The Washington Redskins made a rather surprising addition to the team on Friday, signing undrafted free agent tight end Donald Parham, a rookie out of Stetson University.
Parham—who stands at 6’8″—caught 20 touchdown passes during his four years in Florida, and averaged 14.4 yards per catch. He is a very big body who poses a large threat in the redzone.
But the Redskins have Jordan Reed and Vernon Davis holding down the TE position, so why sign a UDFA to the roster?
Well, the answer is pretty cut and dry if you choose to accept it—Washington is showing that they can no longer rely on both Reed and Davis to stay healthy and productive for 16 games, and it’s time they called in backup.
Ever since his breakout year in 2015, Reed has had a muddled injury history. The 28-year-old has played in just 31-of-48 games while dealing with a nagging list of injuries that have kept him off the field. He had 11 TD catches in his third season but has hauled in just 10 in the three years since.
As for Davis, the story has much more to do with production, rather than availability. The former Pro Bowler has 62 career touchdowns, but all but seven of them came in his first 10 seasons with the San Francisco 49ers. At this point in his career, at 33-years-old, Davis represents a clearer picture of past accolades than present production.
That’s where Parham comes in. There’s no telling that his skills will translate to the NFL, but he is a big body who can provide Case Keenum or Dwayne Haskins with a jump ball recipient. Along with the stalling hope around TE Jeremy Sprinkle, it appears Washington might be readying to move on from their TE mainstays.
He may just have been brought into the locker room in order to provide depth at the position, or he may have some serious upside that we don’t know about. A position battle might play out come training camp, we will just have to sit back and watch.
