The makeup of the top players in the draft pool may push the Redskins into continuing a short-term draft trend that appears to be working out fairly well for them.
For seven straight years starting in 2009, the Redskins went along with the conventional wisdom in the draft, taking a player that primarily impacted the passing game or stopping the other team’s passing game, with their top draft picks.
Their top pick (whether in the first or second round) in every draft from 2008-2014 was at a traditionally high-value position associated with the passing game—wide receiver (Devin Thomas), edge rusher (Brian Orakpo, Ryan Kerrigan, Trent Murphy), left tackle (Trent Williams), quarterback (Robert Griffin III), or outside cornerback (David Amerson).
This was the Redskins going along with the conventional wisdom. Since 2000, 62 percent of first-round NFL picks have been players at those positions even though they account for just 32 percent of a team’s starters.
The Redskins have shifted away for conducting the draft focused on the passing game at the top in two of the last three drafts. They took guard Brandon Scherff in the first round in 2015 and interior defensive lineman Jonathan Allen last year. I between, they went the old way with wide receiver Josh Doctson.
This trend is likely to continue due in part to the makeup of the top talent in the draft. If you’re not looking for a quarterback, the top half of the first round is very light in talented players playing the positions that are most important to the passing game—outside cornerback, edge rusher, left tackle, and wide receiver. Cornerback Denzel Ward is a top-10 player as is edge rusher Bradley Chubb. But that’s about it at those positions and there are no wide receivers or left tackles worthy of consideration in the top 15.
That leaves players like interior defensive linemen Vita Vea and Da’Ron Payne and inside linebackers Roquan Smith and Tremaine Edmunds as players who have the potential to be the best available players on the board when the Redskins are on the clock. Traditionally, these players play positions that teams are looking for in the latter stages of the first round at the earliest.
They could go the non-traditional way for the third time in four years with Vea, Payne, Fitzpatrick, or Smith. In fact, unless Ward slips or they pull off a major surprise it’s likely that they will.
Scherff has worked out well and Allen was getting the job done as a rookie before he got injured so perhaps the way the draft plays out will work out well for Washington.
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Stay up to date on the Redskins. Rich Tandler covers the team 365 days a year. Like his Facebook page, Facebook.com/TandlerNBCSand follow him on Twitter @TandlerNBCS.
