for this clip it would be desire. It’s part of every clip, every play, the desire to succeed not just for himself but also for his teammates. You see it in everything Washington does.
That’s the kind of player you want on your team. Maybe it’s because he was told he’s too small, or he has to because if he doesn’t he will never see the field, or maybe it’s just part of his nature. Whatever it is I want him on my side. Washington is a football player any way you look at it.
All the clips you see here are from 2023. Washington played for 4 years at Northwestern because he is a smart kid and wanted an education. Yet Northwestern is a poor offense so he transferred to Virginia (another great school) to play in an average offensive system. Virginia is not a juggernaut, but he excelled there. His teammates voted him as a team captain in his only year playing at that school. That’s respect.
Malik Washington had more receptions than anyone in the FBS (110) and his 1,426 receiving yards were fourth in the nation despite playing in only 12 games. Those ahead of him played in 14 or 15 games. One of the shortest players, he nonetheless caught 67.4% of his contested passes. Marvin Harrison, all 6’ 3 1/4” of him, caught 43% of his contested catches.
Washington is not considered a must have draft pick. Most teams probably have him as a late 3rd round pick because of his size. If he was 6” taller you’d be talking possible top 10 overall pick in the draft. We shall see what happens.
If the New York Jets make some trades I could see them using a mid-third round pick on him. I do know he was one of the players the Jets talked to extensively at the combine.
What do you think?
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