Washington Redskins: Drafting in volume the right decision

By Andrew Long | May 6, 2015

The Washington Redskins hired Scot McCloughan as their general manager in early January with the hopes of him creating a playoff worthy roster. Having only been on the job for a few months, I’d say that things have been going very well. The savvy GM started things off by taking a cautious approach during the free agency period, as he signed a number of players to cap friendly deals.

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After his strong showing during the free agency period, McCloughan and company turned to the NFL draft to rebuild their depleted unit. And, in my opinion, McCloughan’s first draft as the Washington general manager went great. He added several promising prospects, while also adding a ton of depth to the team.

Days before the draft took place, the Redskins GM offered his thoughts on the state of the team, and what he hoped to accomplish during the event. A few days before the draft (via Rich Tandler of CSNWashington.com), McCloughan said, “We’d love to get more picks in this draft. We have our seven originals right now, I’d love to get 10-plus out of this thing.”

In a not-so-surprising move, McCloughan managed to hit his self imposed quota of 10 draft picks. In a move to secure more selections, Washington swapped their third round choice (69th overall) for Seattle’s third-, fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-round draft picks.

On paper, it looks like the Redskins won the trade by a landslide. But, if you utilize the Jimmy Johnson trade value chart (courtesy of Pro Football Reference), you’ll quickly realize that the trade was pretty fair. According to the trade chart, the 69th overall pick was worth 245 points, and the picks that Washington received in return were worth a total of 233.6 points.

Even though Washington ended up with 11.4 less points in the transaction, it was still a good move for the team because it allowed them to add an extra three players to their roster. By adding additional players to their roster via the draft, the Redskins have increased their chances of landing a starter or potential star.

This is why McCloughan, who is known to be a volume draft, prefers to take this route (see Russell Wilson, Frank Gore, and Richard Sherman for reference). On top of bettering their chances of landing a late round gem, Washington will also benefit by the increased amount of competition on their roster.

They selected offensive tackle Brandon Scherff in the first round, and Preston Smith in the second. Scherff will likely start from day one, while Smith figures to battle second year linebacker Trent Murphy for the starting gig across from Ryan Kerrigan. In the third round, with their pick acquired from the Seattle trade, Washington selected running back Matt Jones out of Florida; the move should help ease the loss of Roy Helu Jr. in the offseason.

A round later, the Redskins secured wideout Jamison Crowder and a second offensive lineman in Arie Kouandjio. Crowder should immediately bolster Washington’s special teams, while Kouandjio will provide depth and competition along the offensive line. The Redskins continued to collect picks and players into the later rounds of the draft.

Having two picks in the fifth round, Washington was in a position to add more selections, and that’s exactly what they did. After trading with Seattle in the third round, McCloughan and company opted to deal one of their fifth round picks to the New Orleans Saints. The Redskins acquired the Saints’ sixth round pick in 2015 and 2016 in exchange for the 167th selection.

After trading with the Saints and selecting linebacker Martrell Spaight out of Arkansas in round five, the Redskins were about to select three players in the sixth round. By selecting safety Kyshoen Jarrett, cornerback Tevin Mitchell, and wideout Evan Spencer, Washington shored up some of their more vulnerable positions.

The team ended the draft by selecting yet another lineman in the seventh round. While it’s not likely that all of the players will make the team, especially the later selections, I believe that McCloughan had an excellent first draft for the Washington Redskins.

The Redskins added depth across the board and drafted players at key positions of need; they did this while staying true to their board and the best player available approach. The 2015 draft class is just the beginning for Scot McCloughan, but I firmly believe that he has the team headed in the right direction.

Next: Redskins draft: Preston Smith breakdown

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