The Experts Love The Redskins Draft
ESPN - Scot McCloughan’s first draft with the Washington Redskins prompted Mel Kiper to give them his highest grade and Todd McShay to gush about its potential. It’s the sort of start the Redskins needed. Of course, how it turns out is anyone’s guess, but McCloughan sought a certain type of player — the word tough comes to mind — and he ended up with several players who could end up starting. The key is that they not only start, but also contribute to winning. That’s how good classes are measured. But the initial reaction to this class was positive. McShay said what he liked is that McCloughan eliminated risks. That’s one thing a former co-worker of his said he would do. “You try to eliminate a lot of risk and get the best football players you can, especially with those early picks you have to hit on,” McShay said. “If you’re going to continue to develop your roster, the numbers say if you study the analytics of it you’ve got to get three good starters from every draft. You’d like more, but you’ve got to get that to replenish your roster year in and year out.” First-round pick Brandon Scherff will start at right tackle, and eventually second-round pick Preston Smith could end up as a starter. Beyond that it’s uncertainty, just like in any draft class. McShay listed receiver Jamison Crowder, running back Matt Jones, guard Arie Kouandjio and linebacker Martrell Spaightas possibilities for that third starter from this class. “I’d be surprised if we look back three years from now and they don’t have a minimum of three good, solid starters from this class,” McShay said. I agree with this assessment by Kiper: “I don’t think there was a softer team in the NFL the past season than the Redskins, especially on defense, where they simply didn’t tackle. If there was a clear trend with this draft, it was a new GM drafting for toughness and attitude.”
YUP. Feels so good to come out of the NFL Draft weekend and have both Kiper and McShay gushing about your draft. Do draft grades actually matter? Eh, debatable. Probably not. It’s a crapshoot if guys pan out or not. But the exciting part is the two biggest experts on this topic, the two guys in the world who know more about the draft than anyone else, are high on the Skins. And that’s what you have to respect, is they see what the Skins did and love the potential.
Scot McCloughan did exactly what we wanted him to. He started rebuilding this team from the ground up. Big OL and DL as far as the eyes can see. A small but fast WR to help on special teams. And traded back in the late rounds and accumulated picks. McCloughan isn’t cocky enough to think every pick he makes will work, so he wants as many late-round picks as possible as an insurance policy. It’s all about adding depth at this point. Getting bodies in there and seeing what works. This is what winning teams do. And over the weekend the Skins took that first step towards winning.
