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Originally Posted by CultBrennan59
God this is why I hate ESPN.com. If I want to read an interesting article I have to pay to be an insider. Can anyone who is an insider copy and paste what Kiper has to say about the Skins in this article... NFL: Mel Kiper's summer look at the NFC East - ESPN |
You're not missing much not having access to this article
Help added: This was like a different team this draft. What happened? The Redskins entered the draft without a third- or fourth-round pick and had just eight overall. Same ol' story. But when it was all said and done, they made 12 selections -- four in the first four rounds. After working out a trade with Jacksonville, in which they swapped first-rounders, and dropping six spots, the redskins were thrilled to see Purdue LB Ryan Kerrigan still available. After making a name for himself at defensive end with the Boilermakers, he'll operate at OLB in the Redskins' 3-4 base. Kerrigan has natural big-play ability that can't be taught.
I'm not as high on DE Jarvis Jenkins as the Skins are, but the second-round pick out of Clemson could be productive. Miami wideout Leonard Hankerson was a very nice pick in the third round and gives them the type of physical presence at the position that was lacking last season. A fourth-round pick, Nebraska RB Roy Helu is made to order for their offense. He has excellent speed and is the type of one-cut runner that excels in Mike Shanahan's offense. They obviously scouted Nebraska very thoroughly as their next two picks were teammates of Helu.
I had a free-agent grade on safety DeJon Gomes; they saw fit to take him in the fifth round. We'll see. Wideout Niles Paul struggled with some drops and wasn't much of a factor in the offense last season due in large part to the quarterback situation, so taking a chance on him in the fifth round is well worth it. The sixth-round pick, Penn State RB Evan Royster, has limitations but can catch the ball. I really liked their other selection in the sixth round of SMU wideout Aldrick Robinson. He took over for Emmanuel Sanders as the Mustangs' feature receiver in 2010 and had a very good year.
Questions that remain: As I wrote in my 2011 NFL draft grades, "We know the Redskins need help at quarterback, but I'll give them credit: They realized there wasn't a quarterback in this draft who can help them in 2011, and they moved out of the spot that became the Blaine Gabbert pick." I'll stand by that now, meaning that's a question that remains. And for whoever is taking the snaps, the offensive line will need to continue to progress, and Hankerson will need to quickly add an element in the passing game. Obviously, the biggest questions all start on the offensive side of the ball, where you have to hope Shanahan can get the running game he made famous untracked with some new talent.
Next year's help now: Andrew Luck, QB, Stanford
This isn't a prediction that the Skins will be in place to land Luck, it means he'd be the best QB on their roster now.