NFL Draft: 2004 Re-Draft

5. Washington Redskins

Jul 26, 2013; Richmond, VA, USA; A Washington Redskins player

New Pick: Sean Taylor

2004 Pick: Sean Taylor

Separating those three QBs at the top of the draft was hard, but figuring out what to do with this pick was difficult for other reasons entirely. In the end, I think the best way to pay respect to Taylor is by re-visiting where he was in his career at the time of his tragic and untimely death, and imagining how the next six years would have played out from there.

In 2007, Taylor was coming off his first Pro Bowl and was recently named the hardest hitter in the NFL. He was primed to take over fellow Miami Hurricane Ed Reed as the best free safety in football. Through nine games in 2007, Taylor was in the midst of a career season. He had a career-high five picks and was rounding into a complete safety.

Although in today’s game, it’s believed that a shutdown corner is the most valuable player in the secondary, a dominant safety has been the key for some great defenses lately. On the Steelers Super Bowl teams, Troy Polamalu playing center field allowed for Dick LeBeau to take extra chances with the blitz. Even more recently, it’s been Earl Thomas, not Richard Sherman, who’s been the best player on Seattle’s D.

If still playing today, Taylor would no doubt be in that conversation as a perennial Pro Bowler and one of the most feared DBs in the game. That’s why the Redskins stick with their pick for this Re-Draft, because it was the right one.