The Redskin Report

I know I promised an article about Okoye today, but the guy’s been talked about every where this week. By now you’ve probably read all there is to know about the guy.

We’ve all heard the saying - ‘I can resist everything except for temptation’, but no cliched statement applies more to the Redskins draft options this weekend than that one. Talk is flying about the Redskins trading up to pick Calvin Johnson or sticking at 6 and picking LaRon Landry. For the love of god Gibbs and company, please don’t do this.

The Redskins, since Daniel Snyder bought the team, have been the kinda guy who would walk into Best Buy to buy a $20 DVD but walk out with a $5000 TV. They like shiny things and sexy, big-name players. Calvin Johnson is the ‘guy’ in this draft. Like Reggie Bush last year, he may not go number one, but he’s the player who everyone is talking about.

Let’s look at this logically, has their ever been a wide receiver drafted in the top 5 who’s been worth the pick? Do the names Braylon Edwards, Charles Rogers and Peter Warrick ring a bell? Even guys who’ve ‘worked out’ (although not worth the slot they were picked) like Larry Fitzgerald and Andre Johnson were picked by teams that are still rebuilding years later. Wide Receiver is right up there in terms of positions where high picks flop consistently.

Then you look at the trade rumors and it gets more ridiculous. The latest rumors have the Redskins dangling Shawn Springs, their #6 pick, among other stuff to move up to #2 to pick Johnson. So let me get this straight, you’re coming off a season where your defense completed sucked and not only are going to draft a receiver in the 1st round, but you are going to trade away your best cornerback to get it done? Does this not seem insane to anyone else?

Onto LaRon Landry. He’s shot up the draft boards these past few weeks (in our mock draft on March 4th, no one had him going higher than #10), which is always a huge red flag in my eyes. Putting that aside, THE REDSKINS DON’T NEED TO SPEND $20 MILLION DOLLARS ON ANOTHER FREAKING SAFETY. Landry could turn out to be the best safety in NFL history, but the Redskins still don’t need him.

The Redskins can have the best secondary money can buy, but it won’t make any difference if the team struggles to break double digits in sacks again in 2007. Get a Ryan Clark type of guy for a couple of million dollars to play opposite Sean Taylor and be done with it. It worked just fine in 2005, I don’t think I need to remind anyone how the new big money safety worked out in 2006.

This weekend’s draft is another litmus test of the Redskins front office. Can they resist the shiny players and draft smart or will they prove the common sense they showed in this year’s free agency was a fluke? Give me Gaines, Okoye or Anderson and I’ll be a happy guy on draft day.

Coming tomorrow evening - the mock draft 2.0. Also tomorrow night and all weekend - tons of draft news including the latest rumors and profiles of all the new Redskins)