When the Washington Redskins signed Pierre Garçon to a reportedly big money, long-term deal, the initial reaction in the media was negative.
How could the Redskins put their trust in a guy who was a third receiver for most of his career, playing on the other end of one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time in Indianapolis?
Garçon did his best to silence the critics with his first ever play from scrimmage in Washington, taking a slant pass from Robert Griffin III 88 yards to the house.
After battling a debilitating toe injury that limited him to 10 games last season, Garçon has shown why he is not only a true No. 1 receiver, but is also one of the most accomplished receivers in Redskins history.
Last Sunday, Garçon had seven receptions for 129 yards and a touchdown; pretty typical production for him this season.
On the year, he has four 100-yard receiving games, tallying 96 receptions for 1,146 yards and four touchdowns.
He has converted 49 of his 96 receptions for first downs, providing an intermediate threat with 11.4 yards per receptions.
On his current pace, he will finish the season with 110 receptions, 1,310 yards and five touchdowns. The franchise record for reception (96) was set by Art Monk 30 years ago.
But each of this next 10 catches to tie the record will be as important as the first 96.
"When you're out there on the field you're just playing no matter what," he told ESPN 980 earlier this week. "You're not keeping count of the amount of yards or catches you have because every catch is an important one and an intense one where you're trying to get every yard as you possibly can.
"It's a cool thing to be going through but I'm just happy that I can be helping the team, really."
Before coming to Washington, Garcon had limited experience in formations and was outside the numbers on the right side most of the time.
In Washington, offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan has put him all over the field in opportunities to win matchups.
"We knew we were getting a physical guy who didn't mind to get after it, did not fear contact but he's been one of my most fun guys to coach for that reason," Kyle said.
"To bring him here and to move him inside, to motion him, to change his splits, to not always be running straight stem routes but widened routes and stuff from stack releases – it's been a lot for him. It's something that he never did in Indy.
"He's really grown, and he's always tried to do it but I feel like you never can be great at it until you really understand why you're doing it."
Although Garcon downplays his approach of Monk's record, head coach Mike Shanahan said it just matches his competitive spirit.
"You see how he practices," Shanahan said. "You see what type of competitive spirit a guy has – if it's one-on-one in a passing drill, if it's just doing some run-related drills.
"It didn't take long to figure out he was very competitive."
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