Washington Redskins: Ranking the Last 20 First-Round Draft Picks

The Washington Redskins have drawn a lot of criticism from draft experts over the last couple of decades for reaching on players who most believe didn't need to be taken that highly. In some cases they are right, but there are some players the Redskins have selected in the first round who turn out to be noteworthy.

Here you will find a ranking of the last 20 first-round picks for the Redskins, dating all the way back to 1991. Before that time, the Redskins only had three first-round picks from 1970 to 1990 and managed to get two Hall of Famers (Darrell Green and Art Monk).

Will we see any of these players join them in the Hall? Only time will tell, but here is a look back at an interesting draft history.

Quick Note: The last three picks are ranked 20-to-18, since it is too early to tell.

20. Robert Griffin III

Drafted 2012: 2nd Overall Pick

Career Stats: 0-0, 0 yards, 0 touchdowns, 0 interceptions

Status: Currently with the Redskins (rookie season)

Yes, I know he is the savior of the masses in Washington, but for now we have to put him dead last because of the stat line.

Once he completes his first pass, he will probably be eligible to jump into the top 1. That's how bad some of the players are on this list. There's no doubt that he will skyrocket up this list in his—what he hope to be a long and illustrious—career.

19. Ryan Kerrigan

Drafted 2011: 16th Overall

Career Stats: 7.5 sacks, 1 interception

Status: Currently with Redskins (second season)

The future is very bright for Kerrigan after a solid rookie season that started with a fantastic pick-six against Eli Manning and the Giants in Week 1. Now he will look to be an anchor along with fellow linebacker Brian Orakpo for the next decade.

The Redskins already look smart thanks to Kerrigan, as they traded down in the draft with Jacksonville so they could acquire Missouri quarterback Blaine Gabbert. Let's hope that Redskins fans can still laugh about that one down the road.

His stats are already better than a couple of the players on this list, but as stated earlier, I won't place the last three picks up with the rest yet, since it is so early in their careers.

18. Trent Williams

Drafted 2010: 4th Overall

Career Stats: 23 Games Started

Status: Currently with Redskins (third season)

So far in his career, Williams has had some injury problems; but when he plays, he looks like a first-round pick.

He struggled a bit in his first season and seemed to pick it up in 2011, but thanks to injuries and a suspension, he finished off very poorly. This season appears to be different, however, as he has had a pretty strong preseason.

We look for him to be a Pro Bowl-caliber left tackle, and he will be vital in protecting Robert Griffin III for the foreseeable future. He could prove to be the only elite lineman the Redskins have once this season is played out.

17. Andre Johnson

Drafted 1996: 30th Overall

Career Stats: 3 games played (all with Detroit)

Status: Retired

There is the Andre Johnson who is an elite receiver, and then there is the Andre Johnson who only played a handful of snaps in the NFL. Needless to say, the Redskins didn't get the elite receiver.

Technically, he should be ranked behind Griffin, Williams and Kerrigan since he didn't play a single game with the Redskins. His selection is often forgotten when people bring up the biggest draft busts of all time, but he is certainly worth noting.

His departure from the Redskins closed the book on his career in Washington, and a lot of people would like to never open that book up again.

16. Heath Shuler

Drafted 1994: 3rd Overall

Career Stats: 3,691 yards, 15 touchdowns, 33 interceptions

Status: Retired

Unlike Andre Johnson, people always seem to bring up Heath Shuler when they discuss the biggest busts in NFL draft history.

The Redskins got a serviceable quarterback in Gus Frerotte in the seventh round, meaning this pick was an absolute waste. Heck, they could have just signed Kurt Warner, who went undrafted.

After being benched for good in 1996, Shuler's Redskins career was over, and he went onto the Saints for one year before retiring as a member of the Raiders practice squad.

His political career has far surpassed his football career since retiring, which leads us all to wish that he had just done that straight out of college instead of setting the Redskins franchise back a few years.

15. Bobby Wilson

Drafted 1991: 17th Overall

Career Stats: 11 sacks, 1 fumble recovery

Status: Retired

I apologize for how depressing this list has been so far, folks.

Wilson played for the Redskins from 1991 through 1994, and his career ended there. He had a less than stellar NFL career, only amassing 11 sacks. That would be a great single season for a defensive tackle, but not a career.

He does have a Super Bowl ring, though. In his rookie season of 1991, he had 4.5 sacks and started one game for the champions that season.

14. Patrick Ramsey

Drafted 2002: 32nd Overall

Career Stats: 5,930 yards, 35 touchdowns, 30 interceptions

Status: Retired

Unlike a few of the guys on this list, you actually remember who Patrick Ramsey is if you are under 25 years old.

He came to Washington after they traded down to New England and selected him with the last pick of the first round in 2002. It appeared that he would be the starter after a decent 2003 season, until Joe Gibbs came out of retirement and stunted Ramsey's growth right away.

Unimpressed by Ramsey, Gibbs traded for Mark Brunell in 2004 and relegated Ramsey to a career as a journeyman backup quarterback. Without looking, I would estimate that he appeared on 27 different practice squads in his NFL career.

13. Desmond Howard

Drafted 1992: 4th Overall

Career Stats: 1,597 receiving yards, 15 touchdowns (8 from returns)

Status: Retired

Desmond Howard is the reason why I'm a little nervous about Robert Griffin III. Heisman winners can build up a lot of hype for someone who isn't quite cut out for the pros. Hopefully, I'm wrong.

As for Howard, he was an above-average-to-good kick returner. You don't spend the fourth overall pick on an above-average-to-good kick returner, though.

His best season came in 1994 when he amassed 727 receiving yards and five touchdowns.

Although his career in college was very memorable, his NFL career only contains one memorable game, and it just happened to be the Super Bowl when Green Bay defeated New England and Howard had a return touchdown.

As for his Redskins career, it was very subpar; but it seems that he often gets overlooked when talking about busts.

12. Rod Gardner

Drafted 2001: 15th Overall

Career Stats: 3,165 yards, 23 touchdowns

Status: Retired

If you look at all of the receivers who have gone over 1,000 yards in a season, you will find Rod Gardner on that list. I'm not lying, go look it up.

It came in 2002 when he finished with 1,006 yards and eight touchdowns.

Things looked really promising for the then-second-year receiver, but he finished up his Redskins career with seasons of 600 and 650 yards, respectively.

Afterward, he had short stints with Green Bay, Carolina and Kansas City, none of which amounted to anything memorable. Now the former Clemson receiver is a running joke among Redskins fans and message boards.

We'll always have 2002, though, Rod.

11. Kenard Lang

Drafted 1997: 17th Overall

Career Stats: 50 sacks, 13 forced fumbles

Status: Retired

Lang got off to a pretty slow start in Washington with only 1.5 sacks in his rookie season in 1997. From there, he appeared to improve slowly and peaked in 2003. Sadly, he was with Cleveland in 2003.

He had 20 sacks in his final four seasons with the Redskins and switched from defensive end to defensive tackle. He had a pretty quiet career, and he did find some success with Cleveland and Denver before retiring after the 2006 season.

His name will come up in conversations, though, especially when talking about the most mediocre Redskins defenders of all time.

10. Tom Carter

Drafted 1993: 19th Overall

Career Stats: 27 interceptions, 1 touchdown

Status: Retired

A lot of people won't remember Tom Carter, and he may not have been worthy of a first-round pick, but he did have a quiet and decent career for a cornerback.

He finished his rookie season with six interceptions despite playing in just 14 games. He finished up his Redskins career with 18 total picks over four seasons before departing to Chicago.

He ended up also playing for the Bengals before his career ended in 2001 at the ripe old age of 29.

Chances are, you won't see many Tom Carter throwback jerseys at FedEx Field, but he was a decent talent in the 1990s.

9. Michael Westbrook

Drafted 1995: 4th Overall

Career Stats: 4,374 yards, 26 touchdowns

Status: Retired

He had a career very similar to Rod Gardner's, but Michael Westbrook showed more promise over his career. He never did live up to the promise, though.

He had a chance to become one of the top receivers in the NFL, but his issues with anger set him back. He once pummeled Stephen Davis in training camp, and their careers went in opposite directions from there.

The best season of his career came in 1999 when he totaled 1,191 yards and eight touchdowns. The next season he played just two games and ended with 103 yards.

Much like a lot of the people on this list, he ended up in Ohio playing for the Bengals for one season before finally retiring after the 2002 season after getting just 94 yards in his last stint.

8. Jason Campbell

Drafted 2005: 25th Overall

Career Stats: 14,417 yards, 74 touchdowns, 50 interceptions

Status: Backup QB with the Chicago Bears

Jason Campbell's career has been unlucky to this point. He's proved that he can be a solid game manager and one of the best backup quarterback options currently in the NFL.

His career in Washington ended before the 2010 season when the Redskins acquired Donovan McNabb. Since then, he's played with Oakland and now Chicago.

He got his first chance in the 2006 season, replacing Mark Brunell. He didn't get the chance to lead the Redskins in their 2007 playoff charge when he was injured and Todd Collins stepped in. The organization quit on him when the opportunity to trade for McNabb popped up.

It was clear that management didn't want him to begin with. They traded up in the 2005 draft to presumably take Aaron Rodgers, but when the Packers surprisingly selected him, the Redskins were forced to take the next quarterback available.

Could you imagine Aaron Rodgers in a Redskins jersey now? That would be nice.

7. LaRon Landry

Drafted 2007: 6th Overall

Career Stats: 6 forced fumbles, 4 interceptions

Status: Currently with the New York Jets

When Landry was drafted, he was supposed to be the perfect complement to Sean Taylor. When Taylor tragically passed away in 2007, Landry moved into the playmaker role of free safety.

When Landry wasn't injured, he didn't disappoint. He had quite a few big plays and huge hits. His best play came in 2010 on an interception in overtime against Aaron Rodgers and the eventual Super Bowl champion Packers to set up a winning field goal.

He never quite reached the All-Pro potential, mainly due to injuries, but had a solid career with the Redskins from 2007 to 2011.

He now moves onto the New York Jets, where he will play in his first season.

6. LaVar Arrington

Drafted 2000: 2nd Overall

Career Stats: 23.5 sacks, 3 interceptions

Status: Retired

Coming out of Penn State, LaVar Arrington was an athletic freak. He carried it over to the NFL pretty nicely. If it weren't for a multitude of injuries, he may still be around.

His time in Washington may have been brief, but it was effective. He was selected to three Pro Bowls and three All-Pro teams. He was taken second overall in 2000 after the Redskins had the second and third selections in that draft, being taken before Chris Samuels (more on him later).

He is still around in the Redskins family as a radio host with Chad Dukes on 106.7 FM.

5. Carlos Rogers

Drafted 2005: 9th Overall

Career Stats: 14 interceptions, 4 forced fumbles

Status: Currently with the San Francisco 49ers

Most Redskins fans remember Carlos Rogers' time with the team as a failure due to the dropped interceptions he seemed to have on just about every play.

On the flip side, many other Redskins fans will tell you that he was a good cornerback because he was in a position to actually drop an interception in the first place.

I fall under the latter category. Whenever he dropped a pick, I was frustrated. Now that I look back on it, it would be nice to have a cornerback who could at least get his hands on the ball.

Now that he is in San Francisco, he seems to have gained the ability to catch an interception, corralling a total of six in 2011.

He has always been a pretty good cover corner and a great tackler. Now he's a very good all-around cornerback. It's a shame that it's with another team, though.

4. Brian Orakpo

Drafted 2009: 13th Overall

Career Stats: 28.5 sacks, 5 forced fumbles

Status: Currently with Redskins (fourth season)

It may be too early to put Orakpo this high, but from what we've seen so far, he certainly deserves it.

He has led the Redskins in sacks in each of his first three seasons and will have to contend with Ryan Kerrigan for that title in 2012. We should see the two of them in opposing backfields for years to come.

He already has two Pro Bowl appearances in his first three seasons, and you can't complain about the 28.5 sacks.

I fully expect him to jump up a couple of spots on this list before all is said and done in his career.

3. Sean Taylor

Drafted 2004: 5th Overall

Career Stats: 12 interceptions, 8 forced fumbles, 2 sacks

Status: Passed away in 2007

Tragedy ruined what was going to be a great career. The Redskins finally had a huge playmaker on defense who could change games.

Taylor had gotten into some trouble in the earlier part of his career and appeared to have turned himself around and was quickly becoming one of the best safeties in the NFL. One of his most memorable moments is a huge return on a blocked field goal against Dallas in 2006, which set up the winning field goal at the end.

Now, all we are left with is thoughts about what could have been for his career. We do, however, have the memories of stadium-shaking hits and big-time plays, while striking fear into opposing offenses.

2. Champ Bailey

Drafted 1999: 7th Overall

Career Stats: 50 interceptions, 3 sacks, 7 forced fumbles

Status: Currently with the Denver Broncos

It was almost perfect the way it worked out. Darrell Green was at the end of his career, and the Redskins selected Champ Bailey in 1999 to eventually replace him. Let's just say things could have gone much, much worse than they did.

He immediately became a threat by grabbing five interceptions in each of his first two seasons with Washington. He finished with a total of 18 interceptions in his five seasons with the Redskins.

Of course, you know the way it goes, though. In his first three seasons with Denver, he totalled 21 interceptions.

Redskins fans appreciated Champ Bailey's time in Washington, as well as Clinton Portis. The two were traded for each other in 2004. Both enjoyed nice careers with their respective teams.

1. Chris Samuels

Drafted 2000: 3rd Overall

Career Stats: 141 career starts

Status: Retired

Did you know that Chris Samuels didn't allow a single sack in his entire college career at Alabama? That's pretty impressive.

He's easily the best lineman the Redskins have had in the last 20 years, and he was named to six Pro Bowls. The Redskins are currently banking on Trent Williams to be as close to Samuels in terms of production as possible. That may prove to be pretty difficult, though.

Toward the end of his career, the injuries started to pile up pretty heavily. He was forced into retirement in 2010 due to spinal stenosis, wanting to avoid long-term injury.

If that had not happened, he would still likely be playing for the Redskins now; but in his decade-long body of work, he was one of the best at his position.