Was passing on a potential franchise quarterback worth a fistful of picks? Based on the Washington Redskins’ past drafts — yes.
Maybe the Redskins will regret trading the 10th pick on Thursday when Blaine Gabbert could have solved the quarterback hole. Then again, the Redskins busted on their last three first-round passers and Gabbert is hardly bullet proof.
Instead, coach Mike Shanahan needs an army of replacement. General manager Bruce Allen so channeled his late father’s legendary moves that someone better make sure the Redskins didn’t peddle a Chicago pick twice. Baltimore owner Steve Bisciotti is still counting his fingers after a failed handshake deal with the Bears.
Now that’s building in the draft.
If Gabbert becomes a Pro Bowler, maybe the trades weren’t worth it. Maybe none of the picks falling to Washington following further moves with Miami, Indianapolis and Chicago pan out. We won’t know for three years.
But Washington entered the NFL draft with just two chances to improve and came away with three strong players and a handful of latter-round picks for valuable backups.
Overall — this is the best Redskins draft in owner Dan Snyder’s 12-year tenure. That’s not saying much, but take improvement however it comes. Surely Snyder would have drafted Gabbert as the latest PR move. He did so with Patrick Ramsey in 2002 over coach Steve Spurrier’s objections. Quarterbacks are hope and Snyder markets it over success. Gabbert was supposed to go much earlier so fans wouldn’t have objected over the Redskins taking him.
But Shanahan and Allen took the smarter big-picture approach. The kind New England and Philadelphia use to create continuous playoff success. Build by numbers. Find productive players yourself rather than overspending for free agents.
This only works if the choices play well. But Washington should be hopeful in linebacker Ryan Kerrigan, defensive lineman Jarvis Jenkins and wide receiver Leonard Hankerson.
Kerrigan helps Brian Orakpo go from Pro Bowler to All-Pro by making offenses play the latter more honestly or else the rookie will rack up the sacks. Jenkins was the Redskins’ own pick and plugs another slot on the 31st-ranked defense. Add free agent acquisition safety O.J. Atogwe, and Washington should return to the middle rankings. Hankerson gets Malcolm Kelly’s slot as the tall receiver the latter never fulfilled as a 2008 second-rounder. With Santana Moss unsigned, Hankerson might even be the lead receiver.
The 8-by-11 class picture might be turned horizontally to fit everyone in. Some of those faces may even be gone by the start of the season (whenever that is.) Teams don’t win by massive last-day draft picks, but if even half make the team then all the shuffling was worthwhile.
The Redskins made a move towards the playoffs, but two more drafts like this are needed to return to the postseason.
Examiner columnist Rick Snider has covered local sports since 1978. Read more on Twitter @Snide_Remarks or e-mail [email protected].
