WASHINGTON 'Skins change look for season

There won't be too many Florida players on this year's roster.
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
ASHBURN, Va. -- He's not a Gator but Laveranues Coles fits the profile of a Steve Spurrier wide receiver.
The Washington Redskins head coach took some heat for bringing too many former University of Florida players last year in his rookie season as an NFL head coach.
Looking at the Redskins' 7-9 season, that heat was deserved. It became very clear very fast that quarterbacks Shane Matthews and Danny Wuerffel -- though Wuerffel has been brought back -- weren't going to cut it.
The same went for wideouts Jacquez Green and Chris Doering.
Spurrier seemed to be looking for familiarity when he should have been looking for a strong arm and speed.
This season, Patrick Ramsey, though young and still raw, has the arm and Coles definitely has the speed. Throw in speedy running backs Trung Canidate and Chad Morton along with a corps of other wideouts with wings on their heels and the Redskins start looking like the wide-open, big-play offense that Spurrier is known for.
Coles benefited greatly from being with the New York Jets last season as Chad Pennington blossomed into a complete quarterback. He caught 89 of the 130 balls Pennington threw his way, for 1,264 yards and five touchdowns.
Seven-year deal
Redskins owner Daniel Snyder reached in his wallet for $35 million and gave Coles, a free agent, a seven-year deal. Many critics said Snyder overpaid.
Maybe.
The idea was to provide Spurrier a deep threat, the kind that makes cornerbacks and safeties back off a yard or two, so he can reproduce his Fun 'n Gun NFL-style.
"You have to look at the fact that Coach Spurrier is here with a pass-happy offense," Coles said. "It's a receiver's dream. You can be successful any time the ball is in the air that many times a game. That's what really was the final (reason for the) decision to come here."
Did somebody mention $35 million?
"It was a little bit of both," Coles admitted without blushing. "That's what business is about. Business is business. There's no loyalty in this business at all."
Coles didn't wait around to see how many other teams were going to step up.
The San Diego Chargers signed David Boston to a $47 million deal and the dominoes started to fall quickly. Peerless Price went for $42 million to the Atlanta Falcons and it wasn't long before Coles' phone rang.
Jets couldn't match offer
Obviously the Jets weren't prepared to cough up $35 million to match the Redskins' offer, but one would think that a promising young receiver entering his fourth NFL season might want to hang around and play with Pennington in his prime.
Ramsey certainly has the talent but he isn't quite complete yet.
"It's risk in anything," Coles explained. "I could've returned to New York and something could've happened to Pennington or we could've gotten more focused on the running game or the line wasn't strong enough for us to get the ball down the field.
"Every time you step on a football field you're taking a risk."
You might as well be richer while you're taking the risk, a cynic might add, but there is some logic in a person who runs the 40-yard dash under 4.3 seconds wanting to be with a team whose coach likes to throw long.
Pennington, who doesn't have a particularly strong arm, is more of a short-to-mid-range thrower who makes great decisions and is very accurate.
Ramsey is a different kind of animal, a Spurrier type of animal.
"He's a courageous young man," Spurrier said of his second-year quarterback. "He can throw it real hard and real far. He just needs to play a lot."