Yes, it’s early. Too early. The FNGs haven’t even been dragged through the week that is rookie camp yet. Furthermore, anyone who witnessed the last two Washington Redskins drafts knows it’s impossible to read the mind of Scot McCloughan. The first person who says they saw the Brandon Scherff pick last season or the Josh Doctson pick this season coming before it happened is the first liar. So, admittedly, this is spitting into the wind. Nevertheless, it’s the off-season and a) a Skins fan always needs something Skins to talk about, and b) trying to break in and get a feel for what draws interest during the season seems like a would-be exercise in futility. With that in mind …
Quarterbacks (3) – Kirk Cousins, Colt McCoy, Nate Sudfield.
Running Backs (4) – Matt Jones, Keith Marshall, Pierre Thomas, Rob Kelley.
Tight Ends (3) – Jordan Reed, Niles Paul, Vernon Davis.
Wide Receivers (6) – DeSean Jackson, Pierre Garcon, Jamison Crowder, Josh Doctson, Ryan Grant, Rashad Ross.
Tackles (3) – Trent Williams, Morgan Moses, Ty Nsekhe.
Guards (4) – Brandon Scherff, Spencer Long, Shawn Lauvao, Arie Kouandjio.
Centers (2) – Korey Lichtensteiger, Austin Reiter.
And the Defense …
Defensive Ends (4) – Chris Baker, Stephen Paea, Kendall Reyes, Ricky Jean-Francois.
Defensive Tackles (3) – Kedric Golston, Jerrell Powe, Matthew Ioannidis.
Inside Linebackers (5) – Will Compton, Perry Riley, Mason Foster, Steven Daniels, Martrell Spaight.
Outside Linebackers (4) – Ryan Kerrigan, Preston Smith, Junior Galette, Houston Bates.
Safeties (4) – Sua Cravens, Deangelo Hall, David Bruton, Duke Ihenacho.
Cornerbacks (5) – Josh Norman, Bashaud Breeland, Will Blackmon, Quinton Dunbar, Kendall Fuller.
Kicker (1) – Dustin Hopkins.
Punter (1) – Tress Way.
Long Snapper (1) – Nick Sundberg.
It’ll be interesting to see how the Skins settle on the final roster spots for the defense, as it was one of the league’s worst last season.
If I had to guess I would think Scot McCloughan and company are keeping a watchful eye on certain defensive players they suspect teams may release at some point. I don’t like to speculate as to who that might be since reading Scot McCloughan’s mind is akin to trying to understand what makes women tick. As John Candy once said, “We’d have better luck playing pickup sticks with our butt cheeks.” There are absolutely still holes which need to be filled. I’d go into that here in more depth but it would take away from a future blog. A very near future blog.
Michael… I think you’re forgetting Trent Murphy on D-line this year.
It’s just an early guess but all of the players named are established veterans who have proven they are capable of doing the job as defensive tackles or ends. Murphy has proven no such thing thus far and it seems a stretch he will be given a roster spot over a player who has performed well or one who was brought in by Scot McCloughan. It’s clear the team doesn’t want to give up on Murphy but he simply may not fit the scheme. He was a major reason the rushing defense was poor last season and placing him as an undersized defensive end isn’t going to change that. I’ll be impressed if he does enough to keep his roster spot.