Washington Redskins Targeting Mark Sanchez? New Development Could Help Broncos

A recent segment of "The Way We Hear it..." on ProFootballWeekly.com suggests that while the Redskins may not have been interested in replacing Jason Campbell with Jay Cutler, they may be interested in former USC quarterback Mark Sanchez.

Sanchez has reportedly worked out with the team, and the Redskins are "doing their due diligence" in regards to possibly drafting him. 

Do not view this as a smokescreen.  Campbell currently only has one year left on his contract with the Redskins, and has not really developed into the superstar quarterback they once thought he could be. 

So how does this help the Broncos?

Well, the Washington Redskins select 13th in the up-coming NFL Draft, and Denver is slotted to select one pick before Washington at 12.

If Washington is serious about Sanchez, the Denver Broncos could benefit the most by trading down with a team like New York, Tampa Bay, Chicago, Minnesota, or Detroit who may have interest in snatching him up as well.

Although many mock draft's have the Broncos selecting "their guy" in former Boston College defensive tackle B.J. Raji, I personally feel it is unlikely will fall to them.  If Raji does indeed get selected by someone other than Denver, the Broncos would most likely be willing to trade down.

I have previously speculated that Denver's target outside of Raji could be LSU defensive end Tyson Jackson, and the Broncos could very well get him later in the first round.

A perfect trade partner in such a situation would be Detroit.  While it is rumored that the Lions are going to take Matthew Stafford with the number one pick, they could go with Aaron Curry or one of the top offensive linemen available.  If they decide on the latter, they will still need a quarterback.  Denver could trade the 12th overall pick to Detroit in exchange for the 20th pick and the 33rd pick. 

According to the NFL's trade value chart, the 12th pick is worth 1,200 points.  The 20th and 33rd picks combined are worth 1,430.  The differential is roughly a third round pick, but teams that trade down usually get more in return than they give.

If Denver moves down to the 20th pick, and also acquires pick 33, they could really improve their team come draft day.  With the 20th pick, they could take Tyson Jackson, an elite level five-technique who I really like right now.  With the first pick in round two, they could go with Ohio State linebacker James Laurinaitis, who has recently worked out with the team.  Then, they could try and get a player like Missouri DT Evander "Ziggy" Hood or Boston College DT Ron Brace with their other second round pick.

This is all purely speculation, but the Redskins' interest in Sanchez could prompt a team to take advantage of a weak quarterback class by becoming trade partners with the Broncos.