The record is spotty, with more losing seasons than bad. The draft record is spotty as well, with more misses — lots more — than hits.
The Redskins might call this a coincidence. Others say it’s more than that.
Regardless, the fact is this: The Redskins have had one of the NFL’s lowest success rates in the draft since 2000; and since 2001, their record is 41-55 with one playoff appearance.
“They have a history of building through free agency,” NFL Network draft expert Mike Mayock said. “I take issue with that because the good teams have shown that even in the free agency era, you’re much better off re-signing your own guys and building from within.
“Sometimes, they’ve spent so much time and effort evaluating free agents that maybe the college [players] have slipped through.”
In the seven drafts under Dan Snyder’s ownership (the 1999 draft was run by the previous front office), the Redskins have struggled.
One NFC general manager says it’s because there are “too many chiefs.”
Another reason was the turnover before Joe Gibbs returned. With new coaches came a new direction and new players.
But the constants have been Snyder and vice president of football operations Vinny Cerrato (save for the 2001 draft).
The Redskins have often used their draft picks to trade for proven players (among them Laveranues Coles, Brandon Lloyd and T.J. Duckett). They also used them to move into rounds to select other players (Jason Campbell, Chris Cooley, Rocky McIntosh).
Said coach Joe Gibbs, “I’ve seen almost comical statements that we don’t like the draft. We love the draft.’ … [But] we fall in the category of being more aggressive.”
Drafting room
» Of the Redskins’ 42 draft picks from 2000-06, only 14 remain on the roster. That’s a 33.3 percent success rate, which ranks 30th in the NFL — ahead of only New Orleans and Denver.
New England has a 39.3 percent rate, but it also had 61 picks so 24 remained on the roster.
“The Redskins have traded so many picks away,” Mayock said. “If they make a mistake, it’s magnified.”
The Bengals had the highest number of picks on the roster last year at 57.1 percent (32 out of 56).
» Only 59.5 percent of their picks from the last seven drafts remain on an NFL roster. Nine teams have a worse percentage. The Jets (79.6), Philadelphia (75), Cincinnati (75) and Pittsburgh (74.1) have the best percentages.
The result: Those four teams have combined for five losing seasons in the past five years.
Said Mayock, “It does come down to the draft.”
For starters
» Only eight of Washington’s projected starters this year have come via their drafts. But at least they’ve improved at finding starters: six of those eight players have been selected in the last three drafts. They’ve also drafted seven players in the first round during this time; five remain as starters — only Patrick Ramsey and Rod Gardner are no longer with the Redskins.
» From 2000-06, the Redskins selected 42 players. Every other team, except Miami, had at least 50 picks during this same stretch. And Houston, which only drafted the past five years, had 46 picks.
