This year, Washington’s draft prospects looked much different. Because of the deal that eventually landed Griffin in burgundy and gold, the Redskins had no 1st round pick in 2013. And because they actually won 10 games in 2012, they didn’t pick until the bottom half of the 2nd round. When they actually got a chance to pick, the Skins did something pretty familiar: they selected David Amerson, a cornerback from NC State.
Amerson certainly seems to possess the tools and physical attributes to develop into a solid NFL cornerback, and upgrading the pass defense was a definite need this offseason, but it’s aggravating to think of how many draft resources Washington has used over the years to improve their defensive secondary. In fact between 1999 and 2007, the Redskins used a 1st or 2nd round pick on a DB an astounding 5 times. And it has to be factored in that Washington regularly gives away draft picks like free samples, so it’s not like they had a 1st and 2nd rounder many of those years.
You draft 1st rounders expecting them to be All-Pros. You draft 2nd rounders expecting them to be solid starters at the very least. You would think that with all those picks, the Redskins would have had a lockdown secondary for the past decade. However, whether it was because they were busts, just didn’t pan out until they left Washington, or some other cruel twist of fate, none of the previous 5 DB selections are still in Washington.
1999 – Champ Bailey – 1st round, picked 7th overall…After 5 very good seasons in Washington, Bailey was traded to Denver for running back Clinton Portis. Portis became the Skins’ workhorse back and basically carried Washington to 2 playoff appearances during his 1st 4 seasons there. But we all know the short shelf life of running backs, and Portis’ last carry was in 2010 after enduring 2 very banged-up seasons. Meanwhile, Bailey is still playing productively in Denver, and made it to his 12th Pro Bowl last season…tying the record for most Pro Bowls played in for any player.
2001 – Fred Smoot – 2nd round, 45th overall…Smoot actually had 2 separate stints in Washington. During his 1st go-round, he established himself as at least a decent cover corner in pairing with Bailey, but I will more remember him for his mouth, poor open field tackling, and lying on the ground injured far too often…oh, and that Love Boat thing during his time in Minnesota too.
Smoot doing what he did best.
2004 – Sean Taylor – 1st round, 5th overall…Upon being drafted, Taylor almost immediately became my favorite Redskin at the time. He was a safety, yet he seemed to tower over many linebackers and defensive ends. During his 3 and a half years there, he developed a propensity for delivering vicious hits and making game-changing plays. Although it was early in his career, he had the looks of a future Hall of Famer. But Taylor was tragically and fatally shot in his Miami home during the 2007 season. We will never know what could have been.
2005 – Carlos Rogers – 1st round, 9th overall…Every year, some announcer would inevitably make the comment during a game that Rogers would be a perennial All-Pro if he could just hold on to the f***ing ball…well, I editorialized part of that, but you get the point. His career seemed to be on the downslope when he signed a measly 1 year deal with San Francisco, where he immediately led the team with 6 picks and was named a Pro Bowl starter.
F***.
2007 – LaRon Landry – 1st round, 6th overall…The Redskins had dreams of Landry and Taylor forming the most devastating safety pairing in the league…but we already know how that turned out. While Landry had a bad habit of breaking off his coverage assignment, he was having a Defensive Player of the Year caliber year in 2010 before suffering from achilles problems that eventually landed him on injured reserve. Landry has bounced around to the Jets and now the Colts the past 2 seasons, where he’s tried to reestablish himself as a legit NFL safety.
2013 – David Amerson – 2nd round, 51st overall…Hey, he’s not DeAngelo Hall, right?
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