Redskins Insider: Draft Review

I know how we all love to speculate about the upcoming season and wait in earnest for September to roll around so we can see a glimpse of greatness from recent draft picks and free agent pickups. All I want to say is it is impossible to accurately assess how the Skins will fair each season because we have two morons at the head of our organization. Snyder and Cerratto have been a plague to this team for as long as I can remember. Blown draft picks and absurb free agent signings are a common phenomenon in this town. Just rattling off a few names: Adam Archuleta, Brandon Lloyd, TJ Duckett, Bruce Smith, and Ade Jimoh. All these players with the exception of Jimoh were given enormous salaries and bonuses and yielded little or no production. They actually in reality hurt us. Duckett was famous for losing yards, any deep ball would fly over Jimoh's head, Archuleta couldnt cover a cripple, and Lloyd has about 20 catches in 3 years...

I have been a fan of this team for 20 years and I love them to death. I just want people to understand that in D.C. no one can know how each season will pan out...

On a good note, our draft was relatively successful. We could have used an aggressive, quick, strong DE but you can never get what you want with the team all the time.

Never mind Santana Moss, Clinton Portis, Chris Cooley, Casay Rabach, Randy Thomas, Mike Sellers, Rock Cartwright, Marcus Washington, London Fletcher, Sean Taylor, Shawn Springs, Laron Landry, Corneluis Griffin, Anthony Montgomery...

I'd like to see some evidence that Malcolm Kelly was falling down others teams' draft boards. Somehow I don't think he would have lasted much longer than where we picked him.

This goes back to what I have said recently about JLC and his "sources". He seems to value thier opinion over all else. Who they are and what their motivations go out the window. I know he has guys he trusts but maybe the "self-fulfilling prophecy" is that he seeks out nay sayers. I'd like him for once to just say "I don't agree with this" Rather than "League sources are skeptical". Of course they are. They have reason to support the decision and don't even know what the process was in making the decision. In fact in some cases they are keenly motivated to disgaree for no other reason other than to simply disagree because it is an opponent. I am sure the Skins look around and make judgements of other teams. Their opinions matter(or don't) as much as anyone else's.

For what it's worth, Boswell also had his doubts about our day 1 choices, and for the same reasons, pretty much:

washingtonpost.com (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/26/AR2008042602580.html)

I don't think Boswell is an off-the-wall nay-sayer. He's pretty straight up about these things. And while it may well turn out just fine, it's not off-the-wall for JLac to point out that this is not how other teams are doing things, from the coaching selection process to the draft. And it's not like this is the first time Danny and Vinny ahve done things their own way--it's what they do. Maybe it'll work out. But it's not the conventional wisdom. Sure, Kiper and other network and internent pundits liked it. But that's not the only legit opinion on drafting.

Think back to when we made the TE and 2nd WR pick. How did you react then? We can go look at the draft thread. I was unsure, as were many of you. So we've now come round and convinced ourselves that it's ok. Fine. Maybe that's right. But JLac isn't being overly negative to bring up the contrary view. His coverage has been excellent, in the following sense: he's ALWAYS working that beat. He puts in tons of time on the paper and the blog, AND he answers emails. So you don't agree with his opinion; that's part of the process. But to say he's off his rocker and just being negative is too harsh in this case, IMHO.

Malcolm Kelly looks like a player to me. From the limited stuff I've seen on him I don't think the Skins were merely pulling stuff out of thin air here. Fred Davis also looks like a player, though this pick is probably the one to watch. If Calais Campbell is a beast it might get tough to justify this pick, even if Davis is productive. If Campbell isn't all that great then passing on him might look better.

Another spin JLC could have put on this would be to compare it to the 2002 Eagles draft where they got Lito Sheppard, Michael Lewis, and Sheldon Brown in the first two rounds even though they still had a couple of Pro Bowlers at corner. Many have long said that the Eagles are one of the franchises that 'does things right' and they got those guys in there, moved out higher priced players in subsequent seasons, and reloaded their roster. Since the Redskins are only going to be paying these guys 2nd round money they are really going to be coming in on the cheap. They will also have some time to develop behind some proven starters, which is imperative for most young WRs. I do think the Philadelphia example is apt, though, and it might also be worth mentioning that among those WRs that Snyder 'coveted', Moss and Braylon Edwards and probably Calvin Johnson all have turned out to be pretty good players.


Yeah, Kelly looks pretty good because of his height, but Devin Thomas looks more complete. I love his Anquan Boldin-like strength. He is really strong and has good speed.

Also, JLC has been pretty good to me. I like his posts but this one really pisses me off. I hate when people judge things before they perform. He'd be mad if the Redskins had the same receivers from last year. We get more receivers and he's still complaining. pathetic.

I think you are seeing it the wrong way. You said I disagree with nearly every move which means I agree with some, which I do. I can hardly think of anyone on this site besides myself that ever says anything negative about the Skins. In fact the way most talk on this board one would think the Skins are the 10 time defending Super Bowl champs instead of barely sniffing the playoffs in the past 15 years. In reality I am much more objective than 99% of the "knowledgeable" fans on this site.

I am certain that if you look back at the past posts you will see that anyone that says the Skins are great and making all the right moves is very astute and knowledgeable while anyone that utters a negative word is labeled as anti-redskin or not objective.

I think you're painting things with a pretty broad stroke there. It's not that black and white.

I think everyone has their gripes from time to time, you just tend to be overly pessimistic. It's hard to take people serious that are like that all the time, and on the other hand it's hard to take people serious who are always optimistic. I think a lot of people fall somewhere in the middle, probably more often than you realize.

JLC did that to himself. If he's going to make a point in a major media outlet, get your facts straight. Don't blow this off, how can you write opinions about the Redskins, say the Front Office screwed up, and not understand something so basic as this? You wouldn't use any of those players in his scenario because it would be going back 5 yds every time you line up.

To your point, Kelly and Thomas will probably not both be ready as a # 1 & #2 WR on day one, they will need to develop and learn the NFL and WCO. Here's what I envision this year as a few personnel packages:

I-Form: Moss - Z, Thomas - X, Cooley TE, Sellars FB, Portis will be RB is all formations.

I-Form or Split-Back (hands): same as above with Davis / Cooley at FB & TE, not sure who is where depends on what Zorn wants to do.

3WR: Moss - Z, Thomas - X, ARE - Slot, Sellars or Cooley FB
3WR (Singleback): same as above Cooley at TE

Singleback, 2TE - Moss - Z, Thomas - X, Davis & Cooley TEs
Singleback, 2TE wide - same as above with Davis & Cooley either wide or in the slots

4WR - Moss, ARE, Kelly, Thomas.

4WR, TE - add Cooley to above

Moss will probably not get through the year healthy.
ARE is a good slot WR, not much more.
Cooley & Davis can create a lot of mismatches unless a team has very good coverage LBs. If a D brings in a nickle package against a 2TE formation for coverage they will get smashed on a run. If a D stays with LB coverage they better have some good cover LBs to account for Cooley & Davis.
Sellars will be a traditional blocking FB.

The 2nd round picks are going to be very "cap friendly" for at least three years. By 2010 Moss & ARE will be able to be released and will probably not be effective at that point anyway. From a skill player perspective we are set at WR, TE, RB for at least 3 years. These guys give Zorn many formations to go to and many potential mismatches against the D to exploit. Kelly and Thomas are also bigger WRs, gives Campbell bigger targets as he develops his accuracy.

Now how about you come up with a point better than: They should've gotten OL / DL or Campbell won't be able to throw if he doesn't have time.


hmmmmm, I like the way you broke these scenarios down. It makes a lot of since, and seems very realistic. I like it.
brillant!!!:food-smil

For what it's worth, Boswell also had his doubts about our day 1 choices, and for the same reasons, pretty much:

washingtonpost.com - nation, world, technology and Washington area news and headlines (http://washingtonpost.com)

I don't think Boswell is an off-the-wall nay-sayer. He's pretty straight up about these things. And while it may well turn out just fine, it's not off-the-wall for JLac to point out that this is not how other teams are doing things, from the coaching selection process to the draft. And it's not like this is the first time Danny and Vinny ahve done things their own way--it's what they do. Maybe it'll work out. But it's not the conventional wisdom. Sure, Kiper and other network and internent pundits liked it. But that's not the only legit opinion on drafting.

Think back to when we made the TE and 2nd WR pick. How did you react then? We can go look at the draft thread. I was unsure, as were many of you. So we've now come round and convinced ourselves that it's ok. Fine. Maybe that's right. But JLac isn't being overly negative to bring up the contrary view. His coverage has been excellent, in the following sense: he's ALWAYS working that beat. He puts in tons of time on the paper and the blog, AND he answers emails. So you don't agree with his opinion; that's part of the process. But to say he's off his rocker and just being negative is too harsh in this case, IMHO.Great post.

One of my biggest issues with JLC is how his Insider info tends to come after the fact, if at all. Case in point

"Inside the building, coaches were fretting that upper management was pushing grades higher on players like Malcolm Kelly, inflating their worth as the draft approaches, while Kelly was dropping down other boards. Teams I spoke to before the draft had him rated in the lower half of the second round, and no one seems shocked he was still on the board at 51. The Redskins kept coming up with high grades on this slumping receiver class, thus ensuring a self-fulfilling prophecy: If you simply follow the board, and the draft plays out as expected, and you sit there with a bunch of second round picks, of course you're going to have wide receivers "sticking out like a sore thumb."

Maybe I missed this, but did he talk about this stuff before the draft? Or did he just wait until afterward? If he waited, then why?

This goes back to what I have said recently about JLC and his "sources". He seems to value thier opinion over all else. Who they are and what their motivations go out the window. I know he has guys he trusts but maybe the "self-fulfilling prophecy" is that he seeks out nay sayers. I'd like him for once to just say "I don't agree with this" Rather than "League sources are skeptical". Of course they are. They have reason to support the decision and don't even know what the process was in making the decision. In fact in some cases they are keenly motivated to disgaree for no other reason other than to simply disagree because it is an opponent. I am sure the Skins look around and make judgements of other teams. Their opinions matter(or don't) as much as anyone else's.

I remember watching the draft and towards the end of the first round Malcolm Kelly was at the top of Mel Kiper's "Best Available" list of all players. And he was there for pick after pick. Now, say what you want about Mel Kiper. Some people like him, some don't.

If I had one gripe, it would the trade out of pick #21 which essentially gave us an even exchange with Atlanta (3 picks for 3 picks). We shouldn't have had to part with the first 3rd rounder. If any team wants to move up, then they have to pay for it. Now, if the deal wasn't going to get done without the 3rd and 5th, that's one thing. But I'd like to know exactly how that one went down.

and if all these teams had Kelly in the "lower half of the second round" didnt the skins pick him where they should have? Last I checked thats where pick #51 is