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How the heck are all these guys going to get on the field?
We all thought the Redskins were going to take a wide receiver early in the draft, little did we know they were going to take 2 wide receivers and a pass catching tight end on the 1st day of the draft. It is definitely overkill although not the disaster some Redskins fans are making it out to be. Down from the ledge folks.
If you examine the picks in isolation, the Redskins got good value with each selection. It was a shocker that Michigan State WR Devin Thomas fell all the way down to the 33rd slot. Thomas was the highest rated receiver on most boards and a prototypical guy to slide into the West Coast Offense. Thomas should start from day one opposite Santana Moss and push Antwaan Randle-El back to the slot. It was a good start for Vinny Cerrato in his first draft as the lead man.
Here is where it gets wacky. USC TE Fred Davis is a talented guy. He has very good numbers for a tight end and was one of the best at his position in this draft. The question is where does he fit on the team? Draft profiles listed his most comparable player as Chris Cooley. Most teams use two tight end sets, but one of them is usually a blocker. Using Davis at tight end, would allow the Redskins to move Cooley around the field and line him up in the slot, but where does that leave Randle-El? Davis sounds like a quality player, but you have to worry that in the next few years the front office will be dealing him off for pennies on the dollar like the Cowboys did today with Anthony Fasano.
Next up was Oklahoma WR Malcolm Kelly. There was a lot of talk about the Redskins taking Kelly at their original first pick (21), but they ultimately decided he wasn’t worth being picked at that spot. The front office was obviously shocked that he was still available at fifty-one and felt he was too good to pass up. He’s a solid receiver and along with Thomas, adds some size to the wide-out position. But again, unless Zorn is planning on running 4 and 5 receiver sets all the time, you wonder how exactly he’s going to get on the field?
Adding all these pass catchers is going to mean some veterans are on their way out. The WR depth chart is jammed packed – Santana Moss, Antwaan Randle-El, Jerome Mathis, Anthony Mix and James Thrash all have NFL experience. If you assume the Redskins keep five receivers, two of Mix, Mathis or Thrash are going to be out of job. Thrash in particular, without his #1 fan Joe Gibbs on the sidelines, may be in some trouble.
While it does seem odd, keep in mind that we usually see three rounds on day one, so decent players are still available. The Redskins have a late third round pick (compensation pick) and then an early 4th round pick (from Atlanta) tomorrow. Joe Bugel has been out looking at offensive linemen and you’d have to assume that at least one of those picks will be used at that position. The Redskins have had some success with late round defensive choices lately (HB Blades, Anthony Montgomery, Kedric Golston), unfortunately it looks like once again the Redskins are going to rely on their scouting staff to pull out gems instead of filling the defensive line with young stars.
I think the draft shows exactly what Zorn thinks of Mix, Thrash, and Tyler Ecker. Mathis is the defacto KR, so he gets to stay for a while.
Also, another key late round pick was Doughty.
As always, great stuff.
Fans can be positive or negative on what has transpired, so far.
For me, pick #21 did not have much value on the board to specifically help the Skins vs cost. Trading down made a lot of sense. To get the top rated WR (on many boards) in round two is great. This guy should be able to help immediately. Pick #2 for Davis, TE, is surprising: he is very much like Cooley and that is how the scouts have evaluated him. So what were the pro’s and con’s on selecting him instead of getting a player at another needed position?
Then, the Redskins picked another tall, big WR in Kelly. Kelly was highly rated, but fell due to some questions. If those questions, or negatives, about his ability turn out not to be accurate, then the Skins have another potentially great receiver and for little cost.
The guard they selected can play several positions. Joe Bugel will be able to bring him up to an NFL caliber player if anyone can.
The next one, the 5’9″ corner with average speed is a real head scratcher. It will take some real information that I do not yet see to convince me this was a wise choise considering other needs and the style of play in our conference.
Good stuff saratogan. I agree with you, its not the players chosen that are question marks, its more of how is everyone going to get of the field.
The Redskins now have Moss, Randle-El, Thomas, Kelly, Cooley and Davis to catch passes. Add in the fact that they’ve talked about having Portis make more receptions and well I’m not sure how everyone is going to be happy.
I’m fine with the 2nd round going all pass catchers.. Mix and Mathis have done nothing at the NFL level and Thrash is WAY past any meaningful productivity. I think Mathis will stick as the primary KR meaning Rock is going to be challenged to make the team as the 53rd man. Campbell now has (assuming they develop as expected) no less than 4 weapons on any given play to utilize. Zorn comes from the Holmgren tree and philosophy of creating mismatches and with what we’ve got, we can do exactly that.