Should Redskins Trade Big or Draft Big?
By Bradlinsky
The current hue-and-cry from Skin’s fans opposed to trading up in the draft to get RG3, is either, “We have too many holes to fill,” or, “We still need help at OL!” Now, while both concerns are arguably valid, the draft isn’t the only place for us to get new, good young talent. I believe that we can BOTH move up and draft RG3, AND pick up the other people we need through FA and late-round draft picks.
Oh yeah? Oh yeah! And here’s how that might look:
First, there are around 20 (count ’em) WRs available in FA. We could get either/or: Mario Manningham (4 yrs), Robert Meachem (5 yrs), Dwayne Bowe (5 yrs), Marques Colston (6 yrs), Vincent Jackson (7 yrs). AND, Hankerson is in his second year and we have some other viable receivers which we’ll be able to honestly evaluate with a top-notch QB under center. Wouldn’t it be nice to see Armstrong stretch the field and not outrun the throw?! RG3 can, in my opinion, throw the best deep ball out of all QBs in this year’s draft.
Second, there are several very solid lineman. The guy I have my eyes on is Mike Brisiel (4 yr) currently with the Texans, who run a very similar offense, so we know he’s a good zone blocker already. I also like Nate Livings (4 yrs) from the Bengals. There are some other pretty good tackles, but honestly, towards the end of last year we started to see some great progress with our current line. Since they were able to play together for a while, they built up some good consistency, which is paramount in the zone blocking scheme. If you need any more evidence, check out the stats for Helu and Royster.
There are some good secondary players available in FA that we can tap, but the draft is full of great young cornerbacks and safeties this year. Some say that defensive back is the strongest position in the draft for 2012. I will definitely be catching up with the Combine this evening to see if that is true!
So it seems to me, with 6 or so picks left after we trade, and a free agent group chock-a-block full of the positions we need (with young talent), we would in no way be ‘mortgaging the farm’ in order to move up and get our franchise quarterback. Just because Snyder and Cerrato made bonehead trade after bonehead signing for years, doesn’t mean we can never take risks again. The point is to take calculated risks, at the right time and for the right reasons.
Wait, this just in … I recall some people suggesting we should simply do what we’ve done the last few drafts and be ready to draft a franchise QB next year. Next year?? I doubt we’ll be anywhere near the 6th pick next year, folks. Respectfully, I would also caution that we won’t be seeing a QB of RG3’s caliber for many years to come, anyway. And any left-over holes won’t seem quite as deep with a playmaker on this team.
Our time is NOW!
Join me …
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