The Redskins Had A Great Draft No Matter Who Was In Charge
May 1, 2019
by Eric Hill
In the days and hours leading up to last week’s NFL draft, reports began to circulate that Redskins owner Daniel Snyder had gone rogue and was set to ignore the advice of his scouts and coaches to go all in for Ohio State quarterback Shane Falco Dwayne Haskins. Snyder had become enamored with the rocket-armed Buckeye after attending The Ohio State University’s pro day, and the fact that Haskins attended high school with Snyder’s son, presumably leaving an awesome quote in the younger Snyder’s yearbook, had sealed the deal. With lapdogs Bruce Allen and Doug Williams backing him, the reports said, Snyder was prepared to sell the farm to move up, possibly into the top five, to snatch Haskins from the clutches of the Raiders or the rival New York Giants. It was shaping up to be RGIII part 2: Electric Boogaloo.
Despite the fact that, much like LinkedIn profiles, everyone lies about everything in the days leading up to the draft, this story caught on and spread like wildfire on Twitter, Instagram and J-Date. Angry callers flooded the phone lines of local sports talk radio to vent their frustration as if the Redskins had already pulled the trigger on a mega deal. Those cooler headed types that tried to remind the masses that it was only speculation were drowned out by the din of thousands of angry dads in ill-fitting Clinton Portis jerseys. This disaster was inevitable.
As the draft unfolded, fans watched with baited breath as the Redskins let the chips fall where they may. The Raiders passed on Haskins in favor of a pass rusher. The Giants inexplicably drafted Duke quarterback Daniel Jones at number six. Then the rest of Haskins’ potential suiters: The Broncos, Bengals and Dolphins all passed on him and he fell to the Redskins at 15. Disaster averted. The Redskins got Dan Snyder’s guy without mortgaging their future.
Then a funny thing happened: the Redskins proceeded to absolutely nail the rest of the draft.
In addition to the Redskins walking away with a new franchise quarterback in Haskins, they were able to snag a potentially elite speed rusher (which I honestly thought they were allergic to) in Mississippi State’s Montez Sweat. His (possibly misdiagnosed) heart condition caused his stock to drop and the Redskins wisely gave up their second round pick to trade back in to the late first round to grab him before Oakland did.
The Redskins needed help at wide receiver and the selection of Ohio State’s Terry McLaurin not only gives the Redskins’ receiver core some much needed speed and toughness, but it also gives Haskins a familiar target to help him as acclimates to the NFL – and it gave me bragging rights over my fellow HogSty writers as I called the pick in my mock draft. NC State’s Kelvin Harmon is a big, physical wide receiver with sure hands and he was an absolute heist in round six.
The Redskins addressed a big need at interior offensive line by adding the versatile Ross Pierschbacher from Alabama and Indiana guard Wes Martin, who has already endeared himself to Redskins fans by somehow finding a giant Redskins flag in Indiana and waving it around on Twitter within an hour of being drafted. That’s the kind of resourcefulness this team needs.
I googled Bryce Love to make sure it wasn’t just the fake name Alex Zeese uses on Tinder and it turns out he is an explosive running back whose torn ACL should be fully healed by the time Chris Thompson becomes a free agent in 2020. That’s right, the Redskins made a pick with an eye on the future.
Finally, the Redskins added much needed speed and depth to all three levels of their defense with Oklahoma State edge rusher Jordan Bailford, North Carolina ILB Cole Holcomb and JMU’s Jimmy Moreland, an undersized ball hawking cornerback who has the potential to see playing time at slot corner sooner than later.
So, did Dan Snyder “take over” the draft? Would Jay Gruden and super scout Kyle Smith have taken someone other than Haskins if not for their meddlesome owner and his dog? Did Snyder walk in to the war room and start spin-kicking scouts like Liam Neeson looking for his daughter? Did he have to be restrained from throwing draft picks at the Jets to move up to number 3 to take a player who would have fallen to him anyway? I don’t know and I don’t care. The Redskins had a great draft and we should treat it the same way I treat fried SPAM: Don’t think about what went into it, just enjoy it.