In Praise of Kenny Wright

By Mark Solway | June 9th, 2006

In all the glamour of the Redskins numerous offseason pickups, one man who will play an incredibly important role in this defense is going unnoticed. That is Kenny Wright who will be our new nickel cornerback. Wright will replace Walt Harris. Though I was a big supporter of Walt Harris it is obvious to anyone that Kenny Wright is an upgrade. While I am incredibly excited about this offseason’s acquisitions, I also recognize that we are not very deep in a couple of areas. One of those is the Secondary. We have more safeties than any team needs, but we are short on CB’s. In the NFL today your third corner is practically a starter. With Sean Springs and Carlos Rogers above him, Kenny could become the actual starter at anytime. Kenny Wright plays the aggressive style of corner that Gregg Williams loves and his experience makes him a valuable backup. Not to mention that the teams that Kenny Wright has played for all have gone to the playoffs during his tenure. Again, the Gibbs II regime chose a player that has playoff experience. Wright has played in 110 games, starting many of them including all 16 games for the Panthers whose defense carried them to the playoffs. The strength of that defense was its pass defense. Not to mention that the guy has missed only two games in his entire pro career, and has no off the field issues. While no one will confuse Kenny Wright with Darrell Green, he brings valuable experience and stability. He is clearly a Gibbs player. A quick peek at last year reveals that Wright was often…..make that nearly always….the target of the opposing QB’s throws. With the exception of one game against his former teammate Andre Johnson of the Texans he did a great job of holding his receiver in check. He played against elite receivers such as Marvin Harrison, helped to keep Larry Fitzgerald, and Anquan Boldin in check, and shut down Chad Johnson. The Jaguars D-Line is truly the strength of its defense. Without that kind of pass rush, perhaps Kenny won’t be as effective. But the fact remains that he started for a great defense, locked down top receivers, and helped the Jag’s to become the number five ranked pass defense in the league. With the addition of Andre Carter, and incredible safety help overtop, Kenny Wright will perform well. This signing is one of the most important things that we have done this offseason. While I’m not comparing it to the signing of Andre Carter, it is a shame that Wright doesn’t seem to be getting the attention that he deserves. Chad…