Redskins 2017 Draft Thread

[Hambombs]

After the trade with Minnesota, the Redskins ended up with the 199th pick and the 230th pick overall. They gave up the 201st overall choice as well as the 220th. That means they still have three more picks remaining; Washington also owns the 209th selection.

 

[Krusheasy]

 

[Darrell Green Fan]

It looks like to me the Redskins were drafting almost purely based upon need instead of BPA. They probably already had certain players targeted for selection in the middle/late rounds and didn't want to lose those players. So they selected a couple of players too high.

I've been thinking the same thing. Either they got blind lucky and found the best player on their board filled a need or they passed on higher rated players to fill needs. I like most picks, not the center but the rest, but let's hope they were right.

 

[gkekoa]

Now we need context.

 

[Hambombs]

 

[gkekoa]

Wow...that is bad.

 

[Caliskinsfan]

 

[Caliskinsfan]

 

[Krusheasy]

 

[Caliskinsfan]

 

[Caliskinsfan]

 

[Caliskinsfan]

 

[Darrell Green Fan]

I really liked the first 4 picks, I'm OK with Sprinkle and Davis. The rest of the picks I hate as they all scream reaches to fill needs. But if the first 4 play out as expected it was a good draft.

 

[Caliskinsfan]

Really like Jerrys summation of the team here...




By Jerry Brewer Columnist April 29 at 6:42 PM

For a team without a general manager — a team that fired its well-respected personnel guru at the worst time and in the worst way — the Washington Redskins sure have had a stable offseason. The heavy lifting is over now, at least in terms of acquiring new talent, and the supposed Most Dysfunctional Franchise Ever just followed a solid and logical free agency period with a solid and logical NFL draft.

Someone should probably turn off the alarm that has been blaring for the past two months.

Consider me crazy, naive or allergic to extreme pessimism, but I’m not so certain anymore that the March firing of Scot McCloughan is an automatic trigger for Washington to revert immediately to misery. If you had asked me a few weeks ago, I would have told you strongly that this team was headed for a 6-10 record and last-place regression next season and that everything good would crumble from there. But that was before the McCloughan-less front office made sensible decision after sensible decision, exhibiting a continuity of thought despite a chaotic alteration to the leadership structure.

It doesn’t mean that Washington will survive the McCloughan debacle without suffering. When a team gets rid of one of the best talent evaluators in the league, there figures to be a negative effect. But you are left to wonder how negative it will be and when exactly the slippage might occur.

[Jonathan Allen seems to have been born for his opportunity with Redskins]

Redskins in the 2017 NFL draft

The reactionary thought was that it would be immediate and dramatic. Those who believed that failed to consider a couple of things: McCloughan was still going to have a major influence on Washington’s decisions this offseason because he spent months leading the development of this plan. And for all the horror stories about owner Daniel Snyder and team President Bruce Allen, there are still plenty of quality, under-the-radar folks contributing in the football operations department, and they relished the opportunity to show just how much of a group effort Washington’s strategic transformation has been the past few years.

This offseason is evidence that Washington has a solid core of lieutenants: Scott Campbell, the director of college scouting; Alex Santos, the director of pro personnel; Doug Williams, the senior personnel executive; and Eric Schaffer, the vice president of football administration and general counsel. And then there’s the team of scouts. They executed and enhanced the vision of Coach Jay Gruden. In addition, Allen ran the whole show well. He is easy to criticize for his many mistakes, and his power struggle with McCloughan contributed to ruining a good thing, but after the fiasco, Allen stepped up, trusted his people, and Washington’s methodical, incremental team-building approach remains intact and effective.

On paper, this is a better team than the one that finished 8-7-1 last season and barely missed a second straight playoff appearance. In free agency, Washington continued its trend of targeting midlevel options at fair prices. Adding Stacy McGee and Terrell McClain improved the defensive line with players who should fit new coordinator Greg Manusky’s plans. Signing blossoming, 27-year-old quarterback-turned-receiver Terrelle Pryor to offset the losses of high-priced veterans DeSean Jackson and Pierre Garcon means the passing game doesn’t have to take a step back. D.J. Swearinger is a decent stopgap safety option, and at age 25, he might still have some upside. Allowing Pro Bowl linebacker Zach Brown to sign a one-year deal and showcase himself is a move that benefits both sides, and if he shines in Washington, there is still the option of a long-term contract.

And then came the draft haul this weekend, which is the most encouraging part. It started with a lucky break as teams passed on Alabama defensive lineman Jonathan Allen over concerns about his shoulders. At No. 17, Washington drafted a top-five talent — and a homegrown star, at that. If Allen can remain healthy, Washington just drafted a foundational defensive star. He is the kind of talent around which you can build a formidable front seven. He is exactly the impact player that the defensive line needed. Washington was gifted Allen, and it didn’t second-guess the good fortune. When a player slides in the draft, some teams panic and go against their evaluations. Campbell and his staff did a simple thing, but it was the right thing.

Jonathan Allen set the tone for a draft in which Washington stayed true to what it has been trying to build for three years. Alabama linebacker Ryan Anderson, the team’s second-round pick, epitomized what McCloughan had been preaching: Find blue-collar players who love the game and will be productive. Don’t obsess over raw talents who don’t have a feel for the game. Value players, not just athletes.

Certainly, Washington didn’t follow McCloughan’s advice on every pick. Draft boards change over the final few months, but it’s clear the team didn’t exercise in any reckless pettiness by tearing up McCloughan’s work and trying to make a point that it was time to do something new.

The plan all along involved using major draft resources on defense, and Washington didn’t stray, selecting defensive players in the first three rounds. UCLA cornerback Fabian Moreau, the third-round choice, was a good substance pick at a time when the team could have drifted and looked for a flashier offensive option.

2017 NFL draft round one

As for all the Day 3 draft picks, we’ll see. Those players are a lot more difficult to forecast. But you can evaluate themes and determine how they match up with the team’s needs and its general direction. You can judge based on what Washington valued and how sound the thinking was. You can look at players and figure out whether they have the prototypical skills of those who have thrived in Gruden’s system. And finally, you can think about your frustrations as an observer and ponder whether the team did anything to address those.

This has a chance to be a memorable draft. If Allen reaches stardom and Anderson and Moreau become good starters on a defense that improves greatly over the next few years, that’s a great start before even considering whether fourth-round running back Samaje Perine of Oklahoma adds a new dimension to the backfield or safety Montae Nicholson of Michigan State becomes a factor, or any other player from this intriguing class takes the field.

Washington has a chance to keep building now. It means that Washington should fill its general manager job by hiring from within and rewarding one of those lieutenants.

Yes, this franchise is fully capable of nudging its self-destruction switch again. But despite the outcry after McCloughan was fired, despite the ruthless way the franchise justified the decision by alleging his alcohol issues left it no choice, hope still wiggled into an offseason that began with controversy.

Then again, Kirk Cousins still doesn’t have a long-term contract.

And so the alarm will keep blaring, but maybe it’s possible to lower the volume a tad.

 

[Caliskinsfan]

 

[Caliskinsfan]

 

[Ruzious]

I don't know who this writer is, but he's a huge believer in Davis. Robert Davis: A Rookie Draft Wide Receiver Steal? - Dynasty League Football

 

[Ruzious]

I really liked the first 4 picks, I'm OK with Sprinkle and Davis. The rest of the picks I hate as they all scream reaches to fill needs. But if the first 4 play out as expected it was a good draft.

Well, they needed football players, and they drafted football players, so I guess that's picking for need.

 

[Sportster 72]

Was not shocked at all when Kyle too Beathard. I thought the Redskins might draft him and apparently Kyle knew it too so he grabbed him a little early.

 

[Caliskinsfan]

Was not shocked at all when Kyle too Beathard. I thought the Redskins might draft him and apparently Kyle knew it too so he grabbed him a little early.

Wasn't even on my radar as I wasn't following leading into the draft closely but it did surprise me that no QB was picked 4th or later with 10 picks in the arsenal. Also the Nichaelson pick was a bit of a head scratcher to me - could it be they expected Beathard in that spot? I really thought it'd be Peterman in the 4th or 5th myself. Interesting the webs woven and ramifications from the Griffin and Cuz picks.