Washington Redskins Must Draft Based on Both Value and Need in 2015

Charismatic NFL coaching legend Bill Parcells once said, "They want you to cook the dinner; at least they ought to let you shop for the groceries." The Washington Redskins are letting Scot McCloughan "shop for the groceries," and he wants the best greens available.

He's repeatedly banged that drum ahead of the 2015 NFL draft, per Mike Jones of The Washington Post: “It comes down to best available player.”

But any smart shopper knows how to get the best and still find value at the same time.

That's the issue facing McCloughan as he prepares for his first draft running the show for the Redskins. The roster he's inherited just has too many holes to simply go "best player available."

Treading that path will mean entering the season with some of the same problems that have blighted the last two campaigns. But that's where things get a little tricky.

It's also where the debate between drafting for need or targeting the best players available comes into sharpest focus.

One of the annual woes this franchise has been weighed down by is poor play at the safety positions. It's an issue that's been allowed to fester through successive offseasons.

There's a real fear that it could be more of the same in McCloughan's first year. The new GM only added ex-Seattle Seahawks special teams demon Jeron Johnson to a woefully thin position group.

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Surely that should open the door for a rookie safety or two to make their way to Redskins Park, right? Well, maybe not.

Not when there's only one safety with a first-round grade, Alabama hitting machine Landon Collins. Not when the rest of the class at the position is deemed to be lacking.

So what should McCloughan and the Redskins do? Snagging Collins with a top-five pick would be considered an almighty reach, probably correctly.

But does that mean Washington loads up on safeties as soon as the second round gets underway? Hardly.

Not when there will be other players on the board the team likely rates higher.

That, in a nutshell, is the argument against strictly drafting for need. Safety is the biggest need on the roster.

Not addressing it last offseason hamstrung the defense before a game had been played. It rendered schematic ploys and new coaching techniques designed to improve the pressure up front largely moot.

There are worrying signs of history repeating itself. McCloughan added one-gap linemen Ricky Jean Francois and Stephen Paea in free agency to boost the pass rush.

But will those moves count for much if every pass that makes it deep results in a big gain because the safeties (whoever they may be) have gone on walkabout?

Yet McCloughan would be out of his mind to take a safety off the board if there's a player he rates higher. Safety is the bigger need, but you don't solve it by adding just any player at the position. Instead, you wait to add true talent, even if it comes in another area.

So it's best player all the way then, right? Well, not exactly.

Sometimes you can have too much of a good thing. For instance, why would the Redskins take a wide receiver off the board, even if the two most talented prospects at the position could be available when McCloughan makes his first selection?

They shouldn't. Not when DeSean Jackson, Pierre Garcon and Andre Roberts already call this roster home.

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Head coach Jay Gruden wants to get Garcon the ball more often, according to CSN Washington's Tarik El-Bashir. How exactly is that plan going to work if Alabama's Amari Cooper or West Virginia's Kevin White arrive at Redskins Park?

Washington had a tough enough time sharing the catches between Garcon and Jackson last season. No need to confuse the issue further because of a rigid adherence to one particular draft philosophy.

Jackson's addition last offseason, even though it came via the veteran market and not the draft, showcased the dangers of the best player available strategy. As soon as he was dumped by the Philadelphia Eagles, Jackson became the premier playmaker on the market.

But did the Redskins really need him when they already had Garcon, Andre Roberts and Santana Moss in the fold? Sure, Jackson enjoyed a debut 1,000-yard season in D.C., but it's not as if Washington's passing game wouldn't have functioned without him.

By the same token, did the Redskins really need to shell out the cash for veteran pass-rusher Jason Hatcher? Sure, Hatcher was the top interior lineman on the market, but he'd just played his best football in a 4-3 scheme and was joining a D-line that already had options.

Spending big on Jackson and Hatcher meant trying to get by with graybeard Ryan Clark at safety. It meant only adding Shawn Lauvao to the offensive line. It meant entering a season with the same weak links likely to topple the team like a house of cards at any moment.

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It's easy to make the same mistakes in a draft. Being wowed by a brand-new big-play wide receiver, or, dare we say it, the quarterback who seems to promise yet another bright future, might create initial optimism, but won't fix the roster's core problems. 

So how exactly can McCloughan find both value and need for the Redskins in the 2015 NFL draft?

It needn't be that complicated. Take the safety dilemma first. Say there's no player at the position who really jumps off the board in a particular round, yet there is a guard and an inside linebacker who do.

Now, bear in mind these two nameless prospects are graded in the same round, so it's unlikely there's going to be much difference in how McCloughan has them rated on his board.

If it's a close call, the guard would seemingly make more sense in this scenario. He'd have to when McCloughan has inherited an O-line that surrendered 58 sacks in 2014.

Seems simple enough, except Gruden has been talking up in-house options recently. He's expressed confidence in veteran starter Chris Chester, as well as 2014 third-round picks Spencer Long and Morgan Moses, per ESPN Redskins reporter John Keim.

Gruden believes Long can compete for a starting job on the inside. He thinks Morgan Moses can do the same on the outside, where the team also re-signed Tom Compton in free agency, per 247Sports.com's Jamie Oakes.

If Gruden really believes that—and perhaps more importantly, he's convinced McCloughan—maybe Washington will be content to look past a few O-linemen in this draft.

Jason DeCrow/Associated Press

In the scenario previously mapped out, the greater value would then become selecting the inside linebacker. He'd offer more at a position lacking credible depth and with question marks concerning starter Perry Riley Jr.

That would be a good way to hit a need and still achieve value by taking a top player on your board.

The need vs. best player available debate will be a contentious one among Washington fans, especially to those who have already decided McCloughan is the franchise savior, even before he's made a pick.

But any fan who calls for the Redskins to use their fifth overall pick on a pass-rusher is endorsing drafting for need. Brian Orakpo's departure created an obvious hole, but the pass rush already needed help after totaling just 36 sacks last season.

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But what if McCloughan rates Iowa offensive tackle Brandon Scherff higher than any one of Vic Beasley, Dante Fowler Jr., Shane Ray or Randy Gregory? What if he rates Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota higher still?

"In Scot we trust" indeed.

The way to really establish and merit that trust is by walking the tightrope, pulling off the balancing act that says never reach for needs, but don't ignore them and load up on luxuries instead.

Let's revisit the pass-rusher debate. Most mocks have the Redskins taking a pressure specialist for the edge of their front seven.

A quartet of analysts for NFL.com have Washington selecting either Beasley or Gregory. That's hitting an obvious need.

But what if defensive tackle Leonard Williams is available? B/R draft pundit Matt Miller believes the USC star might be.

There would be little debate Williams would be the best player on the board. In a more indirect way than Gregory or Beasley, he would certainly boost Washington's ability to create pressure.

How could McCloughan resist even though he's already signed Paea, Francois and Terrance Knighton? Even though Hatcher and Chris Baker are already on the roster?

He couldn't. Snagging Williams would answer both the need and best player available philosophies.

David J. Phillip/Associated Press

Now translate that thinking to every round of this draft.

Too often need and best player available are terms rigidly set, philosophies made too distinct. But both should serve each other

McCloughan's board has to be comprised of the best available players who can answer the needs of this roster—not just the core issues, but the overall needs. 

The point here is that McCloughan and the Redskins can't tie themselves exclusively to one philosophy in this draft. Going best player available every round, regardless of needs or existing strengths, isn't going to help a roster that's won just seven games in two years.

McCloughan has to play a cagier game, one that answers team needs while still offering excellent value.