Grade the Redskins Draft!

[celts32]

I go with a C. Orakpo was kind of a no brainer given who was left on the board and our needs so it's hard to give them a high grade based on that. Day 2 contained no OL help or anyone to get all that excited about IMO. However, it's really hard for us to grade 2nd day draft picks...I have Mel's book and I read a lot of draft stuff but still I don't know some of the guys they picked at all so it's a little silly to tell them they were wrong for picking them. Well see I guess...

[SmootSmack]

Originally Posted by celts32

I go with a C. Orakpo was kind of a no brainer given who was left on the board and our needs so it's hard to give them a high grade based on that. Day 2 contained no OL help or anyone to get all that excited about IMO. However, it's really hard for us to grade 2nd day draft picks...I have Mel's book and I read a lot of draft stuff but still I don't know some of the guys they picked at all so it's a little silly to tell them they were wrong for picking them. Well see I guess...

I don't know why it's hard to give them a high grade for selecting Orakpo. Plenty of teams make poor selections in the first round, yet we (fans) tend to take for granted the selections we make in the first round as no-brainers. We could have selected any of the USC linebackers, or Oher, English, Ayers, Mack. All were available and all could have filled needs, so I don't think it's as simple as "Here's Orakpo, that's a no-brainer."

[MTK]

Originally Posted by SmootSmack

I don't know why it's hard to give them a high grade for selecting Orakpo. Plenty of teams make poor selections in the first round, yet we (fans) tend to take for granted the selections we make in the first round as no-brainers. We could have selected any of the USC linebackers, or Oher, English, Ayers, Mack. All were available and all could have filled needs, so I don't think it's as simple as "Here's Orakpo, that's a no-brainer."

Par for the course with Skins fans it seems. If they make a good pick, it's a no-brainer.

First rounders certainly aren't no-brainers. Otherwise we wouldn't have the term "bust".

[firstdown]

Let me start by saying I do not follow much College ball so this time of year its hard for me to comment either way. For the ones that say we should have picked up some OL in the later rounds I was wondering was there any real talent that could have come in this year and helped?

[GridIron26]

Originally Posted by SmootSmack

I don't know why it's hard to give them a high grade for selecting Orakpo. Plenty of teams make poor selections in the first round, yet we (fans) tend to take for granted the selections we make in the first round as no-brainers. We could have selected any of the USC linebackers, or Oher, English, Ayers, Mack. All were available and all could have filled needs, so I don't think it's as simple as "Here's Orakpo, that's a no-brainer."

Definitely a good post - even though I'm happy with Orakpo pick (and much relieved that Jets traded for Sanchez); I sort of still kinda wish that we drafted Oher.. Ravens was smart to move up and draft him, they re going to have great Ts for years to come.. Ravens even began to discuss with Gaither about contract extension..

Orakpo definitely will help our D, but it still doesn't stop the fact that we have pressing need at RT.. I have feelings that Heyer will do well this year, but I think it's ridiculous to not take a future LT.. But once again, Redskins traded up to get Samuels, and we are glad they did.. So I assume the FO knows what to do with O-line (I'm sort of liking the Terps rookies)..

[MTK]

DE was a bigger need than RT to me.

We could have managed with Daniels and Wynn for a year, but the thought of lining up Orakpo at DE for the next few years along with Haynesworth in the middle makes me giddy.

[BigHairedAristocrat]

Originally Posted by SmootSmack

I agree they could have spent more time, but they spend weeks and months leading up to this day discussing possible trade scenarios with teams below them. So they had a pretty good idea of what kind of calls they were going to get

But you never know. What did we have to lose by waiting? The only reason I can think of is to help make it appear as if he was our primary target all along… kind of like that nice Redskins Orakpo jersey they brought with them to the draft. Does anyone here doubt they had a Sanchez jersey as well? Along with any number of other players… PR gimmick.

Originally Posted by SmootSmack

Great players at great value...yet it's obvious Snyder is setting Zorn up to fail??

Well if we had traded down, maybe picked up another 1st day pick and gotten a guy like Oher or Britton, we also would have gotten a great player at a great value. The Pats got 4 great players at great values in the 2nd round. You can take great players at great values all throughout the draft – its just the matter of what position youre in.

Its entirely possible that we could have traded down and ended up like we did last year – having other teams take the players we were targeting with the lower picks right before us – a very bad outcome.

All I’m saying is we have done NOTHING in this offseason to improve our offense. Yes, I’m glad we got Dockery back, but I don’t expect him to be any better on the field than Kendall was last year. We didn’t really upgrade in terms of skill – we just got a guy who’s younger and will last longer. But we didnt improve our offense. We have the 4th ranked defense and we feel we have to add all these players to improve it… but we have the 20something ranked offense and we just say, “oh, we’re counting on our own guys to get better.” That’s a copout because the defensive players from 2008 would get better too.

Snyder has made no efforts to hide the fact he doesn’t believe in Campbell. Zorn was something like our 5th favorite option to be HC last year and the only reason he’s HC is because our primary options didn’t want to work here or would have been a PR nightmare. Why didn’t Snyder fire Zorn after this season? Well, we know he was going to before we beat the Eagles near the end of the season. Then we hear reports that Snyder had met with Shanahan and was possibly planning to hire him if he had successfully landed Cutler. Snyder is a shrewed businessman and he would have been a fool to fire Zorn or trade Campbell before having another option solidly in place. What happened this offseason is none of Snyders preferred choices panned out, so he’s been forced to stick with what he’s got.

As many of you have pointed out, the Zorn hire could very well have always been as a stop-gap coach. Snyder knows right now that Shanahan, Cowher, Holmgren, and Gruden will all be available in 2010 and he would probably like any one of them in DC. 3 of those guys are offensive minded coaches who really don’t like to be bothered with defense. What better way to attract them than to present them with a Super Bowl caliber defense and a full complement of draft picks to use on the offensive players of their choice?

Nothing Snyder has done has shown any commitment to the offense. Snyder obviously doesn’t like Campbell and Zorn is officially on the list of “hot seat” coaches for 2010. They’re “on their own” and that’s why I say it will take a “miracle” for either of them to be here beyond 2009. The odds are stacked against them and they know it.

[MTK]

An improved defense is going to help the offense. More turnovers = more offensive possessions = more scoring opportunities. Better field position = more scoring opportunities.

By improving the D, the O will benefit.

[JoeRedskin]

Also, although I believe we should have taken a shot at several developmental Olinemen (i.e. - mutliple picks in the late rounds in hopes that one is an eventual starter), there is an argument to be made that, by leaving the offense alone, we improved it. You know, that whole continuity thing.

Key to this, of course, is that the young WR's step up, Rinehardt shows he can be a starter (if not this year, next), and that Campbell progresses. Those are some big "ifs".

Regardless, as the draft goes, it appears to have improved our defense. Hopefully, one of the late rounders sticks. I have my doubts - but, hey, I haven't watched hours of film. I give it a B-/C+ because I think the first two picks appear to be money and address long term needs. The late round picks should have all been addressed to OL in hopes that we get one keeper. I have been crying about our line well before this year and think that we need to get someone in the pipeline to take over for Samuels. I just don't see him and I am concerned that we will have to draft a first round OT soon (next year?). When you draft for necessity (not just need) you are looking for trouble (even "sure thing" OT's aren't sure things). To me, LB's are a dime a dozen and particularly with the DL we have assembled. "Protect the QB" comes first and simply can't be overemphasized.

[BigHairedAristocrat]

Originally Posted by Mattyk72

An improved defense is going to help the offense. More turnovers = more offensive possessions = more scoring opportunities. Better field position = more scoring opportunities.

By improving the D, the O will benefit.

Benefit? Yes. More scoring opportunities? Yes. More offensive touchdowns? No. Last years offense consistently failed to take advantage of defensive turnovers turnovers last year. Granted, most of our turnovers occurred in the later half of the season - when our offense was complete doo-doo - but our offense couldnt capitalize on those turnovers with regularly. Our redzone offense was horrible.

I think we will have more turnovers this year and i think we'll score defensive touchdowns with some regularlity, but if Malcom Kellys knees dont improve so that he can be an integral part of our red zone offense and our O-line doesnt i'mprove, its unreasonable to think Jason Campbell can improve enough - all by himself - to result in more offensive points in 2010. Campbell is a game manager who makes few mistakes, but that type of quarterback cant be successful without a dominant offensive line.

Friday afternoon, Cerrato actually said that we'd address the RT position with a move we later found out was Mike Williams - a 410lb bust who was bumming a free place to stay at his buddy Derreck Dockerys house - and we're supposed to beleive this guy is really going to compete for the RT spot with Heyer and Jansen. HA. Levi Jones looks to become available soon. He is a Bengal and i'm not sure about his criminal background, but hes a good, tough tackle and certainly would be a signficant upgrade at RT. According to PFT, the bengals will either "cut or trade" him, which in my book means he'll probably be available in FA, but if we wanted to secure him we could get him cheap - kinda like with E James last year. I'd gladly give up a late conditional pick for him next year.

[birdz4gibbs]

i can,t grade then...time will tell.....

[GridIron26]

I'm confident Heyer will be decent RT this year, but he could be much more than that (and I hope he will be this year).. Although we did nothing to upgrade our offense, beside the signing of Mike Williams.. I think we would still see some improvements with the O.. O-line men will know who to block, just like WRs will know where to go and Campbell will know where everybody re going.. It's all about experiences - they gain confidences through experiences..

I don't believe Mike will take over the spot; coming in weighted 410 is an unrealistic ideal replacement.. Unless Mike pull out some kind of miracle or whatever..

[GTripp0012]

A-

The only thing I would have done differently is Oher at 13. Well, and I would have gotten some need help in the late rounds, but after watching last year's punt team massacre, you could argue that we were addressing our needs.

[skinsfan69]

Originally Posted by Mattyk72

An improved defense is going to help the offense. More turnovers = more offensive possessions = more scoring opportunities. Better field position = more scoring opportunities.

By improving the D, the O will benefit.

I agree 100%. Hopefully Heyer will step his game up and everyone on the line can stay healthy. The chances of that happening are slim but improving the pass rush will w/out question help out Hall, Rogers and co.

[SmootSmack]

I can understand the frustration about not drafting offensive linemen, but it's hard to take an argument that says Snyder is setting Zorn up to fail with the selections we made too seriously.