Will the Redskins really take the best player available?

Let's say that the Redskins aren't able to trade down and they must use the 13th pick but the best available player is not at a position of need.

How would you feel if the Redskins picked one of the following players at #13?

Mark Sanchez
Jeremy Maclin
Chris Wells
Vontae Davis

Well, neither Sanchez nor Maclin are going to be BPA at No. 13, because not many people see them as top fifteen talent. I don't at least.

Wells and Davis are fringe BPA at No. 13, good enough to justify the pick, and probably not the best players available in most realistic scenarios.

A better example than this would be, what do we do if a top talent at a non-need spot falls to us. What if, with no prior warning, Crabtree or BJ Raji is available? Those seem like surefire NFL elite talents, do we back off our draft board to go BPA?

I would say yes, if either Crabtree or BJ Raji slips to the 13th pick, I would draft them, regardless of need.

But yeah, a BPA thread is a nice thread, but to answer your question KI, I would feel like we definately weren't looking at BPA if we ended up with any of those players.

Well, neither Sanchez nor Maclin are going to be BPA at No. 13, because not many people see them as top fifteen talent. I don't at least.

Wells and Davis are fringe BPA at No. 13, good enough to justify the pick, and probably not the best players available in most realistic scenarios.

A better example than this would be, what do we do if a top talent at a non-need spot falls to us. What if, with no prior warning, Crabtree or BJ Raji is available? Those seem like surefire NFL elite talents, do we back off our draft board to go BPA?

I would say yes, if either Crabtree or BJ Raji slips to the 13th pick, I would draft them, regardless of need.

I thought about that but it was difficult for me to imagine Crabtree or Raji being available at #13. I suppose stranger things have happened.

There's no way for us to know what the Skins draft board will look like but I have a feeling that there won't be enough of a talent difference between players for it to be a no-brainer to go away from a position of need.

Whether or not the players I mentioned might be among the better players available at #13 depends on who you believe. There are numerous draftniks who think they would be.

I'm trying to understand how fans would feel if the Skins went away from need and picked a player who is not necessarily elite but who the Skins felt was the BPA on their board at #13.

What if they were to pick Chris Wells or Vontae Davis at #13? Would you throw a fit?Depends heavily on who's available.

In pretty much all situations though, yes.

the BPA argument makes me laugh. you draft for needs. and if your needs doesn't reflect draft value, you trade down. pretty simple

Here's a situation where I could justify stepping outside our needs:

1) Aaron Curry
2) Jason Smith
3) Everette Brown
4) Eugene Monroe
5) Brian Orakpo
6) BJ Raji
7) Michael Crabtree
8) Malcolm Jenkins
9) Andre Smith
10) Alex Mack
11) Michael Oher
12) Tyson Jackson

In this case (and pretty much exclusively this case), I don't like any of the available options, so Wells or Davis would be fine (I would question heavily what Davis/Malcolm Jenkins means for the future of the CB position, though, so less them than Wells).

If I'm drafting in this situation, I'm taking Eben Britton or Brian Cushing though, but given those options, I'd be less pissed with a pick of like Beanie Wells or Percy Harvin or something.

Maybe i'm feeling some draft burnout cuz of all the coverage and hype this year but right now the more interesting question for me is whether we re-sign a few players, notably Marcus and big Phil. The market is thin on talent at both LB and DE, Lord knows we can't feasibly address both in the draft to the extent Marcus and Daniels could come in and contribute from day one and besides if Oher falls to us I think we grab him as SmootSmack has hinted.

I will say this... a healthy Daniels and Wynn rotating frequently is a better setup @ LDE than we had all last year. Marcus, as Blache said repeatedly, still makes the defense better when he's on the field. And obviously we've added big Al. I think our d will be superior just bringing back a couple of vets. Hopefully we do add a player in the draft - Sidbury or the best LB available in the 3rd round would be nice - but still i'm not looking to the draft to get us where we need to be.

the BPA argument makes me laugh. you draft for needs. and if your needs doesn't reflect draft value, you trade down. pretty simple

Is simple if you have another team to negotiate with, otherwise you're screwed.

honestly it depends on how much better than best player is over a need.

if you got surefire elite talent like a crabtree or raji that falls, you take them though, always.