Our performance in the 2nd round for the past three years and what could have been

I think we are hating on Rocky too much. He was fine as a starter in the 4-3, it's just kind of obvious he's not a 3-4 linebacker. We can still get value for him if we trade him to a team that runs a 4-3. I think he's probably gonna get traded this offseason anyways, we need the picks.

I'm sorry . . . the guy is dud. No two ways about it. 3-4, 4-3, doesn't matter -- he just doesn't make plays. And considering how hard they went after him, the draft picks we gave up to bring him here, you have to do some unbelievable stuff to justify that.

I can't remember the last time he was involved in a big play, regardless of the system.

Rocky was definitely better suited for the 4-3. I doubt he's back next year.

Currently there are no plans to keep McIntosh

This is going back a good way, but one pick that still irks me was Marty Schottenheimer taking Rod Gardner in the middle of the 1st round, when Steve Hutchinson was on the board. That was 2001 when Samuels and Jansen were just entering their prime years. Add Hutchinson at that time and we might've had the best O-line in the league for a good 5 years.

I'll tell you the pick that might have done more damage than any of us think: Moving up to get Rocky McIntosh in 2006. First off, at this point in his career, I believe it's safe to say that Rocky just isn't very special. At best you could say he's solid, but I'm not even sure you can say that anymore. Whiffing on the run by Brandon Jacobs last week, then getting completely turned around on the TD pass to Winslow yesterday -- McIntosh has never proven to be worth all the manuevering it took to get him.

Then when you couple the fact that we traded away a 2nd round pick in 2007, it's yet another in a long line of draft day blunders that didn't pay off.

We can also look back on the Jason Taylor trade that we got virtually nothing for in exchange.

The second round has not been kind to the Redskins. In the last thirteen years we've drafted eight times in the second round. Take a look at our second round draftees since 1997.

1997 - 1 player - Greg Jones
1998 - 1 player - Steven Alexander
1999 - 1 player - Jon Jansen
2000 - 0 players
2001 - 1 player - Fred Smoot
2002 - 1 player - Ladell Betts
2003 - 1 player - Taylor Jacobs
2004 - 0 players
2005 - 0 players
2006 - 1 player - Rocky McIntosh
2007 - 0 players
2008 - 3 players - Devin Thomas - Malcom Kelly - Fred Davis
2009 - 0 players
2010 - 0 players
Fred Davis & Rocky McIntosh only two still active....Malcom Kelly on IR.

this is why teams like new england and philly thrive, they draft well in the second round. anybody can get a first round pick right (other than the worst of franchises) but the later round picks can make the difference.

"I can't believe the claims in this thread."


http://voices.washingtonpost.com/dcsportsbog/cerratoeagles09bpregame.jpg

Can't **** up in the second round when you're not picking. So the truth is we don't really fail that much when it comes to second round picks :D

Not giving ourselves an opportunity to pick is just a bad as failing on a pick if the returns are not enough. And we're still using those picks to acquire a player, just not in the draft itself.

I think we are hating on Rocky too much. He was fine as a starter in the 4-3, it's just kind of obvious he's not a 3-4 linebacker. We can still get value for him if we trade him to a team that runs a 4-3. I think he's probably gonna get traded this offseason anyways, we need the picks.I don't think it has much to do with scheme. He was well protected in our 4-3 to the point where he was just a warm body: if he screwed up, Fletcher would be behind him to clean up. No biggie. His only value in addition to being a starter was to make some plays against the pass, but as bad as his reads were against the run, he might actually be more of a liability against the pass.

It's certainly not Rocky's fault we're playing the 3-4 or that we traded up to get him in the second round, but he's already 29, and just isn't that good. Right now, he's in a scheme where offensive coordinators are exploiting his suckiness. He likely won't be having such a bad year next season, probably because he's unlikely to be a starter.

I think, like Devin Thomas, you could put Rocky on special teams and let him run around at big speeds and hit something, and you've got a pretty nice contributor on your team if you do that. I just don't think he belongs in an NFL defense, a lot like Thomas didn't belong in an NFL offense.

Unfortunately, the Redskins have too many players who are good special teamers, but play offense/defense at a level below what is needed to be successful as a team.