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Jason Hatcher key to Washington’s pass rush

8/18/2014, 2:28 p.m.
If you want to catch butterflies, get a net. If you plan corralling horses, find a lasso. If you need ...
Jason Hatcher, Washington's defensive end.

If you want to catch butterflies, get a net. If you plan corralling horses, find a lasso. If you need to snare quarterbacks, call someone the likes of Jason Hatcher, right.

That’s what the NFL franchise in Washington has done, luring Hatcher from rival Dallas Cowboys for the steep price tag of $27 million over four years.

Pass rushers don’t come cheap, obviously.

Built along the lines of the Washington Monument, Hatcher is a 6-foot-6, 299-pound defensive end — a former third-round pick from Grambling — who gets his kicks harassing QBs.

A year ago for Dallas, he sacked the QB 11 times; 8.5 of those in the same NFC East division as D.C.

Additionally, Hatcher is regarded as the type of raging bull rusher who can collapse pocket QB protection, freeing linebackers to wreak havoc behind the line of scrimmage.

In Dallas, Hatcher’s knack for crushing blocks and creating avenues to the QB enabled DeMarcus Ware and Anthony Spencer to tally 48 combined sacks in 2011 and 2012.

In Washington, defensive coordinator Jim Haslett is hopeful Hatcher (No. 97) can cause similar damage, making linebackers Brian Orakpo and Ryan Kerrigan all the more dangerous.

Orakpo, with 10, and Kerrigan, 8.5, were Washington ’s sacksleaders in a 2013 season that produced 3-13 record.

The most prolific sacker, among D.C. down linemen, was Barry Cofield, with 2.5, operating out of 3-4 alignment (three linemen, four backers)

D.C.’s fence needed mending after all the damage last year.

Washington allowed 30 points and 354 yards per game in a nightmarish season. Opponents rang up 23 touchdowns on the ground, another 29 via the air.

As in most situations, there are pros and cons to the Hatcher signing:

Pros: Hatcher is ranked NFL’s fourth best pass rusher by Pro Football Focus. He gives D.C. exactly what it was lacking a year ago, a down lineman who feasts on QBs. He was an All-Pro pick in his final Dallas season.

Cons: He’s 32, long in the tooth by NFL standards, is coming off arthroscopic knee surgery in June and isn’t expected to play until the third preseason game Aug. 23 at Baltimore. Is he damaged goods?

Additionally, despite his individual accolades, Hatcher played for the NFL’s most porous defense Cowboys, who allowed 415 yards per Sunday.

That must create some guilt by association worries.

Then there are sour memories from a previous Washington acquisition of another veteran pass rusher, Albert Haynesworth, in 2009.

Held in high esteem for his work in Tennessee, Haynesworth inked with Washington for $100 million for seven seasons. Haynesworth said “thank you” to D.C. by reporting out of shape, never approaching his previous status.

Basically, Haynesworth was an expensive embarrassment to the organization.

In a season in which Washington had no first-round draft picks, free agent receiver DeSean Jackson and Hatcher would seem to be the equivalent of No. 1 selections.

At least for now, everyone is smiling in the Nation’s Capital. It’s almost as if the 3-13 never happened.   

Furthermore, it must titillate Washington faithful to read Hatcher’s recent upbeat twitters from Richmond’s Bon Secours Training Center.

“My knee is OK … I’ll be ready to kill quarterbacks when the season starts,” he tweeted.

Washington owner Dan Snyder has invested $27 million, hopeful that preseason boast can be backed up when it counts.