Cerrato Vaguely Explains Draft Strategy (with Questionable Evidence)

I think it's funny that, prior to the draft, nearly everyone on this board agreed in the Pioli principle of drafting the best player available. Now that it appears that we need linemen, most people seem to have done a 180. For the record, I've always believed in the "blended" model whereby you take the best player available at a position of need.

But didn't the Patriots "need" a linebacker? Vrabel and Bruschi are ancient. They did need a linebacker, so they got Jerod Mayo.

Just like we needed a cornerback in the 2005 draft. Champ was gone, and Smoot was in Minnesota. So we drafted Carlos Rogers.

You can't ignore needs, that's for sure.

hey beems, i see your dad(?) has joined us on the warpath. and to me, it makes no sense to take the best player available. every team in the nfl has needs.

I don't get how can you defend drafting three guys who have contributed zero this year and then turn around and trash two other guys' rookie seasons. If we all agree that you can't judge draft picks based on first year production, and I'm sure Vinny thinks that, then what the hell do Campbell and Merling's first year tackle totals have to do with anything? Is the argument, yeah, Thomas, Davis, and Kelly have all sucked this year, but Philip Merling and Calais Campbell suck too, so ha! Because that's pretty dumb.

We all knew Devin Thomas would be slow to develop. He was a one year wonder more or less at Michigan State, but has all the physical tools to become a very productive player.

Malcolm Kelly is a very good receiver that could probably produce some numbers right away, however when you're injured it's tough to get on the field. WR is one of the hardest positions to learn as a rookie, and missing any time makes it that much tougher.

The Fred Davis pick was a bit questionable, and could have definitely gone another way. However, once (if) he picks up the system he could be a great asset to this team. Even without him we've been running double TE sets with Yoder fairly often.

Listen, receivers have to be given time to develop. They have a lot of responsibilities on the field. They have to learn all of the routes, the verbage, their hot routes, how to read defenses to know when to run hot routes, work with the QB for timing and rhythm, etc.

The draft is a crap shoot. Right now, it looks as if Horton should have been a 1st round pick. Basing production off of a rookie year is crazy.

Everyone here was raving about Vinny this offseason. We didn't go after those high priced free agents, we traded down for more picks, we got arguably the consensus #1 WR, The #1 TE, and the #3 WR on the board. It isn't like Vinny pulled some obscure name out of a hat.

It sucks that our team is struggling, but we just switched to a new system, give Zorn time to get his guys in the door, and maybe we can ship out some of the older guys and turn towards a youth movement. The oldest average age team in the NFL is only getting older.

I have a question for all the FO bashers and I know betters... .

In this upcoming draft would you take a second or third round talent with our first round pick simply because it is a OL or DL? i.e. a possition of need . Would you pick up someone who might go undrafted in the third round ?

We have been down this drafting for need under Gibbs and yes it worked out in some cases (Sean Taylor) but there are instances where we could get more value by taking the BPA . That when we lock onto someone ( like Roky McIntosh, Jason Campbell) and overpay to get him rather than take the best player/deal available when we pick, or we get cornered into drafting a particular possition (i.e. CB Carlos Rogers) because of what happens in FA when there is more talent available elsewhere .

I really think we forget how bad the Skins were between 93-97 ... so bad indeed when Reggie White left the Eagles he went round every other team except the Redskins because he was looking for a "playoff contender"

So bad that when we got a bucket of picks for Ricky Williams from the siants we came away with Jon Jansen and Champ Bailey ... thats it ..

We also traded 1,2,3rd round pick for Brad Johnson in 1999, the year we also let that bum Trent Green go via free agency...

And remember although 1999 was the year Snyder bought the team but most of FA and the draft was run by the Cook Estate .

Also in the 90s we drafted such memorable players like : Andre Johnson (1st round) Skip Hicks ( a good situational player but 2nd round pick?) Heath Shuler, Stephen Alexander ( never lived upto his hype), Micheal Westbrook and a bunch of no bodies even the most ardient of Skins fans would struggle to have heard of ...

The time immediately after JKC's death, when his son and the estate ran the club were terrible days/years for this organization. I think people that hate on DS are forgetting (or blocked it out) how awful JKC's son was for the club. If I remember correctly, the choices for team ownership came down to JKC's son, a conglomerate who wanted "the Redskins", or DS who had been a lifelong fan.
Maybe the other option would have been different, we will never know, but Snyder came in and took over a dysfunctional club, and did it from a fan's perspective.

All you have to do is look over these threads and you see how topsy-turvy that can make a club. The question now, is has he matured as an owner, is he willing to sacrifice the now for the long-term. If not, if he still rides the flow of emotion when making decisions, then we will never regain the greatness that was the JKC/Gibbs Skins of the 80's.

We all knew Devin Thomas would be slow to develop. He was a one year wonder more or less at Michigan State, but has all the physical tools to become a very productive player.

Malcolm Kelly is a very good receiver that could probably produce some numbers right away, however when you're injured it's tough to get on the field. WR is one of the hardest positions to learn as a rookie, and missing any time makes it that much tougher.

The Fred Davis pick was a bit questionable, and could have definitely gone another way. However, once (if) he picks up the system he could be a great asset to this team. Even without him we've been running double TE sets with Yoder fairly often.

Listen, receivers have to be given time to develop. They have a lot of responsibilities on the field. They have to learn all of the routes, the verbage, their hot routes, how to read defenses to know when to run hot routes, work with the QB for timing and rhythm, etc.

The draft is a crap shoot. Right now, it looks as if Horton should have been a 1st round pick. Basing production off of a rookie year is crazy.

Everyone here was raving about Vinny this offseason. We didn't go after those high priced free agents, we traded down for more picks, we got arguably the consensus #1 WR, The #1 TE, and the #3 WR on the board. It isn't like Vinny pulled some obscure name out of a hat.

It sucks that our team is struggling, but we just switched to a new system, give Zorn time to get his guys in the door, and maybe we can ship out some of the older guys and turn towards a youth movement. The oldest average age team in the NFL is only getting older.

Well said. Nobody wants to hear it right now but we have to have some patience with last year's draft class. If at this time next year we're still seeing little production from Thomas, Kelly, and Davis, then it might be time to panic a bit. Even then it typically takes a good 3-4 seasons for a WR to hit their stride.

We all knew Devin Thomas would be slow to develop. He was a one year wonder more or less at Michigan State, but has all the physical tools to become a very productive player.

Malcolm Kelly is a very good receiver that could probably produce some numbers right away, however when you're injured it's tough to get on the field. WR is one of the hardest positions to learn as a rookie, and missing any time makes it that much tougher.

The Fred Davis pick was a bit questionable, and could have definitely gone another way. However, once (if) he picks up the system he could be a great asset to this team. Even without him we've been running double TE sets with Yoder fairly often.

Listen, receivers have to be given time to develop. They have a lot of responsibilities on the field. They have to learn all of the routes, the verbage, their hot routes, how to read defenses to know when to run hot routes, work with the QB for timing and rhythm, etc.

The draft is a crap shoot. Right now, it looks as if Horton should have been a 1st round pick. Basing production off of a rookie year is crazy.

Everyone here was raving about Vinny this offseason. We didn't go after those high priced free agents, we traded down for more picks, we got arguably the consensus #1 WR, The #1 TE, and the #3 WR on the board. It isn't like Vinny pulled some obscure name out of a hat.

It sucks that our team is struggling, but we just switched to a new system, give Zorn time to get his guys in the door, and maybe we can ship out some of the older guys and turn towards a youth movement. The oldest average age team in the NFL is only getting older.

I agree w/ your whole post, with one exception...we tried to send 1 or 2 picks for Chad Johnson in the offseason. They just didn't bite. Of course, that's just what was reported...at least 1 first rounder.

I don't get how can you defend drafting three guys who have contributed zero this year and then turn around and trash two other guys' rookie seasons. If we all agree that you can't judge draft picks based on first year production, and I'm sure Vinny thinks that, then what the hell do Campbell and Merling's first year tackle totals have to do with anything? Is the argument, yeah, Thomas, Davis, and Kelly have all sucked this year, but Philip Merling and Calais Campbell suck too, so ha! Because that's pretty dumb.

That was the whole point of this thread and calling Cerratto an idiot.
Good post.

Regarding the guys that want to wait years before judging our top three picks, you can not get around that they arrived to camp out of shape. I recall Zorn being really upset that they could not pass the fitness test. Then what surprise, they get hurt. Maybe because they were out of shape?
I could see a big lineman not passing a fitness test but a WR not passing a fitness test? Really! Our FO did not do their homework on these guys.
These players dropped in the draft for a reason. The other teams thought were not that great. This was clearly a weak WR class.
We should not be surprised they dropped in the draft and they have done very unproductive in the playing field. It is clear by their on the field production that were not as great a value as some people claim.

That was the whole point of this thread and calling Cerratto an idiot.
Good post.

Regarding the guys that want to wait years before judging our top three picks, you can not get around that they arrived to camp out of shape. I recall Zorn being really upset that they could not pass the fitness test. Then what surprise, they get hurt. Maybe because they were out of shape?
I could see a big lineman not passing a fitness test but a WR not passing a fitness test? Really! Our FO did not do their homework on these guys.
These players dropped in the draft for a reason. The other teams thought were not that great. This was clearly a weak WR class.
We should not be surprised they dropped in the draft and they have done very unproductive in the playing field. It is clear by their on the field production that were not as great a value as some people claim.

Yeah, it's one thing that they couldn't get a grasp of the playbook or contribute more to the offense, but they couldn't even help out in the punt or kick return department.

Even with Desmond Howard, the incredible bust that he was as a wideout, at least he was able to help out in special teams.

I STILL like this 2008 draft even though so many "fans" want to bitch and whine about it come week 14 . I actually think it is funny in a way how Vinny calls out the "fans" by saying if we selected a DE like Merling or Campbell ad they had the same production here as they had in their teams, then I can imagine the response ...

[Quote random guy] I cannot believe we took this bum Merling at 21 ! He hasn't started more than 2 games . Vinny is an idiot especially when you think the Falcons were dangling three (3!) second round picks for our 21 - we could have seriously upgraded our WRs which must be the worst in the league , I meen we could have got Devin Thomas and someone like Malcom Kelly with those picks .. I meen this is the WCO we NEED big receivers and who have we got a Giants PS reject and McNobody..Vinny has to go Snyder is to blame ...etc etc [/Quote Random guy]

Now given the fact that no one in our FO can see into the future you have to go off how the players play in collage . It is so much easier to guess who is going to be good 14 weeks into a season rather than on draft day ...

Okay, clearly you're a Vinny defender. And I love how you put the word "fans" in quotes -- as if to imply that those who criticize the front office and their draft selections are really imposters who are only posing as Redskin fans.

I'd like to ask you though, what is it about Vinny Cerrato and his track record as a personnel guy that you are so eager to defend?