2011 NFL Draft: 5 Reasons The Washington Redskins Won't Be Able To Screw It Up

Are Redskins coach Mike Shanahan and GM Bruce Allen set for a successful 2011 draft?
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This year, the Redskins can’t screw up their draft. Mostly because forces out of their control won’t let them.

Now, Washington has recent draft success (see Brian Orakpo from ’09 & LaRon Landry in ’07), but the past four drafts have only produced 14 players on the current roster.

This year, the team has seven picks, the most for the club since 2008. That’s a plus.

Here are five other reasons why the optimism and forecasts of future success accompanying most NFL clubs in April will also find its way to Redskins Park.

Trader No's

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The first step in throwing away your draft is not making poor picks. It’s not picking at all. 

In a strange twist, the lack of a Collective Bargaining Agreement between NFL owners and the NFLPA means players cannot be traded, even for draft picks.

By trading past picks, especially the high-value selections in the first three rounds, the Redskins recent drafts have missed myriad opportunities to build a foundation for their future.  Since 2007, Washington has made eight selections in the first three rounds, with six players from those picks on the current roster.

With a strong possibility the NFL will enter the 2011 draft without a CBA, the environment will be less trade-friendly. This presents a better chance the Redskins will actually make those high-valued picks; one in each of the first and second rounds. 

Note: Washington has no third-round pick. It was traded to New Orleans for offensive tackle Jammal Brown.

"Line" Up The Talent

North Carolina Defensive End Robert Quinn is an example of the many players who will be available for the Redskins in the first round.
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The Redskins have needs. Duh.

The largest gaps are at of the line of scrimmage.

Offensively, the 2010 campaign ended with the team ranked 30th in rushing yards, 25th in total points and permitted 46 sacks. On the opposite side, Washington’s defense mustered only 29 sacks and allowed 4.6 yards per rush attempt, 25th and 26th respectively. 

Either line can use some help, and there will be ample talent at the team’s first-round pick, 10th overall.

Offensively, selecting Nate Solder for the right tackle position could prove to be a proper pairing with last year’s first-round pick, Trent Williams, currently entrenched at left tackle.

On the defensive line (you don’t expect Albert Haynesworth to line up next year, do you?), either Robert Quinn (pictured, left), Cameron Jordan, Corey Liuget or Marcell Dareus should be available to help solidify the 3-4 defense.

This year has a nice group of talented defensive ends. One will fall to No. 10.

 

Redskins Don't Believe in Newton's Law

Cam Newton's February 10 workout for the media won't sway the Redskins from selecting the Heisman Trophy winner
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Cam Newton is almost freakishly talented, but he won’t be a Redskin.

Yes, we approach another year with quarterback looming as an unknown.  But here’s what we do know: offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan did not mesh with the mobile-friendly style of Donovan McNabb, favoring a pocket-camping, system-first Rex Grossman (who was a reserve with Shanahan in Houston).

So, you think they’ll pick the "chicken-salad making" Newton to take over the offense? 

The needs at the line of scrimmage are too great for this gamble, and it’s not the dice roll the Redskins will take. Another reason to force the team into making a solid, if not flashy, choice.

Skins Can't Share The Blaine

Blaine Gabbert may be attractive to Washington, but they won't have a chance to select the Missouri quarterback
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Missouri’s Blaine Gabbert would be attractive as a potential long-term leader of the Shanahan’s offense, pulling the Skins away from addressing the immediate needs at (either) line. 

But the quarterback needs of Buffalo (No. 3), Cincinnati (No. 4), San Francisco (No. 7) and Tennessee (No. 8) will ensure Gabbert will be wearing another team’s hat Friday evening well before the Redskins make their pick.  

Is Gabbert a "no brainer?" Well, that’s a question the Redskins won’t have to worry about answering.

Receivers: An Easy Catch

Santana Moss is the Redskins' only wide receiver with more than 60 catches in each of the last 3 seasons.
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No matter who takes the snaps in 2011, they will need someone to throw to.  Santana Moss (pictured, left) needs help. Receiver is a need, but should not be a first-round choice.

Second-round experiments Devin Thomas (released in 2010) and Malcolm Kelly (placed on injured reserve in 2010) may keep Washington from making an early-round selection, but it does not hide the fact only two of the team’s top seven pass-catchers in 2010 were wide receivers.

But, waiting for the 41st overall selection seems prime for a new pair of hands, and here’s some incentive for you: in Super Bowl XLV, seven of the eight receivers who caught more than one pass were either second or third-round selections.

The other receiver, Donald Driver (the Packers’ franchise all-time receptions leader), was a seventh-round pick.

For the record, Washington has two picks in this year’s seventh round, so they can’t screw that up.