Vision Quest: Does Anyone Feel A Draft?

That was painful.

Normally I am the most optimistic Redskin fan I know. Hope springs eternal for Dustin, and the hope usually starts with Free agency and culminates with the NFL draft in April. It has been 13 long years since the Redskins won its last super bowl. In those 13 years the Redskins have only made the playoffs twice, in 1993 and 1999, and only a handful of even competitive seasons.

In the Snyder era we have seen the promise of free agent spending sprees fall and flounder. New coaches have been brought in with the promise of righting the ship, only to hit the same rocks we ran into the year before. Now we brought in God himself, the venerable Coach Gibbs and even though the team played better and more as a team then in previous years, we still finished 6-10 and out of the playoffs.

So spring has been sort of a right of passage for Redskin fans. We were done licking our wounds from the previous season and ready to find that one or two free agents and draft choices that will propel us into the playoffs. But not this year. There was no free agent spending spree as Gibbs and the front office wisely chose to weed out some bad players and replace them with moderate signings. So it was up to the draft to get us really pumped for next year.

For this Redskin fan my well of optimism dried up with pick #9.

I was on record that I felt our offense needed to be addressed in the draft. I had identified the following areas of Need for the Redskins in order of importance: TE, CB, WR, DE, O-Line (for Depth), and LB (for Depth). I even went so far as to say that QB, RB, and H-Back are the three positions we should not draft at all because we were stacked in all three.

So imagine my dismay when the draft was all said and done and we have picked 1 CB (the third best available), a QB, 2 Full Backs (Let alone the Gibbs offense does not use a full back, supposedly they will be converted to H-Back), a middle linebacker who will play mainly special teams and an outside line backer destined to be a role player. This would be bad if they also did not give up a chance at Mike Williams at #9 and Heath Miller at #25. In my opinion we did not help our offense much this year at all.

I am not knocking Carlos Rodgers. I think he will be starting come opening day and makes my worries about Walt Harris go away. However he was the third best CB in the draft and at #9 we could have done better. I was a big supporter of drafting Heath Miller at #25, but that was mainly because I thought Mike Williams was not going to be available. When Mike dropped we should of picked him up quicker then a crack whore reaching for here pipe. Then drafted a CB at #25, Marlin Jackson was still available. And if you just had to have Campbell at #25, stick with Harris, Wilds, & Springs.

Speaking of Campbell I am still scratching my head over this. I thought for SURE this was a smoke screen. I am not sure what I am mad more about, that Gibbs and company wasted a first round pick on a position where we already are set 1-3 or that by doing so it confirmed Lenny the Hut’s reporting from earlier in the week. I am really up in the air on the selection itself. On one hand it could be a shrewd move. Picking up a franchise QB because Ramsey will not resign after 2006-07 season. This way we have a rookie for two years to learn the system and the transition will be easier. Also Ramsey may falter or get injured and we have a savior waiting in the wings. On the other hand the Redskins are a few pieces away from winning now and this could have been a pick to help them.

In the end this pick may mean more to Mark Brunell and most certainly to Tim Hassleback then Patrick Ramsey. If I am Tim I am calling my wife and looking for quest spots on the view. It also means Brunell will most certainly be gone June 1, 2006. No way will we keep Ramsey, Brunell, and Campbell for two straight years. At some point you have to free up the bucks to get players for them to throw to.

One last thing on this pick. It showed just how bad the leak is in the Front Office. Whoever this person is they must be found and shown the door quickly. I know as fans we love inside information, however our draft plans were laid bare at the hands of the press. Sure we got the man we wanted all along but the damage could have been grievous. This mole has to be found out and has to be shown the door ASAP.

The two Full Backs, Manuel White and Jared Newberry, are equally puzzling. With Cooley and Mike Seller s already a lock at H-Back both can not be converted to that position. It is possible Newberry may not make the squad, 7th rounders are a risk. Manuel White could be converted to a big RB, but I am not sure about that. The two LBs could provide depth and it is needed there, however not a real impact this year.

After the draft I prepared to sit down on the first day and post some negative reaction, but I just could not do it. The same after the second day. So I decided that I needed some perspective and I would wait and write an article after a few days. I still have a negative look on the draft though. In my mind the draft has no real impact on this year’s team. The pick of Carlos Rogers the obvious exception. We have probably added depth and solidified our future, but there is no appreciable difference.

The silver lining in this draft, and especially the Campbell pick, is the clear signal that Gibbs is around for quite some time. By drafting a guy who will not be ready until at least 2007 he is showing he is ready and willing to serve out his contract and probably more. He wants to bring us to a super bowl and will not walk away until that happens.

So where does that leave us? Well as far as I can tell we are a moderately better team this year talent wise. We have more talent log jammed at QB which can only create a QB controversy sometime after Ramsey’s first interception. We have upgraded our offensive line and WR, but a key piece to that upgrade is sitting in Miami. Our defense is also marginally better and more importantly will have the same coordinator and defensive scheme as last year.

Is it possible to feel better about the long term future of the Franchise while only feeling moderately good about the upcoming season? The short answer is “yes, duh!” Perhaps this is what a real franchise off-season feels like. No big splurges, role players taken in the draft, & the team gradually getting better each year. There is no magic pill, there are no more quick fix free agents or sure fire draftees. Slowly Gibbs will re-build our franchise and we will get back to the Promised Land.

However I still would of drafted Heath Miller or Mike Williams.