Reaction to Draft: exceeds, meets, or meh

One of the key things we did in FA was to sign some stop-gap players who have been good NFL players but are now near the end of their careers. Having done that, we were in a position to select players in the draft who need some development but, in time, may very well outplay their draft positions. I have no problem with that approach.

Here are my thoughts on the players we drafted:

Trent Murphy - Very productive in college. Will get bigger and stronger. Known to be relentless and tough. I liked the pick as soon as we got Moses. Before that, I was a bit upset. But I think he'll help our pass rush in some packages this season. He has a chance to be a very good player.

Morgan Moses - He's the player I wanted at #34. He's huge, tough, and athletic. It may take a little time, but can you say bookend? I loved this pick!

Spencer Long - This guy was a 2nd Team All-American before he got hurt. He is a nasty finisher. They'll give him the time he needs to heal fully, learn, and develop. Then, he might just play RG for us for 8 years. I like this pick more than most, based on the fact that they don't expect him to start right away. But, honestly, I would have rather had the OG from Mississippi State in this spot.

Bashaud Breeland - He's a great tackler with length and cover skills, he's versatile enough to play CB or Safety and they think he'll be very good on ST's. What's not to like?

Ryan Grant - I like him because he runs good routes and catches everything. He may become our 4th receiver sooner rather than later.

Lache Seastrunk - He's a home run hitter, for sure. I'll like the pick a lot more if we find out that he can catch. Well, speed kills so we'll see. He's the kind of player I wanted to see in this draft class. This is a good pick for where he was drafted.

Ted Bolser - They say he's a good receiver who can also split wide. They like him as a special teamer. Gotta throw ST's a bone. Heaven knows we need help there. We'll see what he can do if he makes the team.

Zach Hocker - He is a good kicker with a big leg but we needed a punter more. The Bears screwed up my personal Master Plan by taking punter O'Donnell in the 6th round. Probably won't make the team.

Trading down late doesn't appeal to me. We haven't had any luck with that approach. It just gives us more draftees who can't play.

Bottom line, I can't really begin to judge this draft until the 2015 season but I'm hopeful that we picked some good players.

I'll give this a shot.

2 (47) Trent Murphy - OLB - Stanford - Grade B- - Really like the player, hate that we took him at this spot and at a position that actually has some depth. Might look a lot better next year if they can't resign Orakpo but still seems like a luxury pick. Hard to imagine him bulking up to much to play inside.

Apparently he came to the combine 10 pounds less then his listed playing weight so he might be a bit of a hard gainer.

3(66) Morgan Moses - OT - UVA - Grade A - Absolutely hate the game of chicken the front office played with the RT spot but it all worked out. Hopefully he can earn the starting job coming out of camp and will eventually become one of the leagues top bookend pairs along with Silverback.

3(78) Spencer Long - OG - Nebraska - Grade C - I would feel a lot better about this pick if he wasn't coming off season ending knee surgery. From the little I've seen he really looks like a solid player. Very nasty and hard working. Kind of wish they took him later but I wouldn't be surprised to see him starting in a couple years. I also wouldn't be surprised if they cut him in a couple years either.

4(102) Bashaud Breeland - CB - Clemson - Grade B+ - I usually loathe CB's but Breeland doesn't seem to fit the stereotypical 'I don't feel like tackling' archetype for CB's. Seems to be very good at bump and run and as long as he's not asked to play on an island he should do really well. Also seems like he was good value for where he was picked.

5(142) Ryan Grant - WR - Tulane - Grade B - WR is a little crowded and I usually cringe at the idea of taking a WR however according to his reports he is excellent ball skills and runs crisp routes. Only knock seems to be he lacks big play speed. Regardless always a place in the league for guys that can catch and run good routes.

6(186) Lache Seastrunk - RB - Baylor - Grade B - For some reason I keep on think his name is Leon Sandcastle. Anyway love the agility and change of direction ability. Not sure if he'll make the team but should at least make the preseason more bearable.

7(217) Ted Bolser - TE - Indiana - Grade C- - Seems decent enough. I guess he could surprise but I'm not sure if he'll stick around. Kind of wish we got Jake Pedersen {TE Wisc}

7(228) Zach Hocker - K - Arkansas - Grade F - I know its a 7th round pick but it kind of feels like a waste. Ironically I wouldn't be surprised if he caught on somewhere else but yeah, maybe they wanted competition for Kai in camp and thought they couldn't sign Hocker to a UDFA contract.

Zach Hocker - Next year's All-Pro Kicker and NFL MVP for kicking 5 straight game winners to end the season (play-offs included, obviously).

Excited, we got the right guard a corner and a speedster to add to the backfield. that's a good haul.

I think we definitely added to our depth and got a potential starter for 2014 in Moses. Murphy should also be able to contribute right away on 3rd downs. Time will tell how this draft really shapes up. A year or two from now Breeland could be a real steal.

Quick takes: Washington Redskins 2014 NFL draft class - ESPN (http://espn.go.com/blog/washington-redskins/post/_/id/7613/quick-takes-redskins-draft-class)

I'm going to go ahead and give the draft an A. Most people jumped on here and gave us an A last year and that turned out to be a pretty miserable draft.

We went after big bodies with our first three picks and seemed to focus on special teams players also. It's a huge step in the right direction for us, and while it will take some time to figure out if this draft yielded good players, I'm a huge fan of the areas we emphasized.

I just hope the FO and coaches realize that we should continue down this track until the lack of depth and talent up front are fixed even if we did swing and miss on a couple of these guys. It may take a couple of years but giving RG3 a top 5 Oline is organizational priority 1 imo. If we do that we give our most important player every chance he'll need to develop and succeed. If that happens we might enjoy a decade of contender level teams.

Side note, not picking on you JW, but these last few days my easily confused brain, or is it confused easily brain......anyway every time I've seen the name Gruden in posts and articles and its taken like an extra 5 seconds and extra brain power, of which I have little to spare, to figure out which Gruden is being cited at any given time.

I propose that we come up with a shorthand way of distinguishing Jay Gruden and Jon Gruden (side side note Jon instead of John fuuuuuuu).

I move for J. Gruden. All in favor say I or is it aye?

Nay. A simple Jay or Jon works for me.

One of the things I liked about our draft was the draft analysts' descriptions of some of the players we picked. Here are a few:

"One of the tougher, more onery players I've come across." (Trent Murphy)

"Tough-guy reputation." (Morgan Moses)

"Nasty mauler." (Spencer Long)

I thought we could use some more tough and nasty players.

Meh.

Half the picks made sense, half were head scratchers. I'm willing to accept that much of this is a crap shoot, but why is it that we always manage to buck the conventional wisdom and pick someone we don't need who no one else wants (at that point in the draft, anyway). Weird. Seemed a bit like two different people were picking this time, and were sort of alternating. I would love to be a fly on the wall in their draft room to see just how the dynamic plays out.

So I'll look on the brightside: we did draft a decent looking tackle (a project, to some extent, but with the right physical tools at least!); a nice looking corner, and a speedy RB (albeit one who hasn't caught a pass in his life or something). And I'll accept the idea that you can't have too many pass rushers.

Time will tell, and it's easy to forget how friggin random so much of this stuff is. Isn't it about time we hit a few long shots? But I do worry that we still have not properly invested in scouting and that we still don't really have real player/personnel folk. It's got to be better than Shanny just picking RBs and TEs and whiffing on the rest, but it aint Ozzie and the raisins yet, either.

(Is it time for camp yet????)

The Ravens always seem to get high post draft grades while we're always in the C to C-, wait and see mode. Would be nice to get high marks for once AND have our picks pan out.