Redskins Either Like Phillip Merling or Want Other Teams to Think They Like Phillip Merling

With less than 48 hours to go before the NFL draft, you can drive yourself crazy trying to divine the thought processes of the 32 NFL teams. So take this with the usual grain of salt:

The entire Washington Redskins brain trust -- owner Dan Snyder, coach Jim Zorn, personnel man Vinny Ceratto -- traveled to the campus of Clemson today to watch the workout conducted by defensive end Phillip Merling. Why, you ask, is Merling doing a workout this close to the draft? Because he was injured and couldn't participate at the combine, and this is the first time he's been healthy enough to go through a full workout at full speed.

The Redskins were far from the only team present at the workout, but they were the only team that brought all of its high-level officials. That's a strong sign that they're very, very interested in drafting him in the first round on Saturday.

Or is it a strong sign that they want other teams to think they're targeting Merling because they're actually interested in someone else? Who knows? But my guess is that Merling will be the Redskins' pick.