Reaction to Draft: exceeds, meets, or meh
 

I kinda wanted us to ball out this draft with the new regime. With the draft strictly in Bruce's hands I'm left with a lot of questions and so is the roster.

Best pick Moses in the third. Worst pick a fifth round guard in the third. Much like the signing of luavao, this made little sense.

It's a meh in my opinion.

Re: Reaction to Draft: exceeds, meets, or meh
 

Only time will tell

Re: Reaction to Draft: exceeds, meets, or meh
 

It was a bad draft all around... Like I said on the other blog, I liked the Moses pick, the CB from Clemson in the 4th and the RB from Baylor in the 6th... Everything else was a reach and a complete head scratcher... Great call on a K in the 7th when Dion Bailey was available and we have Kobra Kai that made 35 of 40 the past 2 years... IMO is was a D grade draft and a real disappointment... And to answer your question I don't have much faith in the Front Office...

Re: Reaction to Draft: exceeds, meets, or meh
 

[quote=Fiversons;1071849]It was a bad draft all around... Like I said on the other blog, I liked the Moses pick, the CB from Clemson in the 4th and the RB from Baylor in the 6th... Everything else was a reach and a complete head scratcher... Great call on a K in the 7th when Dion Bailey was available and we have Kobra Kai that made 35 of 40 the past 2 years... IMO is was a D grade draft and a real disappointment... And to answer your question I don't have much faith in the Front Office...[/quote]

The reason they are not in love with Kia is he sucks at kickoffs and the result was horrific last year because of it.

Re: Reaction to Draft: exceeds, meets, or meh
 

I don't know. I'm not a talent scout, so maybe these guys suck. What I thought sounded promising was that they were looking for character guys that could potentially have an immediate impact on the team. They showed patience and waited for Moses, I would've liked to see a safety, but if none of the Safeties that dropped to them were high on their board then there you have it. This team will take another few years to have quality starters and depth throughout. I don't think we did a bad job the past couple days in getting potential contributors for this team. We shall see, but I think the FO have exhibited patience throughout the offseason, and got some key pieces. I think it will pay off.

Re: Reaction to Draft: exceeds, meets, or meh
 

I don't get how people split hairs about 6th and 7th round choices when they almost never make a difference. If you mention Alfred Morris, i'll research every 6th and 7th pick for the skins from the past 10 years.

Re: Reaction to Draft: exceeds, meets, or meh
 

Meh.

Half the picks made sense, half were head scratchers. I'm willing to accept that much of this is a crap shoot, but why is it that we always manage to buck the conventional wisdom and pick someone we don't need who no one else wants (at that point in the draft, anyway). Weird. Seemed a bit like two different people were picking this time, and were sort of alternating. I would love to be a fly on the wall in their draft room to see just how the dynamic plays out.

So I'll look on the brightside: we did draft a decent looking tackle (a project, to some extent, but with the right physical tools at least!); a nice looking corner, and a speedy RB (albeit one who hasn't caught a pass in his life or something). And I'll accept the idea that you can't have too many pass rushers.

Time will tell, and it's easy to forget how friggin random so much of this stuff is. Isn't it about time we hit a few long shots? But I do worry that we still have not properly invested in scouting and that we still don't really have real player/personnel folk. It's got to be better than Shanny just picking RBs and TEs and whiffing on the rest, but it aint Ozzie and the raisins yet, either.

(Is it time for camp yet????)

Re: Reaction to Draft: exceeds, meets, or meh
 

Looking back at the Murphy pick. I love the guy and its much easier to look at since we ended up with Moses but I think I now know how Jag fans felt when they took Tyson Alualu with the 10th overall pick back in 2010. Going in no one doubted that Alualu was a solid player with a great motor but picking a guy graded a mid 2nd round prospect with the 10th overall pick was just nuts at the time. Apparently Alualu has had some injury problems but has been solid while healthy.

However when you look at him as not only as an early first round draft pick but an early first round draft pick in the year that turned out to be the last draft before the slotted contracts he looks to be a bust. I don't think Murphy is destined for the same exact career path just that I know the feeling of getting a solid guy a little to early.

Re: Reaction to Draft: exceeds, meets, or meh
 

[quote=T.O.Killa;1071851]The reason they are not in love with Kia is he sucks at kickoffs and the result was horrific last year because of it.[/quote]

Kobra Kai has a weak leg on kickoffs... But to blame the ST play on him is lunacy, and to draft a K is even worse...

Re: Reaction to Draft: exceeds, meets, or meh
 

I'm gonna go right in the middle with Meets.

There weren't a lot of big names taken, but we also went into the draft with a few chambers of the gun empty. I think being able to get an extra pick or two was good management.

I believe Free Agency addressed many of the pressing needs. The coaches saw everyone in mini camp before the draft.

So I feel they went into this draft trying to add better players that can develop over time, not feeling like they needed an immediate starter.

I watched Coach Gruden's recap and he genuinely felt good about the players drafted.

The issue with a lot of the internet & TV draftniks is that they don't necessarily interview players and coaches of the players. They watch tape, analyze measurables, etc.

Not that tape/measurables/injury history isn't important, but I'm gonna give our FO/scouts a little leeway and trust that they followed their board.

Re: Reaction to Draft: exceeds, meets, or meh
 

My reaction? Somewhere between "meets" and "exceeds." Some of the picks were outstanding, some were meh, and one was a headscratcher.

Trent Murphy - Great pick.

Morgan Moses - Great Pick.

Spencer Long - Meh pick.

Bashaud Breeland - Great pick.

Ryan Grant - Meh pick.

Lache Seastrunk - Great pick.

Ted Bolser - Meh pick.

Zach Hocker - Terrible pick.

Most of the views I saw gave us a solid, but not stellar grades. Personally they hit good areas of need, and I an looking forward to see which players pan out. The only one I think we absolutely need to pan out is Moses, every other one gives us a guarantee of solid competition for roster spots.

Re: Reaction to Draft: exceeds, meets, or meh
 

[quote=Fiversons;1071857]Kobra Kai has a weak leg on kickoffs... But to blame the ST play on him is lunacy, and to draft a K is even worse...[/quote]

Yeah but to potentially use a 53 man roster spot for a second kicker as well as activating a second kicker for the 46 man game day roster seems futile in an era where they keep starting the kickoff team further and further up the field.

With that said the Kicker was the only SEC player the team drafted so I think its a foregone conclusion that the Skins will go 0-16 next year #SECSpeed #InfinityBajillionBCSChampionships

Re: Reaction to Draft: exceeds, meets, or meh
 

always hard to tell with drafts.. I'd say on paper I'd give us a C-

Re: Reaction to Draft: exceeds, meets, or meh
 

murphy and the OG were taken too early. i like murphy as a player though. moses was good value, and i like the CB/WR/RB picks and where we got them. I don't care about 7th rounders really. if they show up, great. if not, no big loss. the trade down was great though.

overall meh. solid, but not exciting or great. C/C- for reaching.

Re: Reaction to Draft: exceeds, meets, or meh
 

Having just read a recap of Gruden's post draft comments (which are nice and clear--more to the point than tight-lipped Shanny or the almost paranoid JGG), this helped to frame the late picks well, including the kicker:

"...obviously I’ve mentioned special teams on here a lot. We were the 32nd ranked team in every special team category and it was a major item for us in the draft ..."

I'd kinda blocked out just how horrendous specials were last year. Anywho, worth checking out:

[url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/football-insider/wp/2014/05/11/redskins-draft-jay-gruden-on-his-teams-selections/]Redskins draft: Jay Gruden on his team’s selections[/url]

Re: Reaction to Draft: exceeds, meets, or meh
 

[quote=SirLK26;1071871]My reaction? Somewhere between "meets" and "exceeds." Some of the picks were outstanding, some were meh, and one was a headscratcher.

Trent Murphy - Great pick. Like it better after getting Moses a tad later

Morgan Moses - Great Pick.----agree

Spencer Long - Meh pick.-----I think it is a great pick but in the 5th or 6th

Bashaud Breeland - Great pick.------------Was hoping for Jaylen but Beeland is nice

Ryan Grant - Meh pick. ----Scouts really like this kid so....

Lache Seastrunk - Great pick.-------teach him how to catch and we got a sproles

Ted Bolser - Meh pick.--------agree

Zach Hocker - Terrible pick.[/quote]----------its the 7th round

Re: Reaction to Draft: exceeds, meets, or meh
 

[quote=JWsleep;1071884]Having just read a recap of Gruden's post draft comments (which are nice and clear--more to the point than tight-lipped Shanny or the almost paranoid JGG), this helped to frame the late picks well, including the kicker:

"...obviously I’ve mentioned special teams on here a lot. We were the 32nd ranked team in every special team category and it was a major item for us in the draft ..."

I'd kinda blocked out just how horrendous specials were last year. Anywho, worth checking out:

[url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/football-insider/wp/2014/05/11/redskins-draft-jay-gruden-on-his-teams-selections/]Redskins draft: Jay Gruden on his team’s selections[/url][/quote]


not just 32nd, but historically bad. since they've tracked ST play (2000 i think?) only the 2002 oakland raiders were worse than us last year. it was mind blowing just how many points our team could lose due to special teams, especially with the new safety rules that made them even more pointless than before.

Re: Reaction to Draft: exceeds, meets, or meh
 

[quote=JWsleep;1071884]Having just read a recap of Gruden's post draft comments [/quote]

Side note, not picking on you JW, but these last few days my easily confused brain, or is it confused easily brain......anyway every time I've seen the name Gruden in posts and articles and its taken like an extra 5 seconds and extra brain power, of which I have little to spare, to figure out which Gruden is being cited at any given time.

I propose that we come up with a shorthand way of distinguishing Jay Gruden and Jon Gruden (side side note Jon instead of John fuuuuuuu).

I move for J. Gruden. All in favor say I or is it aye?

Re: Reaction to Draft: exceeds, meets, or meh
 

A little bit of everything. I've calmed down on the Murphy pick even if it was a round or two early, but we got the tackle that was desperately needed so that helped assuage my frustration of the pick. I'm still really disappointed in not drafting an ILB nor a pass receiving threat out of the back field. Maybe they see something in one of the 3 guys signed as a potential long term option or maybe even Keenan finally staying healthy and being who we had hopes for him to be. With us supposedly being enamored with getting Sproles or all the looks at pass catching rbs like Sims and Carey, that'd have been an awesome element to add another wrinkle to our offense. I actually like Seastrunk as a great change of pace back from Morris, but he doesn't have that threat for screens or pass blocking from what I've read.

But overall combined with the free agency pickups before hand, people coming back from injury, and the draft I'm liking the make up of this team a lot better than what we had last year. Hopefully we do well enough to pick around the 18-20 range and then next year could be the year to dream really big is what I'm hoping.

Re: Reaction to Draft: exceeds, meets, or meh
 

One of the key things we did in FA was to sign some stop-gap players who have been good NFL players but are now near the end of their careers. Having done that, we were in a position to select players in the draft who need some development but, in time, may very well outplay their draft positions. I have no problem with that approach.

Here are my thoughts on the players we drafted:

Trent Murphy - Very productive in college. Will get bigger and stronger. Known to be relentless and tough. I liked the pick as soon as we got Moses. Before that, I was a bit upset. But I think he'll help our pass rush in some packages this season. He has a chance to be a very good player.

Morgan Moses - He's the player I wanted at #34. He's huge, tough, and athletic. It may take a little time, but can you say bookend? I loved this pick!

Spencer Long - This guy was a 2nd Team All-American before he got hurt. He is a nasty finisher. They'll give him the time he needs to heal fully, learn, and develop. Then, he might just play RG for us for 8 years. I like this pick more than most, based on the fact that they don't expect him to start right away. But, honestly, I would have rather had the OG from Mississippi State in this spot.

Bashaud Breeland - He's a great tackler with length and cover skills, he's versatile enough to play CB or Safety and they think he'll be very good on ST's. What's not to like?

Ryan Grant - I like him because he runs good routes and catches everything. He may become our 4th receiver sooner rather than later.

Lache Seastrunk - He's a home run hitter, for sure. I'll like the pick a lot more if we find out that he can catch. Well, speed kills so we'll see. He's the kind of player I wanted to see in this draft class. This is a good pick for where he was drafted.

Ted Bolser - They say he's a good receiver who can also split wide. They like him as a special teamer. Gotta throw ST's a bone. Heaven knows we need help there. We'll see what he can do if he makes the team.

Zach Hocker - He is a good kicker with a big leg but we needed a punter more. The Bears screwed up my personal Master Plan by taking punter O'Donnell in the 6th round. Probably won't make the team.

Trading down late doesn't appeal to me. We haven't had any luck with that approach. It just gives us more draftees who can't play.

Bottom line, I can't really begin to judge this draft until the 2015 season but I'm hopeful that we picked some good players.

Re: Reaction to Draft: exceeds, meets, or meh
 

I'll give this a shot.

[B]2 (47)[/B] [B][COLOR="DarkRed"]Trent Murphy - OLB - Stanford -[/COLOR][/B] [I][COLOR="Navy"]Grade B-[/COLOR][/I] - Really like the player, hate that we took him at this spot and at a position that actually has some depth. Might look a lot better next year if they can't resign Orakpo but still seems like a luxury pick. Hard to imagine him bulking up to much to play inside.

Apparently he came to the combine 10 pounds less then his listed playing weight so he might be a bit of a hard gainer.

[B]3(66)[/B] [B][COLOR="DarkRed"]Morgan Moses - OT - UVA[/COLOR][/B] - [I][COLOR="navy"]Grade A[/COLOR][/I] - Absolutely hate the game of chicken the front office played with the RT spot but it all worked out. Hopefully he can earn the starting job coming out of camp and will eventually become one of the leagues top bookend pairs along with Silverback.

[B]3(78)[/B] [B][COLOR="DarkRed"]Spencer Long - OG - Nebraska[/COLOR][/B] - [I][COLOR="navy"]Grade C[/COLOR][/I] - I would feel a lot better about this pick if he wasn't coming off season ending knee surgery. From the little I've seen he really looks like a solid player. Very nasty and hard working. Kind of wish they took him later but I wouldn't be surprised to see him starting in a couple years. I also wouldn't be surprised if they cut him in a couple years either.

[B]4(102)[/B] [B][COLOR="DarkRed"]Bashaud Breeland - CB - Clemson[/COLOR][/B] - [I][COLOR="navy"]Grade B+[/COLOR][/I] - I usually loathe CB's but Breeland doesn't seem to fit the stereotypical 'I don't feel like tackling' archetype for CB's. Seems to be very good at bump and run and as long as he's not asked to play on an island he should do really well. Also seems like he was good value for where he was picked.

[B]5(142)[/B] [B][COLOR="DarkRed"]Ryan Grant - WR - Tulane[/COLOR][/B] - [I][COLOR="navy"]Grade B[/COLOR][/I] - WR is a little crowded and I usually cringe at the idea of taking a WR however according to his reports he is excellent ball skills and runs crisp routes. Only knock seems to be he lacks big play speed. Regardless always a place in the league for guys that can catch and run good routes.

[B]6(186)[/B] [B][COLOR="DarkRed"]Lache Seastrunk - RB - Baylor[/COLOR][/B] - [I][COLOR="navy"]Grade B[/COLOR][/I] - For some reason I keep on think his name is Leon Sandcastle. Anyway love the agility and change of direction ability. Not sure if he'll make the team but should at least make the preseason more bearable.

[B]7(217)[/B] [B][COLOR="DarkRed"]Ted Bolser - TE - Indiana[/COLOR][/B] - [I][COLOR="navy"]Grade C-[/COLOR][/I] - Seems decent enough. I guess he could surprise but I'm not sure if he'll stick around. Kind of wish we got Jake Pedersen {TE Wisc}

[B]7(228)[/B] [B][COLOR="DarkRed"]Zach Hocker - K - Arkansas[/COLOR][/B] - [I][COLOR="navy"]Grade F[/COLOR][/I] - I know its a 7th round pick but it kind of feels like a waste. Ironically I wouldn't be surprised if he caught on somewhere else but yeah, maybe they wanted competition for Kai in camp and thought they couldn't sign Hocker to a UDFA contract.

Re: Reaction to Draft: exceeds, meets, or meh
 

Zach Hocker - Next year's All-Pro Kicker and NFL MVP for kicking 5 straight game winners to end the season (play-offs included, obviously).

Re: Reaction to Draft: exceeds, meets, or meh
 

Excited, we got the right guard a corner and a speedster to add to the backfield. that's a good haul.

Re: Reaction to Draft: exceeds, meets, or meh
 

I think we definitely added to our depth and got a potential starter for 2014 in Moses. Murphy should also be able to contribute right away on 3rd downs. Time will tell how this draft really shapes up. A year or two from now Breeland could be a real steal.

Re: Reaction to Draft: exceeds, meets, or meh
 

[url=http://espn.go.com/blog/washington-redskins/post/_/id/7613/quick-takes-redskins-draft-class]Quick takes: Washington Redskins 2014 NFL draft class - ESPN[/url]

Re: Reaction to Draft: exceeds, meets, or meh
 

I'm going to go ahead and give the draft an A. Most people jumped on here and gave us an A last year and that turned out to be a pretty miserable draft.

We went after big bodies with our first three picks and seemed to focus on special teams players also. It's a huge step in the right direction for us, and while it will take some time to figure out if this draft yielded good players, I'm a huge fan of the areas we emphasized.

I just hope the FO and coaches realize that we should continue down this track until the lack of depth and talent up front are fixed even if we did swing and miss on a couple of these guys. It may take a couple of years but giving RG3 a top 5 Oline is organizational priority 1 imo. If we do that we give our most important player every chance he'll need to develop and succeed. If that happens we might enjoy a decade of contender level teams.

Re: Reaction to Draft: exceeds, meets, or meh
 

[quote=Dirtbag59;1071890]Side note, not picking on you JW, but these last few days my easily confused brain, or is it confused easily brain......anyway every time I've seen the name Gruden in posts and articles and its taken like an extra 5 seconds and extra brain power, of which I have little to spare, to figure out which Gruden is being cited at any given time.

I propose that we come up with a shorthand way of distinguishing Jay Gruden and Jon Gruden (side side note Jon instead of John fuuuuuuu).

I move for J. Gruden. All in favor say I or is it aye?[/quote]

Nay. A simple Jay or Jon works for me.

Re: Reaction to Draft: exceeds, meets, or meh
 

One of the things I liked about our draft was the draft analysts' descriptions of some of the players we picked. Here are a few:

"One of the tougher, more onery players I've come across." (Trent Murphy)

"Tough-guy reputation." (Morgan Moses)

"Nasty mauler." (Spencer Long)

I thought we could use some more tough and nasty players.

Re: Reaction to Draft: exceeds, meets, or meh
 

[quote=JWsleep;1071855]Meh.

Half the picks made sense, half were head scratchers. I'm willing to accept that much of this is a crap shoot, but why is it that we always manage to buck the conventional wisdom and pick someone we don't need who no one else wants (at that point in the draft, anyway). Weird. Seemed a bit like two different people were picking this time, and were sort of alternating. I would love to be a fly on the wall in their draft room to see just how the dynamic plays out.

So I'll look on the brightside: we did draft a decent looking tackle (a project, to some extent, but with the right physical tools at least!); a nice looking corner, and a speedy RB (albeit one who hasn't caught a pass in his life or something). And I'll accept the idea that you can't have too many pass rushers.

Time will tell, and it's easy to forget how friggin random so much of this stuff is. Isn't it about time we hit a few long shots? But I do worry that we still have not properly invested in scouting and that we still don't really have real player/personnel folk. It's got to be better than Shanny just picking RBs and TEs and whiffing on the rest, but it aint Ozzie and the raisins yet, either.

(Is it time for camp yet????)[/quote]

The Ravens always seem to get high post draft grades while we're always in the C to C-, wait and see mode. Would be nice to get high marks for once AND have our picks pan out.

Re: Reaction to Draft: exceeds, meets, or meh
 

[quote=TenandSix:Unacceptable;1071913]I'm going to go ahead and give the draft an A. Most people jumped on here and gave us an A last year and that turned out to be a pretty miserable draft.

We went after big bodies with our first three picks and seemed to focus on special teams players also. It's a huge step in the right direction for us, and while it will take some time to figure out if this draft yielded good players, I'm a huge fan of the areas we emphasized.

I just hope the FO and coaches realize that we should continue down this track until the lack of depth and talent up front are fixed even if we did swing and miss on a couple of these guys. It may take a couple of years but giving RG3 a top 5 Oline is organizational priority 1 imo. If we do that we give our most important player every chance he'll need to develop and succeed. If that happens we might enjoy a decade of contender level teams.[/quote]

RG3 also needs to learn how to help his O-line out. Most analysts that broke down our pass blocking last year said MOST sacks were on him. Better play from him combined with better players along the line should equate to more success.

[QUOTE=44Deezel;1071921]RG3 also needs to learn how to help his O-line out. Most analysts that broke down our pass blocking last year said MOST sacks were on him. Better play from him combined with better players along the line should equate to more success.[/QUOTE]

When guys rush clean from the right side, which often happened on drop back passes, I can't see that being on the qb, any qb.

Re: Reaction to Draft: exceeds, meets, or meh
 

[quote=T.O.Killa;1071851]The reason they are not in love with Kia is he sucks at kickoffs and the result was horrific last year because of it.[/quote]

Which is why they were the only team to propose that they move the kickoffs to the 40 yard line at the meetings this year.

Re: Reaction to Draft: exceeds, meets, or meh
 

For now I will say between meets and exceeds. Between FA and the Draft I like the pieces we added and kept. I think our defense will be much improved with a better pass rush and a Veteran secondary with some young guys looking to improve and contribute as well.

The offense is going to be scary if they all gel and stay healthy.

I have no problems with any of the draft picks - even the kicker in the 7th round. I mean it's the 7th round. Obviously they had their eye on this guy and probably had him rated higher than anyone else available - and then they will bring in some undrafted FAs to get a look at.

Re: Reaction to Draft: exceeds, meets, or meh
 

The 2014 draft looks a lot better than last years draft. I think they filled plenty of needs, and on paper it looks good.

If you add the free agents, injured players returning, and draft choices, there could be 12 or 13 new additions on defense..... Hatcher, Geathers, Sharpton, K. Robinson, Jordan, Hayward, Murphy, Breeland, Crawford, Porter, Clark, Jackson, and Thomas.

it was obvious during 2013 draft picking small RBs, and a slow OLB/ DE was a mistake.... to bad they didn't take 2 Offensive lineman in the 5th

Re: Reaction to Draft: exceeds, meets, or meh
 

[quote=CRedskinsRule;1071924]When guys rush clean from the right side, which often happened on drop back passes, I can't see that being on the qb, any qb.[/quote]

I think on some of those ( perhaps not the ones on the right side) the QB has to pick up the unblocked guy and get rid of the ball. As we all know pass pro isn't just on the line, but the QB and the rb's as well.

Re: Reaction to Draft: exceeds, meets, or meh
 

[quote=CRedskinsRule;1071924]When guys rush clean from the right side, which often happened on drop back passes, I can't see that being on the qb, any qb.[/quote]

Don't forget about up the middle as well.

Re: Reaction to Draft: exceeds, meets, or meh
 

I think our day one OL ends up being:

LT Trent Williams
LG Shaun Luvavo
C Josh LeRebius (I think he beats out Litdhfengsifjgsteiger)
RG Spencer Long
RT Morgan Moses

Re: Reaction to Draft: exceeds, meets, or meh
 

[quote=EARTHQUAKE2689;1071960]I think our day one OL ends up being:

LT Trent Williams
LG Shaun Luvavo
C Josh LeRebius (I think he beats out Litdhfengsifjgsteiger)
RG Spencer Long
RT Morgan Moses[/quote]

basically you are starting 3 rookies, I doubt it

Re: Reaction to Draft: exceeds, meets, or meh
 

Spencer Long......Nasty Mauler
Really enjoyed that