The last decade of drafts for the Washington Redskins has been a bit of a mixed bag. There were several years near the beginning of the decade where some blue-chip players were taken early on, starting their legendary careers in Washington — I’m talking Trent Williams and Ryan Kerrigan. However, in those same years, there wasn’t much depth beyond the top pick. In other years, there were few ground-breaking picks, but very few misses as well. Then of course, in a couple of years, one in particular, there were a number of misses that will haunt Washington fans for years. Take a wild guess which player headlined that draft class.
Ahead of the 2020 NFL Draft, an event that will kick off the new decade in a virtual, anything-but-normal Draft Day, we decided to rank the past 10 years of Redskins drafts and see what he can learn from it going forward. Enjoy.
No. 10 — 2016 Draft Class
Best Picks: Kendall Fuller (84), Matt Ioannidis (152)
Worst Picks: Josh Doctson (22), Su’a Cravens (53)
Analysis: Picking WR Josh Doctson in the first round is something that will haunt the Redskins for years to come. A reach at the time, Doctson was never able to even come close to reaching his potential in the NFL, and after a handful of disappointing seasons, he left Washington and is still struggling to find a role elsewhere in the league. Cravens, on the other hand, represents a lot of the drama that has followed the Redskins over the past few years. A surprise retirement announcement a week before the 2017 season began a contentious dance between both parties that eventually saw Cravens on a new team, trashing the Redskins ownership on Twitter.
Washington was able to find steals in both Fuller and Ioannidis, though Fuller was traded away after a couple of seasons. Ioannidis has been a strong part of the defensive line, and now, after Fuller returned in free agency, the remaining pieces of this draft class have a bright future in Washington.
No. 9 — 2013 Draft Class
Best Picks: Jordan Reed (85), Chris Thompson (154)
Worst Picks: David Amerson (51), Phillip Thomas (119), Brandon Jenkins (162)
Analysis: Both Jordan Reed and Chris Thompson are well-liked in Washington, but it’s safe to say that neither reached their full potential with the Redskins, mostly due to injuries over the years. Now, both are likely to leave in free agency, and Washington will move on from this draft class completely.
Amerson was a great player in Washington, and he had two interceptions, 10 passes defended and a touchdown in his rookie season with the Redskins. However, he was later released after some disciplinary issues mounted up, and he continued his career with the Oakland Raiders. Since leaving Washington, he has been a mid-level CB in the NFL.
No. 8 — 2018 Draft Class
Best Picks: Daron Payne (13), Derrius Guice (59), Shaun Dion Hamilton (197), Trey Quinn (256)
Worst Picks: Geron Christian (74), Greg Stroman (241)
Analysis: This draft class could end up looking a lot better a few years down the road, but as of now, we are left waiting on unrealized potential. Payne is a solid player upfront, but his build and skill-set give him a high ceiling that we are still waiting to see. Guice is dynamic when healthy, but he’s only played in a total of five games in his two-year career. SDH will see an increased role at LB this coming season, so we will finally get to see what he can really do when called upon, and Quinn will have yet another chance to crack into the receiving rotation, though he didn’t do much with that opportunity in 2019.
Christian was drafted to be a solid left tackle, but now that the Redskins really need him in the wake of the Trent Williams situation, he’s been unable to take the reigns. The same can be said for Stroman, who could have filled a hole left by Josh Norman in 2019, but he was unable to perform up to expectations.
No. 7 — 2010 Draft Class
Best Picks: Trent Williams (4), Perry Riley (103)
Worst Picks: Dennis Morris (174), Terrence Austin (219), Erik Cook (229)
Analysis: Regardless of what your current thoughts are about Trent Williams, there is no denying that he is one of the best singular draft picks that the Redskins have made in the past decade. He quickly became one of the best left tackles in the NFL, and he made it to seven Pro Bowls before the drama began. Then, of course, the drama began, and now he is left asking for a trade or release, and not quite getting what he wants. After selecting Williams in the first round, the Redskins were left without a pick until the fourth round, where they found some solid value in Riley, who played for six years in Washington, acting as a solid contributor in the middle of the defense.
Outside of those two players, though, the rest of the four players Washington drafted played a combined 27 games with the team.
No. 6 — 2011 Draft Class
Best Picks: Ryan Kerrigan (16), Jarvis Jenkins (41), Leonard Hankerson (79), Roy Helu (105)
Worst Picks: DeJon Gomes (146), Evan Royster (177), Brandyn Thompson (213)
Analysis: There’s a lot to like about this draft class, but there’s also a lot of mediocrity as well. In total, the Redskins had a total of 12 picks in this draft, but they only really hit on three or four of them; that’s why it ranks in the bottom five for me. Still, Kerrigan is one of the best picks Washington made during this decade, which boosts it up the ranks. Jenkins, Hankerson, and Helu were also solid contributors for several years.
Still, at the bottom, there’s not much to love. If you were to take away those top four picks, the final eight guys added to the roster in this draft played a total of 37 games in Washington. That’s not going to get the job done.
No. 5 — 2019 Draft Class
Best Picks: Terry McLaurin (76), Wes Martin (131), Cole Holcomb (173), Kelvin Harmon (206)
Worst Picks: Ross Pierschbacher (153), Jordan Brailford (253)
Still Waiting: Dwayne Haskins (15), Montez Sweat (26)
Analysis: When grading a draft that happened so recently, you have to take much of the analysis with a grain of salt, as we don’t have a great sample size for the players just yet. With that being said, I think this draft was very solid, and it has a chance to get much better as the years go on.
I left out both Dwayne Haskins and Montez Sweat from the Best/Worst picks because I want another year of production to see. I believe that Haskins will end up looking like a solid pick in the end, and Sweat can be a very solid player in the NFL, but giving up a future second-rounder for him was risky at the time, and it will force him to be that much better to make up for it. We already know what an absolute steal McLaurin was, and as for Martin, Holcomb, and Harmon, all three are players that are projected to have a significant role this coming season, and I think they’ll step up to the plate.
No. 4 — 2012 Draft Class
Best Picks: Robert Griffin III (2), Kirk Cousins (102), Alfred Morris (173)
Worst Picks: Josh LeRibeus (71), Adam Gettis (141)
Analysis: Ah, the RG3 draft — what a time that was. Robert Griffin III took the league absolutely by storm in 2012, and he was the savior of the franchise before his knee issues popped up. Still, drafting him was the right move for the Redskins in 2012, and you can’t convince me otherwise. Taking Cousins in the fourth round was also a great steal, assuring that they at least had a stable QB for the next several years. Alfred Morris was also a great contributor for Washington over the next several years, where he had over 4,000 yards rushing and 29 touchdowns in four seasons.
No. 3 — 2014 Draft Class
Best Picks: Morgan Moses (66), Spencer Long (78), Bashaud Breeland (102), Ryan Grant (142)
Worst Picks: Trent Murphy (47), Lache Seastrunk (186)
Analysis: The Redskins got a solid multi-year starter in Morgan Moses, who is still a mainstay on the O-line to this day, and the rest of the talent they drafted was impressive as well. The only problem is that none of the players stuck around for long. Long was a solid player for four years before going to the New York Jets; Breeland was great before leaving in free agency; and Grant was a decent receiver for a few years, though not someone you’d pay a big contract to.
While they didn’t have a first-round pick, selecting Trent Murphy in the second round was a bit hard to swallow. That’s not to say that Murphy was a bad player at all — he played in all but one game during his three years in Washington, racking up 15 sacks in that time — but when you look at some of the players drafted behind him (Davante Adams, Jarvis Landry) you realize the Redskins could have gotten more. Oh well, hindsight is 20-20.
No. 2 — 2015 Draft Class
Best Picks: Brandon Scherff (5), Preston Smith (38), Jamison Crowder (105), Austin Reiter (222)
Worst Picks: Matt Jones (95), Martrell Spaight (141)
Analysis: The top picks in this draft for Washington were among the best that they’ve made in the past decade, but just like in 2014, it would look a lot better had the players stuck around. Scherff is the only player still standing in Washington from this draft class, and he just signed a franchise tag with the Redskins that has him as one of the top paid right guards in the NFL. Preston Smith became a great talent, but he left for greener pastures in Green Bay, as did Jamison Crowder, who followed the money to the New York Jets.
Had Washington found a way to keep all of them around, they would be in a better position to win now, but that’s not how the NFL always goes. Still, this year proved that the Redskins had a solid eye for talent in the draft, they just needed to do a better job at keeping players happy and willing to play there for the distant future.
No. 1 — 2017 Draft Class
Best Picks: Jonathan Allen (17), Ryan Anderson (49), Fabian Moreau (81), Chase Roullier (199), Montae Nicholson (123)
Worst Picks: Samaje Perine (114), Jeremy Sprinkle (154)
Analysis: When you look at the talent that the Redskins picked up in this draft, it’s pretty hard not to rank it as the best of the decade. At the top, three projected starters in 2020 were selected in this draft, with Allen becoming one of the dominant forces on the defensive line. Anderson and Moreau started to show what they could really do in 2019, and both are poised for a much larger role going forward.
At the other end of the spectrum, Perine was cut ahead of the 2019 season, Nicholson was cut earlier this offseason despite having some solid years early on, and Sprinkle is in danger of seeing the chopping block ahead of the 2020 season as well, with so many names competing for the TE spot. Still, with any draft, you’re going to see a lot of turnover, but the fact that the Redskins have been able to hold onto so many solid pieces from this class makes it a clear No. 1 in my books.
