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WR Nate Washington signs with Houston Texans

By Will Osgood

Dec 7, 2014; Nashville, TN, USA; Tennessee Titans wide receiver Nate Washington (85) carries the ball against the New York Giants during the second half at LP Field. The Giants beat the Titans 36-7. Mandatory Credit: Don McPeak-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 7, 2014; Nashville, TN, USA; Tennessee Titans wide receiver Nate Washington (85) carries the ball against the New York Giants during the second half at LP Field. The Giants beat the Titans 36-7. Mandatory Credit: Don McPeak-USA TODAY Sports /
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Free agent wide receiver Nate Washington has signed with the Houston Texans

Free agent wide receiver Nate Washington is changing teams. He will play for the Houston Texans now, after agreeing to a deal with the team on Wednesday.

The 6’1″, 185 pound receiver has played the entirety of his career with the Pittsburgh Steelers and Tennessee Titans. He was undrafted out of the quite small Tiffin University in Ohio. Washington, though, feels appreciated as he heads to Houston.

The 31-year-old veteran was a starter for much of his time with the Titans, but last season was demoted to the third-receiver spot as Justin Hunter became a go-to target for whichever quarterback stepped under center.

The Texans, who are entering their second season being led by Bill Belichick protege Bill O’Brien–who also coached at Penn State prior to taking the job–will use a lot of different formations and personnel groupings, making Washington a good signing for depth purposes, if nothing else.

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Washington has caught 411 passes in 10 seasons, for 6,296 yards and 40 touchdowns. He has a career 15.3 ypc average. And the 16.2 mark he registered a season ago was better than every Texan receiver a season ago.

Still, Washington’s signing should not be automatically seen as the answer to fixing the Texans’ offense’s problems. They of course released long-time Texans receiver Andre Johnson earlier this offseason, then took about two weeks to sign Cecil Shorts–a player they had seen plenty of while he was catching passes for a division rival, the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Shorts has been a consistent receiving threat for the Jaguars for three years. He has averaged 58 catches per season over the last three campaigns, but is yet to eclipse 1,000 yards, and has a career 13.3 yards per catch average which is actually highly inflated by his 2012 campaign.

But as currently concocted, it is Shorts and Washington who figure to join DeAndre “Nuke” Hopkins in the Texans’ lineup as their primary receivers.

Keyshawn Martin, Devier Posey and Damaris Johnson also figure to compete for playing time. But the Texans seem to lack a true No. 1 wide receiver, at least in the cloth of a big, physical receiver.

If available when the Texans select at pick No. 16, Kevin White of West Virginia fits that description and would be an excellent fit in O’Brien’s offense.

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