16. RLB Ryan Kerrigan A-
I had Blaine Gabbert 10th to Washington and Ryan Kerrigan 16th to Jacksonville. I got the right players, but not the right teams. I’ll still count that as a win. I had a high grade on Kerrigan and he’s going to work his ass off both on and off the field and I really doubt he busts, but I’m not totally comfortable with him in a 3-4. It’s not as if he didn’t fill a major need, however. Other than Brian Orakpo, no one had more than 2.5 sacks for them last year. That’s pretty bad.
41. NT Jarvis Jenkins C
Jarvis Jenkins fills a need, but it would be very hard for them not to fill a need with this position. They needed almost everything coming into this draft. I think Jenkins was a reach at this point.
79. WR Leonard Hankerson A
Excellent pick. Hankerson fills a major need for them, even compared to their other needs and I think he was a steal by at least a round. I had a borderline first round grade on him. This kid is going to be great and an impact player from the get go.
105. RB Roy Helu C-
Of all their needs, I don’t think running back was a major one. Ryan Torain and Keiland Williams are decent players and it’s not like the running back position is an extremely important position anymore. Helu was also a reach at this point.
146. CB Dejon Homes D
Of all their needs, cornerback was a pretty minor one and I didn’t have Homes in my top 300 so this is a pretty big reach by my book.
155. WR Niles Paul B
Another wide receiver? Well they do need some more depth at the position and with all of their trade downs they had the necessary picks to make a pick like this and Paul fit the range, but they could have done better things with this pick. They needed another defensive lineman, a quarterback, and some offensive line help before they needed a 2nd wide receiver.
177. RB Evan Royster F
Another running back? I wasn’t thrilled with them taking one the first time and I don’t like this decision either. Royster is an even bigger reach than Helu was at 105.
178. WR Aldrick Robinson C-
A third receiver? What? At least Robinson fits the range somewhat and they did need some depth, but I’m not really a fan of this decision.
213. CB Brandyn Thompson C-
Another cornerback wasn’t really needed and Thompson was a reach at this point as I had him outside my top 300.
217. G Maurice Hurt A-
Finally some offensive line help. Hurt is a minor reach, but they really needed the depth and this is the late rounds.
224. RLB Markus White C
Another rush linebacker? I guess you can never have enough pass rushers, but they did have other needs and White was a bit of a reach at this point.
253. NT Chris Neild A
Neild filled a major need of theirs on the defensive line. Jenkins could play nose tackle as their 2nd round pick, but he could also move to end if need be, another need of theirs.
Overall:
I like how they were able to trade down so many times and end up with 12 picks, especially trading down in the first round when they weren’t sold on Blaine Gabbert (I don’t blame them). However, how do you have 12 picks and not address the quarterback position at all. Quarterback was their biggest need heading in. I know this was a weak quarterback class, but they didn’t even bring in a developmental quarterback. Rex Grossman is not the long term solution and there’s no guarantee they can get an elite quarterback next year. The Redskins plan on using John Beck as their starter next year…so actually they might be guaranteed to can get an elite quarterback next year. They also had a good amount of picks that were either reaches and/or didn’t fill major needs.
Grade: C-
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