Redskins Drafts Run the Gamet from Good, to Bad, to Wildly Ugly

From Failure to Excellence, A Review of the 2012 and 2017 Redskins NFL Drafts.

Looking back at two of the most influential drafts in Redskins history demonstrates the consequences of swinging and missing versus knocking it out of the park.

The NFL draft is every team’s annual attempt to upgrade their rosters. Football fans devour this event and the several months leading up to it. The draft allows many seasoned Monday morning quarterbacks the opportunity to briefly play GM, coach, owner, and scout. As day one of the draft nears fans work themselves into a frenzy anticipating the genius that will be on full display as our favorite teams front offices make picks that will change the fortunes of their favorite franchises.

Fans cheer choices they are certain to have them Super Bowl bound and deride picks they believe will not improve their teams one little bit. And, of course, beloved NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, gets booed throughout the entire process making the whole thing that much sweeter.

Some drafts are important because they add a few players that make teams better. Just as likely, when fans look back a couple of years later, the same draft could have made little or no difference at all in their team’s quest for the playoffs.

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I chose to examine the Washington Redskins 2012 and 2017 drafts because few drafts so plainly demonstrate how bad things can go, as they did in 2012, contrasted by the brilliance of the 2017 draft, where everything the war room touched turned to gold.

We begin our stroll down memory lane in 2012. The Redskins went into the draft having traded away their life savings, their first and last born children, and sold their souls to the devil to move up in the draft to make the second pick. It was well worth the price however because Washington was certain to get either Andrew Luck or, more likely, Heisman Trophy winner Robert Griffin the Third.

Either way, the Redskins years of revolving quarterbacks, 12 different starters in 10 years, was coming to a merciful end. The team was almost assuredly heading back to the playoffs, and probably the Super Bowl!

ATLANTA, GA – OCTOBER 11: Robert Griffin III /

I can only imagine what Dan Snyder and Bruce Allen would have paid for just the briefest glimpse into a crystal ball to see the catastrophe that would be the 2012 draft. We all know at this point that the RG3 thing didn’t work out. Robert recently signed with the Ravens, and I’d be surprised if most football fans weren’t wishing him well.

RG3 was not the worst thing that happened to the Redskins during the 2012 draft. No, sadly the damage had just begun. To add insult to injury, one of the most detrimental drafts in Redskin history began with a gigantic tease from the football gods. The Redskins marched into the playoffs right out of the gate. While it did require an almost inconceivable finish to the regular season, the Skins made the playoffs and were primed to advance against a very good Seattle team.

Unfortunately, Seattle was the better team that day. In the process of knocking Washington out of the playoffs, they also injured RG3 and set in motion a painful series of events that at one point had Griffin playing Safety for the Practice Squad!

The 2012 season began in grotesquely unspectacular fashion. The 3-6 start had fans focused almost exclusively on the fact that the team would not have a first-round pick in the 2013 NFL Draft and would also forego its first pick the following year. But then Washington caught lightening in a bottle. They ran off seven consecutive wins to end the season. The amazing run commenced with back to back wins against hated division rivals Philadelphia and Dallas.

RG3threwfour touchdown passes in each of those games making him the first and only rookie QB in NFL history to accomplish such a feat. The Redskins then beat their other division rival, the NY Giants to bring their record to 6-6 and breathe life back into the team’s playoff hopes. It was still a long shot but having just beat the Eagles, the Cowboys, and the Giants, back to back to back, the feeling around Washington was that anything was possible.

The Redskins then promptly dispatched the Ravens and the Browns before beating both the Eagles and the Cowboys again to finish the regular season at 10-6 and clinch a most unlikely playoff birth. Redskins fans were ecstatic. Of course, they had no way of knowing that there would be little to cheer about for quite some time to come.

FOXBORO, MA – NOVEMBER 08: Kirk Cousins /

The true bright spot of this draft ended up being sixth-round pick Alfred Morris. Alfred moved on to play for Dallas a few years later. And, when Kirk Cousins was finally shown the door after holding the team hostage for two years worth of franchise tags totaling $44,000,000 not a single player remaining from the cursed 2012 draft.

Other than the quarterbacks, Alfred Morris and Keenan Robinson showed promise, but Robinson couldn’t stay healthy, and Morris was released because, well, frankly we may never know. Josh LeRibeus, Adam Gettis, Tom Compton, Richard Crawford all joined their fellow draftees as the names above the lockers continued to change at a frenetic pace.

I point to this draft as one of the worst in Redskin history not necessarily because of the players picked, there were certainly some talented players selected. Although, the Redskin scouting department can not be held harmless in this fiasco, nor can the position coaches who failed to unlock the potential in most of the eight draft picks. /

No, the damage incurred by the 2012 draft started with the king’s ransom the team paid for Griffin. However, a sympathetic fan base could almost understand that were it not for Griffin’s unfortunate injury, giving away all those draft picks could have turned out quite a bit differently. But, Griffin did get hurt. Initially, it was Baltimore that beat him into the ground before Seattle finished him off a month later. Griffin has yet to regain his pre-injury form.

Enter Kirk Cousins and the real reason the 2012 draft hurt the team more than any other single draft in the past 60 years. Kirk Cousins guided this team into waters so murky that some believed the Redskins might never recover. But, Kirk did not drive the team off the cliff by himself. He had quite a bit of help. He couldn’t have signed those ridiculous franchise tags if they were not laid out in front of him. Allowing this 4th round pick who never wanted to be a part of the team in the first place to sign those contracts was a mistake made by the Redskin front office.

So, it’s a new year, and the Redskins have a new quarterback. Their new quarterback was the highest rated QB in the NFL last year. Gone is the quarterback that fumbled more times over the course of the last two years than any other player in the league. Gone is the quarterback that turned taking game-ending sacks into an art form. Gone is this mediocre quarterback that cements the 2012 draft as the most damaging in Redskin history.

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Admittedly, I am far too hard on Kirk. Everyone of us would have signed those franchise tenders as quickly as Kirk did. And, obviously, some of the mistakes may not have been his fault at all. Did Ryan Grant run the wrong route on that dreadful pick-six against the Cowboys? Maybe.

He certainly slipped and that had to have made the interception by the defensive back a much easier proposition. And what about all those fumbles? Some were definitely his fault, others, not so much. It’s hard to hold on to a football when getting blindsided by a 310-pound defensive tackle. Although, it is part of his job description.

Still, there is no denying that Kirk never seemed overly comfortable during crunch time. The fans could sense it from the stands. It must have been even more blatantly obvious to the players in the huddle. They were not looking at the calm, cool demeanor of a Brady or a Brees. They saw the face of a quarterback that appeared to have entirely too much pressure on him.

Pressure piled high by a series of one-year franchise tags that must have made him feel as though he were being graded on every single move he made. Very difficult circumstances under which to operate indeed. So, again, not everything was Cousins’ fault. But, Redskin fans have to blame someone. /

Blaming Dan Snyder doesn’t work, and there doesn’t seem to be any convincing evidence that criticism directed toward Bruce Allen does much good either. Ultimately, Kirk Cousins makes it incredibly easy to lay the blame at his feet. In the end, he came across looking like a money-obsessed prima-donna who cared little about his teammates and even less about his fans.

Again, possibly an unfair assessment but appearances often belie the reality of the situation. One thing is indisputable, he did not win. And his was the face of the three ring circus that played out in Washington over the past several years.

Amazingly, after betting on himself, and losing, the Vikings guaranteed this, by most meaningful measurements, average quarterback $84,000,000. Cousins will now take his place under center for one of the most talented teams in the NFL. A team that with Case Keenum as quarterback would have been the favorite to win Super Bowl 53.

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With Kirk Cousins at the helm, the odds of that happening have been significantly reduced. Unfortunately, for Vikings fans, $28,000,000 a year will do nothing to eliminate the untimely interceptions, the excessive fumbles, or the maddening game-deciding sacks. But, Kirk is now Minnesota’s problem. Which brings us to the 2017 NFL Draft.

The 2017 NFL Draft is not only the best draft in Redskin franchise history but could well rank as one of the top five NFL drafts of all time.

Last year the Redskins had ten draft picks. All ten of their picks made the team. Additionally, four UDFAs made the practice squad. Two of whom, in addition to all ten of last year’s draft picks, will likely make the final 53 man roster this year. Additionally, and almost unbelievably, five or six of the 2017 draft class members will most likely find themselves starting for the Redskins this year, not by default, but because they are extremely talented professional football players.

The players that don’t start will all see considerable playing time. This draft class, which may or may not have been selected using a draft board constructed by Scot McCloughan ranks among the elite draft classes ever. /

It’s important to remember that the Redskins saw all of their ten draft picks make the team not because they simply had so many holes to fill. To the contrary, Washington released some players that ended up starting for other teams. The 2017 draft class is strong from top to bottom. There were no bad picks made. There were not even any questionable selections. It seemed that every time the Redskins made a pick, it was followed by Mike Mayock, Mel Kiper, or some other professional scout or draft
expert explaining that he had that player being selected a round or two, or three in some cases, earlier on his big board.

The five or six starters taken in the 2017 draft coupled with the six or seven quality back ups when you include the players the Redskins picked up as undrafted college free agents, form a foundation on which this team will thrive as it powers its way toward the 2018 playoffs. /

As the upcoming NFL Draft approaches Redskins fans can breathe a sigh of relief that the last remaining remnant of the woefully destructive 2012 draft has left the building. The 2018 Washington Redskins are flush with returning veterans who will take the field this year alongside reinforcements provided by a dozen or so hugely impressive second-year players that represent one of the most remarkable draft classes in recent memory.

If the Skins manage to come away from the 2018 draft with but a couple of high-quality rookies the team may have finally found their way back from the dark, murky days of doom and gloom precipitated by the greatest example on record of what can happen to a team when they experience a bitterly horrific draft.

Next: 2018 NFL Mock Draft

Alas, better days lie ahead, and it starts on April 26th when the Washington Redskins draft their newest superstar with lucky pick number 13.

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