Vinny Cerrato

[12thMan]

I have to admit I was pretty damn impressed with the way Vinny Cerrato commanded the draft yesterday. He was comfortable with the national media and you can see what they're trying to build here.

I've never been a Cerrato basher, because I never really understood what his actual role was until recently. It seems like most of the attention has always been on who didn't work out for the Redskins, instead of who did. Guys like Cooley, Sean Taylor (R.I.P.) and a host of others have played admirably for this franchise. The problem was, at least in my mind, you could never pin failure or success on one person within the organization. So we as fans, rightfully or wrongfully, ran the flag up the pole to Snyder and said the buck stops here. Often times the media was the ring leader, and emotional fans would buy into that narrative hook, line, and sinker.

Perhaps now it's more clear why Cerrato and Gregg Williams couldn't co-exist together on personnel matters. Maybe Williams release wasn't personal afterall, I guess it was "personnel." I'm sure Williams would have flipped his lid when we passed over Calais Campbell from Miami, and can you blame him? The cold, hard truth is this is just one draft and there will be another Long, Campbell, or Vernon Gholston next year. And if we really mean business, then we'll be in position to pick that guy.

I'm not ready to anoint Cerrato the next Ron Wolf or Bobby Beatheard, but after looking at everything unfold yesterday I feel pretty comfortable that this guy knows what he's doing and has a sense of vision. You can't judge everything on one draft alone, but whether you agree with all the picks or not, it's hard to argue that the Redskins made bone headed decisions or screwed this one up. Maybe there were just too many Chefs in the kitchen afterall.