WT: Redskins bolster defensive depth

[Frost]

http://www.washtimes.com/sports/2006...1248-4345r.htm

Despite ranking higher on defense than offense each of the past two seasons, the Washington Redskins used four of their five picks on Day 2 of the NFL Draft on defense, after taking second-round linebacker Rocky McIntosh on Saturday.
"In every case, the guys we really felt fit the best for us, it just wound up a majority of them were defense," Redskins coach Joe Gibbs said.
The first of those five choices, Minnesota defensive tackle Anthony Montgomery, is nothing special at first glance. However, the fifth-round pick has the kind of story Gibbs loves: raised in the projects of Cleveland, first in his family to attend college. And Montgomery, who played quarterback in high school at 6-foot-5 and 295 pounds after gaining 105 pounds between his freshman and senior years, has the athleticism and the body -- he's now 6-5, 312 -- to impress hard-to-please defensive line coach Greg Blache.
"From the time I set foot in the door [during his visit to Redskin Park], it felt like home, like where I was supposed to be," said Montgomery, who didn't get that same feeling during his other pre-draft stop in Green Bay.
The Redskins added Northern Colorado safety Reed Doughty and Georgia defensive tackle Kedric Golston in the sixth round and Arizona guard Kili Lefotu and Tennessee middle linebacker Kevin Simon in the seventh.
Despite being named a captain and resculpting his body before his senior season, Montgomery produced slightly lower numbers -- 41 tackles (six for losses) and three sacks. The 6-4, 292-pound Golston, who played with Redskins defensive end Nic Clemons and linebacker Chris Clemons as a freshman, was suspended for the 2005 opener after being arrested during a bar fight.
Both Montgomery and Golston could have an uphill battle to push Cedric Killings or Ryan Boschetti out of one of the backup tackle spots behind starters Cornelius Griffin and Joe Salave'a.
The 6-1, 210-pound Doughty, a three-time Academic All-American, had a 4.0 grade point average and was a Division I-AA All-American as a senior when he surged from 116 tackles to 159.
Gibbs compared the overachiever to Mark Murphy, who wasn't drafted but went on to star for Washington at safety from 1979 to 1983.
"This guy could play a long time for the Redskins," Gibbs said.
"Tenacious" was the self-description of Doughty, who started on all four special teams in college. That's where he'll have to make his mark in Washington with proven safeties Sean Taylor, Adam Archuleta and Pierson Prioleau ahead of him.
Lefotu has the size (6-5, 315), nasty streak and versatility -- he played every spot at Arizona -- that the Redskins need in a backup offensive lineman. Neither free agent signees Mike Pucillo and Tyson Walter nor little-used holdover Jim Molinaro are sure things.
The 5-10 Simon had 115 tackles in 2003 and a team-high 88 in 2005 after missing most of 2004 with a knee injury.