Redskins Ignore Offensive Line in Draft

Who moved to the head of the NFL class during the draft? Find out with FanHouse's team-by-team 2009 Draft Grades.

When I anointed Brian Orakpo as the ideal pick for the Washington Redskins in the first round of the draft, I sort of assumed they'd do something about the offensive line later in the draft. You see, heading into the offseason, the Redskins really had one glaring issue: The sack ratio. They allowed 38 -- in a division full of pass-rushing fiends -- and only accrued 24 themselves. I'm aware that Greg Blache's defensive scheme doesn't chase the passer, but pressuring him with a front four means that's less time the coverage has to do their job. Orakpo helps take care of that with his outside push.

For me, the defense didn't need a ton of work after drafting Orakpo. I mean, they were the fourth-ranked defense in the NFL last season. You add Albert Haynesworth and what looks like a dynamic pass rusher -- what more do you need?

Apparently, they needed a corner and two outside linebackers before taking an offensive player. The two offensive players they selected weren't egregious -- a fullback who can be groomed to take over Mike Sellers' blocking back role and a receiver for depth -- but nary an offensive lineman was selected. This is a line who is aging. It's a line who gets beaten routinely in pass protection, and it's a line whose run blocking faltered down the stretch after paving the way for Clinton Portis to easily be the league's MVP of the first half of the season.

It's not that the line is horrible, as the Redskins did add some youthful backups in the past few seasons, but they definitely could have used an upgrade somewhere. Mike Williams and a handful of undrafted free agents doesn't really seem like the proper route.

The defense added was fine. Kevin Barnes gives them good speed on the outside and helps to replace the loss of depth due to Shawn Springs' departure. Adding one outside linebacker for depth was a good idea, but apparently the Redskins thought it was such an important need that they needed two picks to ensure one would stick.

Perhaps the biggest accidental shot in the arm was provided when the Redskins couldn't trade up to get Mark Sanchez. Vinny Cerrato (Dan Snyder's lackey) even admitted the Skins were after Sanchez. Such a move could have proved disastrous had Jason Campbell decided to pout like Jay Cutler did in Denver. Instead, it appears Campbell is ready to not only play for the Redskins, but to also prove himself worthy of being the long-term answer.

Draft Picks
1 (13) Orakpo, DE, Texas
3 (80) Barnes, CB, Maryland
5 (158) Cody Glenn, OLB, Nebraska
6 (186) Robert Henson, OLB, TCU
7 (221) Eddie Williams, FB, Idaho
7 (243) Marko Mitchell, WR, Nevada

Grade: C. It wasn't altogether awful, but they should have addressed the offensive line at least once. Too bad they traded their second-rounder for less than one season of Jason Taylor.

By the way, this definitely would have been an F had Campbell demanded a trade. Generally, when you publicize the fact that you wanted to trade up for a quarterback and failed to do so it becomes catastrophic for the franchise. The Redskins could have easily ended up with Colt Brennan or someone like Josh McCown under center this season. They are extremely lucky Campbell has taken this as motivation. We'll see if they recognize this fact after he has a big 2009 and heads to free agency.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

4-29-2009 @ 12:01PM

skins2win said...

The team addressed this issue by saying that bringing back Dockery,signing Williams and expecting Rinehart to make more of an impact this year would be an improvement over last year. Other than the Dockery move, i'm not sure i'm buying that upgrade. Only time will tell.

4-29-2009 @ 12:07PM

jeenyus1 said...

Problem is, after they picked Barnes another OT wasnt picked until late in the 4th or something. They felt it had been picked clean (as did apparently many other teams) by the time they got to pick again and a 5th/6th/7th rounder wouldnt really be any better than the backups they have. Keep in mind that the team is looking for a special teams replacement to Khary Campbell (which might explain the second LB). The last two appear to be plenty talented and worth a 7th round gamble. I think they lucked out with Orakpo and did the best with that they were given after that.

4-29-2009 @ 12:16PM

Matt Snyder said...

Yeah, it would have made more sense to grab a lineman in the 3rd and get a DB later. There were a few left. They must have really loved Barnes.

4-29-2009 @ 1:15PM

rdh214 said...

Didn't Mr. Cerrato say he felt that the offensive linemen left at that point didn't have the value of a third round selection, and that Barnes was the highest rated player remaining on there draft board...

I agree that there could have been some better options to select after Orakpo and Barnes.

HTTR

4-29-2009 @ 1:14PM

jeremiah said...

lol Colt Brennan under center is the best ideal for QB, he is way better then Josh McCowen. just bc Colt lost to Gorgia in the bowl game, everyone thinks he doesnt have what it takes to win. he lead hawaii to a perfect season and got them to a bowl game that they havent seen in forever! he played with a concusion and he shouldnt have even been cleared to play but it was his last season and last game. but he never quit or made an excuse and kept fighting and that is a class act. JC went to Auburn who is a power house team and he played like a star. but in three seasons we have not seen him play anywhere close to level he played in college. everyone talks trash about Colt saying he played againts back ups, but its the NFL where the best of the best play. so i dont uderstand why everyone is bad mouthing him. we see back ups all the time that step in and take over jobs. Chirs Horton is a perfect example. he was a late round pick also playing on the b and c team but played like a stand out like Brennan and he took over the starting job. why not give Colt a chance like Chris got.

4-29-2009 @ 2:11PM

Adam said...

I agree that o-line needs upgrades, but I also see the Redskins position. They have Rinehart, Devin Clark and Stephon Heyer, who they think will all be enough for the near future. Add in Dockery, and the only positions needed to be filled is someone to inherit Chris Samuels spot. Problem is, nobody knows how our younger guys will play, and if they don't pan our, we're screwed. I'd love to see the line be Heyer-Dockery-new guy-Rinehart-Clark in a couple years, but I'm not sure that'll happen. I doubt it'll ever happen. We need to use a draft on o-line.

And beyond that, Vinny Cerrato never picks o-line in the top rounds of the draft. He didn't do it in SF or here, thinking that starters can be found later on in the draft or as UDFA, which explains the couple of linemen we signed the other day. I don't think it's smart, but that's Cerrato for ya.

As for the LBs, we absolutely had a need at SSLB. Chris Wilson might play there, but for now, we have HB Blades who is a little small and his natural position is MLB. I don't mind the LB picks, I just wish we could get better ones. And I didn't like the FB pick. Sellers just went to the Pro Bowl, and still has enough years in front of him that we didn't need to use a pick on one.

4-29-2009 @ 2:15PM

A.J. said...

I think it was the lack of a 2nd-rounder that killed us in terms of getting another OL.

Also, we needed a high-grade DE after the Taylor cut. We tried to trade up for Orakpo because we had no idea he would fall into our laps like he did. Going up to get Smith or Monroe wouldn't have happened because of the asking prices, Andre Smith was too high-risk, we could have grabbed Oher, but Orakpo was actually the safer pick - and filled a need position at DE.

There were about 8 really good OT prospects in the draft, and all of them were gone by the time we got to the 3rd round.

To be completely honest, we filled our biggest need of getting younger at weak side guard with the signing of Derrick Dockery. Dockery played well for us, loves Washington, has played with all the guys on our current line before. Best of all, he's 28 and has almost never been hurt, so he could potentially have another good 5 years of football ahead of him. Heyer can take over Jansen's spot - actually, Heyer will have it, provided he can stay healthy. Heyer's strength is actually his pass blocking - when he had to step in for Samuels in his rookie season, he held his own against some of the better pass-rushing DEs in the game. And, for a UDFA, he's got a scary amount of upside.

And then we have Chad Rinehart, whom the coaches were raving about last year and could serve as a potential replacement for Randy Thomas.

Samuels is fine for 2-3 more years. Hell, he was hurt this year and still made the Pro Bowl. I wouldn't wait 3 years to grab another OT, though.

I think it would have been a good idea with our second-rounder to grab a center.

I also think that the Redskins would have traded down to try to get an OT and an extra pick in the second or early third if Orakpo hadn't fallen right into their laps. But seeing as he did, how can you justifiably pass that up? We need pass rush, and he was hands down by a long shot the best pass-rushing DE on the board.

This shows why we need to take care about trading away our picks. If worst comes to worst with Campbell, Bradford and McCoy could probably be there for us next year - the QB class next year will likely be much deeper.

...Or we could always give Colt Brennan a shot, as much as prototype-obsessed, BCS nut-huggers hate hearing that.

4-29-2009 @ 3:30PM

dxfwmad said...

Dockery is an upgrade over kendall, and mike williams is officially the biggest guy on the team at 410 lbs, hes working with strength an cond coaches for a month to shape up but how many 390 lb OT do you know? none! this guy could be the offensive equivalent of big al...

4-29-2009 @ 6:08PM

boellis2 said...

i agree that we should have gotten some help on the o line.colt brennan will get his chance just like jc did.i just want everybody to know that jc will lead a nfl team to the super bowl if not the redskins.i just don't like the under handed way the skins are handling jc.go redskins.

4-29-2009 @ 10:32PM

Phillip said...

They shouldn't draft an offensive lineman just for the sake of drafting an offensive lineman. If they weren't in love with a player where they were in the draft, they shouldn't select them. They do have Dockery and Rinehart joining the mix this season so that should help. A pass rushing DE was by far the biggest need on the team, so when Orakpo was on the board, it was an obvious selection, both to the fans and the team. Question Matt...why are you even assigning the Redskins a draft grade? Come back in 3 years and grade how they did...

4-30-2009 @ 6:28AM

Steve said...

Hi dxfwmad, i do agree that Dockery is a big plus because for me i thought it was a mistake to get rid of him in the first place,but lets not forget that kendall has done great for us also considering the shoes he had to replace i have great respct for him,If mike williams can slot in and do what i hope (steamroll people) im really looking forward to seeing this ( remember the fridge) how cool was that..Anyway dude regards to you and yours HAILSKINS ..Steve Dublin Ireland

4-30-2009 @ 9:31AM

jack said...

I'm very disappointed we didn't help on the offense-line. Campbell needs more time to make his reads. I'm very pleased we didn't take " Macho Harris" and the Eagles did. I would go after him every chance I have. I don't think he could cover me and I'm 56 and faster.

4-30-2009 @ 9:42PM

Paul said...

Going back to extremely lucky, I beg to differ. We're extremely unlucky JC did not go to another team. Until the naysayers understand that JC is at best a backup QB in the NFL, the Redskins will never advance. We need to open up the offense with Colt Brennan especially now that the defense is shaping up.