On the Clock: Washinton Redskins

For the next few weeks leading up to the draft, I am going to assume to roll of each NFL general manager and make draft picks based upon need, scheme, and in some cases wants.  I will not make any trades throughout this process but will chime in when I think one is needed.  Each day leading up to the draft I will make a pick and summarize my thought process of why certain teams will go a particular way.  So put this blog in your favorites section and check back daily to see who I will select for each team.  With the 10^th pick in the 2011 NFL Draft, the Washington Redskins select…

Julio Jones, WR, Alabama (6’3” 220 LBS)



"Gladiator"



We got a bunch of issues.  No real long term QB.  No real nose tackle for our 3-4 defense and inefficient players at almost every position.  The fact that we were 6-10 is a real shock.  I was hoping to have one of the top QBs fall a little bit further but unfortunately it didn’t happen.  Now the benefit of being such a bad team is that you have the ability to take any player on the board and allow it to fill a need. That need that I will address is at WR with Julio Jones.  I know we need a QB, RB and NT BUT Julio is the type of playmaker this offense can use.  He is a huge target over the middle and will be an asset blocking downfield, something that is hard to find. 

"Gladiator", the meaning of his real name which is Quintorris, blew us away at the combine and I have no doubt that it was no fluke.  He has always had the pedigree of a top flight player and this could be a pick that allows us to build around a player for the next couple of years.  I was considering Phil Taylor at this spot to plug the middle but Julio is too good of a player to pass on. Criticism would have run rampant in D.C. if he passed on this guy.

In the second round I am not going to get antsy and draft the best available QB.  The only QB I want is Christian Ponder.  He is athletic enough for this offense to move the sticks and develop of the course of the year. I think there might be a few team interested in him so what I might want to do is offer a third rounder along with my second rounder and move up to the end of the 1^st round to get a potential building block.

Houston is on the clock…