With the 5th pick in the draft the Washington Redskins select...

I've always considered 'safer' as a throw away claim when a draftnik likes a prospect.

My view of the draft is the best that can be achieved is the proper evaluation of players based on production and skillset then ranked against the other prospects based on their production and skillset.

To me all the prediction stuff is bunk, people are unpredictable.

Evaluate. Rank. Decide.

Then...cheer or cry but always hope.

Well, that's my point on Cooper - "based on [his] production and skillset ... ranked against the other prospects based on their production and skillset" Cooper is in a different tier of talent than the OLB's available. You can quantify it however you want - safe pick, high floor, higher ranked, etc. - bottom line is some guys "production and skillset" are clearly superior to others. The general consensus is that Cooper and Williams are the highest ranked non-QB's and that, "based on [their] production and skillset," all the OLB's are flawed in one way or another.

The consistent report on Cooper's "production and skillset" is that, when scouts watch his college tape, he demonstrates the skills of a polished three year pro with no identifiable weaknesses and his production has been excellent.

Then...cheer or cry but always hope.

Absolutely. As I have said, in Scot I trust. He's the man with the plan and has been scouting these guys all year for his own consultant's business. My faith in him at this particular point is pretty much at the "blinded by burgundy and gold" level.

I think Cooper is a solid pick and to bypass him only b/c he does not fit an immediate need is short sighted. McC, however, makes the big bucks for good reason and, if he thinks Fowler (Beasley/Ray/Gregory/??) is the man ... I am all good with that.

You're beating that Cooper drum so hard it's about to make my ears bleed. There is absolutely no guarantee that he will become a better NFL player than the other players you named. In the end, drafting is still a SWAG.

Wasn't J.J. Watt drafted 11th, or something like that? Ten NFL GM's who are paid to draft the right player in the 1st Round passed on him because they thought they were drafting players who would be better than him in the NFL. They were wrong.

Of course it's all a crapshoot. All the more reason to pick the guy you believe to be the best available player. Sure, there are no guarantees but that doesn't mean you ignore reality either. If McC has Fowler ranked higher than or in the same tier as Cooper - great. A clear top tier guy in an area of need - no brainer.

My only point with Cooper is that every evaluation I have seen on him says there are no obvious flaws in his game, that he has terrific measurable, that his college production was excellent, he's a great character guy, and that his comparables in the NFL are all pro-bowl caliber players (Tory Holt and AJ Green are the names most often mentioned). Given those factors, you shouldn't bypass him - b/c he doesn't fill an area of immediate need - to select players who do not have those factors working for them and, thus, are not in his talent tier. None of the top four OLB's have all those factors working in their favor and each has a pretty glaring hole (Fowler-production, Ray/Beasley - measurables, Gregory - character).

As to JJ Watt. Sure - he was the 11th picked. Have you looked at who else was picked in the top 10 that year? Here they are (in order):

Cam Newton (Offensive Rookie of the year, 2 pro bowls)
Von Miller (3 x pro bowl, 3 x all pro)
Marcell Dareus (2 x pro bowl, 1 x all pro)
A.J. Green (4 x pro bowl, 1 x all pro)
Patrick Peterson (4 x pro bowl, 2 x all pro)
Julio Jones (2 x pro bowl)
Aldon Smith (1 x pro bowl, 1 x all pro)
Jake Locker
Tyron Smith (2 x pro bowl, 2 x all pro)
Blaine Gabbert

Other than Locker & Gabbert, that is not a shoddy bunch - pro bowlers (and all pros) all through the list. Unlike this year, it was a deep draft all through the top 10 BUT the two teams (Tenn & Jax) that bypassed Watt and drafted for need got burned. I imagine everybody else on that list is pretty pleased with their pick (okay, maybe SF would like to switch it out).

[EDIT: added pro bowl/all pro awards. Yes, JJ Watt has out performed them all to date (3 PB, 3 AP, 2 x Def. Player of the year; MVP Runner-up 2014). At the same time, if we get someone the equivalent to any of the other position players by going BPA regardless of immediate need, I will be very happy and not complain that someone else struck gold by picking this year's JJ Watt.]

As I said, if you forego a guy you believe to be the better talent because he does not fill an immediate need, than you are consciously choosing players of lesser talent and that just is not a good plan for a long term build.

I can't find it quickly but I'm fairly certain I heard McLovin talking about how he gauges the strength of a player in one of his earlier interviews after being named the GM.

He looks at how they perform against other players on film; who gets pushed around versus who does the pushing around.

... and, again, from the film I have seen (which isn't a lot admittedly), Fowler seems to get pushed around a lot. Maybe I am just watching the wrong film.

... and, again, from the film I have seen (which isn't a lot admittedly), Fowler seems to get pushed around a lot. Maybe I am just watching the wrong film.

He did say himself that La'el Collins manhandled him when they played

La'el has got our next RT written all over him. That's only in case of trade back, but if we do, that's who I want.

Scot McC on Scot McC:

“Everybody says, ‘Well you need this, this, this and this,’ which I understand,” he said. “You know, a lot of times in pro free agency, you can address those needs a little bit, but I learned from Ron Wolf early on, I learned from Ted Thompson early on, I learned from John Schneider, you can never have enough good football players on your team. If you keep adding that, you’re going to have your couple of two, three superstars that are going come out and become stars.”

McCloughan's mentor 'adamant' about not drafting for need | Comcast SportsNet Washington (http://www.csnwashington.com/redskinsblog/mccloughans-mentor-adamant-about-not-drafting-need)

My feeling is that if we come up and the BPA is a guy that clearly isn't a need...like WR in my opinion...then we aggressively pursue a trade-back. Get value for our pick equivalent to picking said BPA. If we can't get an acceptable trade-back then roll BPA and know that rolling BPA in the long run should give you a stud team.

My feeling is that if we come up and the BPA is a guy that clearly isn't a need...like WR in my opinion...then we aggressively pursue a trade-back. Get value for our pick equivalent to picking said BPA. If we can't get an acceptable trade-back then roll BPA and know that rolling BPA in the long run should give you a stud team.

Agree 100%.

Agree 100%.

Now you're talking out of both sides of your mouth. If your boy is truly a Top 5 prospect and probably the BPA at #5, don't you want SM to draft him in accordance with your draft philosophy? If he trades down because WR isn't a position of need then he is essentially drafting for need when he picks the OT. N'est ce pas?

Now you're talking out of both sides of your mouth. If your boy is truly a Top 5 prospect and probably the BPA at #5, don't you want SM to draft him in accordance with your draft philosophy? If he trades down because WR isn't a position of need then he is essentially drafting for need when he picks the OT. N'est ce pas?

Nope, not even close. If we are stuck at 5 (which, given the thread's title, was my assumption), we pick BPA - which to will likely be Cooper, if it's Williams or Williams/Cooper, pick Williams b/c he is fills the more immediate need.

If (1) Williams is gone, and (2) someone gives us "value for our pick equivalent to picking" Cooper, then a trade is just as good as a BPA pick because we don't have an immediate need at WR. At the same time, you don't take just any trade out of the spot simply b/c your not sold on the guys at your immediate need position.

It's all very subjective but - very simply - don't trade out of a high value spot just to make a trade and, if you can't make the trade you want, don't pick a lesser value guy when you think a better player is still on the board.

BPA or what you judge the BPA's value to be. Always. Every day.