Washington Redskins: A.J. McCarron increases trade-down possibility
By Ian Cummings
The Washington Redskins are in a bad spot at No. 13.
Their draft slot is just a little too late for them to be in contention for immediate game-changers like Roquan Smith and Quenton Nelson, but it might too early for them to reach for a fringe first-round player, like Ronald Jones II or Da’Ron Payne.
The Redskins could certainly reach. Teams have done it before. And they could find themselves lucky and nab a Top 5 player with the No. 13 pick. It happened to them last year when Jonathan Allen fell to No. 17 in the wake of irrational concerns surrounding his shoulder injury.
In the NFL Draft, anything is possible. But banking on possibility over probability is a dangerous game to play. And the possibilities don’t change the fact that, at No. 13, the Washington Redskins’ options are somewhat limited.
Trading down with a quarterback-needy team, such as the Buffalo Bills, is a popular theory. But even this is unlikely, for several reasons. Or at least it was unlikely.
There’s no guarantee that the high-profile quarterbacks in this draft class aren’t picked clean before the Redskins pick. In the picks before Washington, as many as five teams could pick a quarterback (Cleveland Browns, New York Giants, Denver Broncos, New York Jets, Miami Dolphins), and picks No. 2 and No. 3 are likely to have plenty of trade suitors.
The reason for this high demand is clear. This NFL Draft is packed full of passers with potential.
Josh Rosen is a day one starter. Baker Mayfield is a proven winner, and although he has questions surrounding him, at least one team is bound to give him an astronomical grade. Josh Allen has No. 1 potential and arm talent, which will be valued highly. Sam Darnold is almost guaranteed to go in the top five for the same reason (although if you ask me, Darnold is egregiously overrated). On the flip side, Lamar Jackson is far too underrated, for the talent he possesses. By draft day, at least one needy team should come to their senses, and realize that Jackson is just as good a prospect as the names mentioned above.
Five quarterbacks could go in the top ten. That is certain. But what of free agency? What of trades to occur in the weeks leading up to the draft? Players like Kirk Cousins, Case Keenum, and possibly Nick Foles will all have teams calling for their services, while less secure options like Sam Bradford and Teddy Bridgewater will likely find themselves receiving a second chance.
Combine the free agent quarterbacks with the starting-quality quarterbacks in the NFL Draft, and you have ten options for teams to choose from. Teams that need a quarterback include Cleveland, the Jets and possibly the Giants, the Broncos, the Dolphins, the Cardinals, the Vikings, and the Bills.
Ten quarterbacks. Eight teams. No one wants to be stuck with the least valuable quarterback on the list, and so the likely result is an all-out battle on draft day to acquire young quarterbacks with upside. In the aftermath of this battle, there won’t be any quarterbacks worth trading down for by the Redskins’ pick.
But the sudden availability of A.J. McCarron could change things.