Skins' Sanchez Interest a Smokescreen?

Late last week, some reports were surfacing that the nothing-if-not-fickle Dan Snyder (no relation) was cherishing the thought of Mark Sanchez in Washington. Now, in a shocking development, it appears many around the league don't believe this man-crush is real. Put succinctly, league "insiders" think Snyder is bluffing.

It's possible the Redskins are either: simply trying to motivate Jason Campbell, trying to spark some sort of trade involving the pick and/or Sanchez, or simply just playing mind-games with the rest of the league. I mean, seriously, are we to believe that Snyder would be anything other than totally honest and up-front about it with the public? C'mon!

I think most of us could agree that the drafting of Sanchez would make little sense for the Redskins as currently constructed. Campbell is still longing for consecutive seasons in the same offensive system, and he's shown flashes of what can be a very productive NFL quarterback. There's no reason to either start over or irk him by drafting Sanchez. You shouldn't need to "motivate" a guy by threatening to spend a first-round pick on a passer, either.

We'll see how things unfold Saturday, but the smart money is on the Redskins looking for offensive tackle depth, an outside pass rusher, or trading the pick.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

4-20-2009 @ 3:15PM

Adam said...

I've been saying this since the Sanchez rumors started. The Skins want to bail on the 13th pick since most of they guys they actually want will probably be gone, and they want more than 5 picks.

Everyone rags on the Skins for tossing their draft picks out, but we fans get more annoyed by it because when the Skins do draft guys, they're usually pretty good at it. We'd have a great, well-rounded team if we relied more on the draft than FA and trades.

4-20-2009 @ 3:26PM

Matt Snyder said...

You mean the Jason Taylor trade wasn't totally worth it?

4-20-2009 @ 7:51PM

Hah. JT was a bad idea in retrospect, but I think it was one of the more understandable bad decisions. We lost our starter and one or two other LDEs before the season even started. Sure, it would have made more sense to find someone else or stick with the guys we already had, but passing on JT when we needed someone in his position is too much to ask of Snyderrato.

But the Skins aren't like the Lions or other poor drafting teams, in that we actually have quality draftees every year. If we spent a 3-4 year span on focusing on the draft, not going nuts in FA, and acquiring picks instead of sending them out, the Redskins could be championship caliber. It would actually be easier to accept if we regularly failed in drafting guys, but the failure usually comes with FA and trades.

4-20-2009 @ 5:32PM

checka624 said...

Matt, heII noooo that was a horrible trade. that took me back to the late 90s of this team again.For the record, I never wanted JT here for only 1-2 years. a 2nd rounder and a 6th coulda been great players, we got horton in the 7th with a comp pick. This is what the redskins do during the draft.. If Orakpo,all the top OTs,raji,etc are all gone by the time we pick at 13, then that means sanchez will be there at our pick most likely and we would trade out. f theres a run on WR's,and QB's early, Orakpo, or one of those top players are sure to fall to us and we will just draft. You can bet the ranch that is Orakpo,monroe,smith,raji,etc are there at number 13, we will be picking them up for sure. thats just my opinion though.

4-20-2009 @ 7:03PM

Phillip said...

The only way the Skins get Sanchez is by trading up. He won't be there at #13. Assuming that they stay at #13, they should look at OT, DE, and possibly LB. For OT, J. Smith, E. Monroe, and A. Smith will probably be gone, so Michael Oher is an option. For DE, B. Orakpo and A. Maybin could be gone, but there's also Robert Ayers. For LB, word is they really like Brian Cushing and Rey Maualuga from USC. Because they are at #13, they are in a good position to do several things, including trading down. I wouldn't trade down just to trade down.