REDSKINS 101

Unlike a lot of people out there in cyber-space I don't pretend be a draft expert, this is mostly due to the fact I like to spend my Saturdays teaching my son to play football and just relaxing with my wife. And as far as Mock Drafts go on this site I will gladly leave that up to my man KC since he puts in the time on Saturdays watching college football and is far more knowledgeable about the players then I am.

However, what I do do around this time of year is look at the needs of the Washington Redskins, where they sit in the draft, and what players in the draft who could satisfy those needs. Once I've gathered all of that information (plus taking a peek at that year's free agent pool) I begin to make educated guesses as to what our favorite football team will do in the first round (author's note, I don't project past the first round because I haven't a clue what the majority of the 31 other teams are going to do).

This off-season what has been projected for the Redskins have been all over the place. Some mock drafts have them taking a cornerback, others have them drafting offensive linemen (both holes in this team mind you), but the majority of the mock drafts have the Redskins taking a quarterback.

Drafting a quarterback is always tricky. Even "sure things" like Andrew Luck have the potential to turn into the next Ryan Leaf or Tim Couch. And drafting a running quarterback like Robert Griffin III is even more risky because of his size and ability to run means he's one good hit from becoming sidelined.

With that said and the fact that Peyton Manning probably won't be a 100% by opening day (whether he's a Redskin or not) I believe the Redskins will draft a quarterback in the first round.

I know that proclamation doesn't surprise most of you but what might is the fact that I don't think the Redskins will trade up to get RG3. I think the asking price will be too high for a quarterback with a lot of questions. The questions aren't about Griffin's arm strength or athletic ability, it's the same question that plagues all spread passing quarterbacks coming out of college. "How will he fare under center and how will he make adjustments at the line?"

I know a lot of people at this point will make Cam Newton comparisons considering many people had these same questions (I'm included in there as well) about Cam. However, the biggest difference between Cam and Griffin is size. Cam is 6'5 where RG3 is only 6'2 (which is small for a quarterback) and those three inches make a lot of difference when taking snaps under center.

If the Redskins could draft Griffin without trading up I'd be all for it. In spite of the questions any team in need of a quarterback and RG3 fell to them would more than likely draft him and take the risk. 

What I don't want the Redskins to do is mortgage the future on Griffin by giving up as many as two first round picks and possibly two second round picks. Those are valuable picks that can really help a rebuilding team more than a quarterback. Because of the price I don't think general manager Bruce Allen and head coach Mike Shanahan will move up the needed spots to grab Griffin.

So that begs the question, what will the Redskins do with their first pick? I think they'll draft Texas A&M quarterback Ryan Tannehill. I've been leaning in this direction all along but after reading this wonderful article by local blogger Homer McFanboy I became convinced that Tannehill would be the choice of the Washington Redskins.

As pointed out in the article Tannehill has been playing in a pro-style offense under former Green Bay Packers' head coach Mike Sherman and he's got the arm strength and can make adjustments at the line of scrimmage. I think Tannehill would actually pick up Shanahan's offense quicker than Griffin and where he doesn't have RG3's breakaway speed Tannehill was a converted wide receiver who does have speed to make plays with his feet and has the size (6'4 222 lbs) to take a few hits.

The only knock against Tannehill for me is that he's a one year starter. When putting all my chips in on a guy I'd like a bigger sampling then one season but his one season was a great one.

So now that I think I've located the guy the Redskins want to draft the only question is where do I think they'll draft him?

What I think will happen here is if the Redskins know (not think) how far they can trade back and still get him I think they'll do what they did last year and trade back to acquire more picks. In this case they may only be able to drop back to the 8th spot (if Carolina wins the coin flip against Miami) since Miami at (possibly) 9 and both Kansas City and Seattle at 11 and 12 (again order chosen by a coin flip) could all be potentially drafting quarterbacks.

Falling back two spots might not net the Redskins much in extra picks (probably a 4th at best) but it still gets them an extra pick and their quarterback.

As I pointed out above another reason to go Tannehill over RG3 is it won't cost you any of your other picks and will allow you to fill more holes. The more holes the Redskins can fill in the draft while still getting their franchise quarterback gets them one step closer to the post season. After all the Giants only won the division with a 9-7 record.

Regardless of who the Redskins take in the first round I think we'll see once the season the starts that the difference in talent between Tannehill and RG3 isn't as great as many so-called experts think.

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