The Redskins have a lot of needs, and not a lot of picks.
Nine draft selections might seem like a sizable haul, and most teams would consider themselves lucky to have four top 100 picks. But the Washington Redskins can’t act as if they’re safe by quantity alone. With lots of needs and little time to waste, the Redskins need to hit on their early picks, and they need to plan accordingly, if they have any late-round targets who they view as potential gems.
One position where the Redskins could have some flexibility is edge rusher. There are arguably five edge rushers in the top twenty of this year’s draft class, but also many in the later rounds who have the traits to succeed, if they enter the right situation.
For the Redskins, who have Ryan Kerrigan, three very good interior linemen, and one recently re-signed in Matt Ioannidis, situational flexibility is an asset. They could settle at edge rusher, and rely on the rest of the defensive line to produce. Or they could use an early pick, and put their front seven over the top as one of the league’s best. What should the Redskins do? To answer that, let’s take a look at the top twenty edge rushers in the 2019 NFL Draft.
A quick note: Players who translated better to the NFL as interior linemen, such as Rashan Gary, Charles Omenihu, Zach Allen, John Cominsky, and L.J. Collier, were left out of these rankings.
Missed the Cut
25. Miami EDGE Joe Jackson
24. Sam Houston State EDGE Derick Roberson
23. Clemson EDGE Austin Bryant
22. Oregon EDGE Jalen Jelks
21. Arkansas State EDGE Ronheen Bingham
No. 20-16
20. Louisiana Tech EDGE Jaylon Ferguson
Louisiana Tech’s Jaylon Ferguson has the all-time collegiate sack record to his name, but aside from production, his translatable traits to the NFL are lacking. Ferguson’s burst is almost non-existent, and he can’t turn the corner or shrink his surface area; despite his numbers, he was often exposed as a slow, stiff athlete on tape. The production itself is notable in a vacuum, but Ferguson doesn’t have the requisite athletic profile or consistency with said traits to make an impact at the next level. He has size, but that will only get him so far. The second-round talk is far too rich.
19. Oklahoma State EDGE Jordan Brailford
Jordan Brailford tested well athletically at the NFL Combine, but that athleticism doesn’t show up as consistently on tape. Brailford, at 6-foot-3, 250, has good burst off the line, and can generate momentum quickly, but he doesn’t have the torso flexibility to bend past the edge, and he’s not nearly advanced enough with his adequate length to cultivate leverage for himself. Brailford has some traits, and he could be moved to inside linebacker in a 3-4 scheme, to better utilize his best traits in a rotational role. But as it stands, he has lots of room to grow as an edge rusher, which makes for both an exciting and frightening proposition.
18. North Carolina EDGE Malik Carney
Malik Carney never quite emerged at the college level, but he is, in a sense, overlooked as a prospect. He’s not the largest edge rusher, standing at around 6-foot-3, 235, and for his size, his burst and speed are only average to above-average. That said, Carney has impressive bend and a solid motor, and he has some modest refinement to his game as well. After logging five forced fumbles in 2018, Carney showed he can make a difference as a defender. Now, the only question is whether his blend of traits is translatable to the next level.
17. Penn State EDGE Shareef Miller
At 6-foot-5, 255, Penn State’s Shareef Miller ran a 2.73 20-yard split at the NFL Combine, showcasing fairly good burst for his size. This burst shows up on tape in spurts, and while he doesn’t have a great first step, he has good acceleration out of his stance, and he flashes bend and balance around the edge. Miller, with his size, length and occasional bend, has the traits worthy of a Day 3 pick, but he turns on auto pilot when rushing too often to be considered earlier. With the right coaching, he could become a contributor down the road.
16. Nevada EDGE Malik Reed
There’s a common theme with these later-round picks; they aren’t very refined with their technique. Nevada’s Malik Reed is no different, but like many, he offers an intriguing physical skill set to build around. He’s on the small side, at 6-foot-1, 234, and he doesn’t have the length or the consistent strength to be an every-down player just yet. But what Reed does have is bend; he’s very flexible, and while his burst isn’t ideal for a player of his size, he has the ability to shrink and sear around linemen. That alone sets him apart from some others, and if this high-character prospect can develop his hand usage, he could become an NFL contributor.
No. 15-11
15. TCU EDGE Ben Banogu
Ben Banogu has very good explosion as an athlete, and he brings a raw skill set to the NFL level worth developing. At 6-foot-4, 250, Banogu offers a somewhat rare combination of length and burst in the middle rounds, and while he’s not very flexible, in terms of torso mobility, his rawness indicates considerable upside, if he can develop a pass rushing plan at the next level. Coaching is key for Banogu, but if he gets it, he can put together a solid career.
14. Iowa EDGE Anthony Nelson
An outlier with his 6-foot-7, 271-pound frame, Iowa’s Anthony Nelson is an intriguing prospect in the 2019 NFL Draft. He offers 35-inch arms and an attacker’s mentality in the trenches, but he’s a bit limited with his burst and the potential energy his lower body can store. Nelson’s big enough where a team could get creative with him and move him to the inside on occasion, but if he can work on refining the work with his hands, he might be able to tap into more upside on the edge.
13. Old Dominion EDGE Oshane Ximines
The upside isn’t quite there with Oshane Ximines, but a lot of other traits are present. He’s an experienced edge rusher who provides reliability and durability, and while he doesn’t bring any explosive athletic traits, he flashes bend on occasion, and he’s able to mentally change his rush plan on the fly, with a number of moves at his disposal. With his lacking upside and slightly undersized frame, he’s far from a lock to go on Day 2, but for teams looking for depth, Ximines presents utility and a certain safeness.
12. Boston College EDGE Wyatt Ray
Wyatt Ray is an edge rusher who flashes a lot of the requisite qualities to produce at the next level. While his length isn’t particularly looming, he offers a compact frame and solid speed with that frame. He’s a bit underdeveloped with his technique, but he has adequate burst and good torso flexibility, suggesting he could develop into a greater role at the next level. A motor that runs hot is one of Ray’s key traits, and on Day 2 or early Day 3, he could be a good get for the Redskins, or any team in need of edge depth.
11. Eastern Michigan EDGE Maxx Crosby
The middle rounds are particularly confusing in this year’s edge rusher crop, but one player who offers a particularly exciting skill set is Eastern Michigan’s Maxx Crosby. Crosby flashes the necessary athletic traits, with good burst and ankle flexion around the edge. At 6-foot-5, 255, his frame is long, but relatively lanky, and if he can add more muscle at the next level, he has the work ethic and motor to maximize his traits and potentially find a role as a rotational pass rusher.
I like upside. It’s important to never get too hung up on what a prospect is, if they aren’t as developed as they would ideally be at this stage. Projecting what a prospect can be is part of the evaluation process, and if we’re going off of those projections, then Oregon’s Justin Hollins needs to be talked about more.
At 6-foot-5, 248, with arms nearing 34 inches in length, Hollins has the desired physical profile that teams seek out of their edge rushers. And from a movement perspective, he’s better than most. He tested as a linebacker at the NFL Combine, thus inflating his positional percentiles. But his times were still very impressive for his size, in various drills. He logged a blazing 1.55 10-yard split, a 36.5-inch vertical, and a three-cone time just over seven seconds, showcasing his athletic ability.
On tape, Hollins flashes these traits, but consistency still remains to be found. He has the requisite strength to impose himself on the edge, but it doesn’t always show up, and the same can be said for his pass rushing moves; he seems to have an understanding of what works, and but implementing those moves, with his athleticism, is a work in progress.
Hollins is a pick for the future more than anything; he doesn’t have the consistency as a pass defender or a run defender to warrant an early-round selection. But in the middle of the draft, Hollins is a good investment to consider. He gives very good effort on every down, and with his culmination of traits, he has starting upside, most comfortably as a 3-4 outside linebacker, thus fitting the Redskins scheme.
At 6-foot-2, 251, Georgia’s D’Andre Walker doesn’t jump off the screen with size. He does, however, jump off the screen with his burst, closing speed, and consistently high motor.
Walker never produced at an exceedingly high level with the Georgia Bulldogs, but in one of the toughest conferences, he was a consistent contributor for Kirby Smart’s squad. In his final season, Walker accrued 7.5 sacks and 11.0 tackles for loss, notching four forced fumbles in the process.
Walker isn’t necessarily an imposing player, from a strength perspective. He has adequate length, but he’s inconsistent in pure trench warfare. In one-on-one matchups, however, Walker does a better job of using his pass rushing moves and his athletic ability to gain an advantage. Against the run, he uses his length to hold his ground effectively, and even if his doesn’t penetrate, he can hold his ground.
Walker has a floor as a solid rotational edge rusher in the NFL, and with his general nuance and understanding of leverage, both against the run and the pass, he should be able to latch on and provide an impact. But as a Redskins prospect, his upside is a bit less clear.
Christian Miller is a popular choice for the Redskins in the second round of many mock drafts. He’s an edge rusher, which the Redskins need. He brings some starting potential, which the Redskins need. And he has that Alabama pedigree, which the Redskins might not need, but certainly want.
For the Redskins, Miller would be a fine second-round pick, but he’s not necessarily a steal in the making. There are holes in Miller’s game, and ways in which he can improve his game, and become more well-rounded.
Physically, Miller checks a good amount of boxes. He’s a bit undersized at around 6-foot-3, 240, but he has incredible length, proportional to his height, and he’s a good athlete. He has the bend that many scouts covet from their edge rushers, thus heightening his upside as a pass rusher. Miller is fairly nuanced as well, possessing a clear knowledge of how to win in the trenches.
While Miller has some very appealing traits, he has a good amount to work on as well. His burst off the line is less than stellar, and his inability to cultivate leverage early can cause his undersized frame to be easily handled by bigger offensive linemen. Miller generally lacks functional strength, and while he can use his length to create leverage, his lacking strength shows up more than one would like on tape.
If Miller can add more strength to his game, then he can supplement his lack of burst and become a factor on all three downs. But until that point, he’s a pass rush specialist who has the length and bend to thrive only in certain situations. The upside, with the mentality, is there to develop, however, if the Redskins are willing to take the risk.
Jachai Polite has always been an interesting evaluation, and after his roller coaster ride of a pre-Draft process, his intrigue only heightens.
Polite had a bad offseason, testing poorly in the limited drills he ran at the Combine and at his pro day, citing a lingering hamstring injury. He also interviewed poorly at the NFL Combine, criticizing teams for bashing his play and revealing to the media that he doesn’t watch film of himself. When he came back into the spotlight at his pro day, he’d appeared to have gained weight, further ballooning his bad reputation.
Still, Polite will be drafted, and he’ll probably be drafted in Round 3 at the latest. His tape, at its heights, screams first-round prospect, and while his game has some holes, he has some rare traits on the football field, if he can just continue to apply them.
Polite’s calling card is his burst and his speed around the edge. That was why his 4.84 40-yard dash was somewhat concerning for some, because Polite’s best trait is easily his burst. He doesn’t have the length to anchor linemen consistently, and his rush move tool box is somewhat sparse. But with his explosive burst, he’s able to gain leverage artificially, lower himself, and sear around the edge. With that trait alone, he can be a situational pass rusher, but it’s hard to confidently project him to be more, especially if he doesn’t self-scout, or entertain constructive criticism.
Do you want a guy whose motor runs at 130 percent on every single play? Then Michigan’s Chase Winovich is your guy.
People sleep on Winovich. Rashan Gary is the Michigan prospect that gets more hype, but when you dig deep, Winovich is a comparable prospect to Gary, from a round grade perspective, and one could make a case that Winovich is the one to get; a solid prospect in his own right, for better value.
Winovich should go in the second round somewhere, and on tape, that’s what you see. His lacking length limits him in some respects, but he has the ruthless energy and play speed to start and start early at the next level. He’s an underrated athlete, and he has adequate play strength; his length prevents him from imposing himself at times, but a player who works as hard as Winovich is going to win often enough.
Winovich has the frame to keep adding more power to his game, and if he does, he can be a solid starter in the NFL. His upside is limited, but his floor is more than suitable. A decent athlete with the mindset of a warrior, Winovich is a safe, high-value pick for a team looking for production and tenacity off the edge.
For the entire offseason, Kentucky’s Josh Allen has been lauded as a top ten prospect in the 2019 NFL Draft. From a production standpoint, it’s easy to see why: Allen exploded in 2018, logging 17.0 sacks, 21.5 tackles for loss, and five forced fumbles over a thirteen-game span.
For many, production is the first destination, when judging prospects. That’s why Jaylon Ferguson is getting second-round hype. And that’s why Josh Allen is the No. 2 edge prospect on many boards. Sometimes, however, the traits on tape don’t quite match the numbers.
Allen underwent considerable development over the course of his 2018 season, and he enters the NFL as an ascending prospect, which is encouraging. But even in 2018, his game displayed some holes, and he wasn’t the consistently dominant player that his stats suggest he was.
Allen moves fairly well for his size, but is a stiff athlete, and can’t shrink his surface area very well. He’s still developing a sense of how to use his hands at the line; he has adequate length, but he lacks consistent play power, and he got moved back often in run defense.
Allen does show flashes of upside; although his burst is only average, he does have impressive acceleration around the edge, and if he can continue to refine his skill set, he can be a well-rounded edge rusher at the next level. But the hype train seems to have gone off the rails with Allen. He’s still a fairly raw edge rusher, and he doesn’t have otherworldly upside. Allen can be a very good starter if he keeps developing, but he’s not as much of a sure thing as it would seem.
Montez Sweat made himself known this offseason when he ran a 4.41 40-yard dash time out of nowhere at the NFL Combine. It was the fastest time ever recorded for a defensive lineman, and for Sweat, who stands at around 6-foot-6, 260, the time was impressive, to say the least.
That said, the 40-yard dash isn’t a metric that’s particularly indicative of success for defensive linemen, and while it speaks to Sweat’s very rare combination of size and speed, it doesn’t present the full picture, when regarding Sweat’s profile as a player.
Sweat did log solid split times as well, testing better than ninety-nine percent of edge rushers with his 10-yard and 20-yard split times. These measurements speak to the burst that Sweat brings off the line; he can generate momentum very quickly, and at his size, his horizontal explosion is almost unheard of.
Sweat, with his size, brings good length and power to the table as well. He’s a very solid run defender, and he’s able to integrate his power with his athletic traits as a rusher, although he’s still working to further refine his technique. The biggest concern for Sweat is his bend; he doesn’t show the consistent ability to shrink his surface area, and his lack of torso mobility could limit him against nimbler tackles at the next level.
The gap between Sweat and the No. 3 player on this list is small, but Sweat’s inconsistency with bend ultimately sends him down a spot. He’s still a top twenty player on my big board, and although he has a heart issue, if he’s comfortable playing with it, it’s likely a non-issue. Still, his modest concerns are enough to place him below a prospect who doesn’t have many holes at all.
The placement of Clelin Ferrell over Montez Sweat isn’t necessarily a slight to Sweat. I’m simply high on Ferrell’s floor as a player. Because his floor itself is very high.
Ferrell doesn’t have the developmental upside that other edge rushers in this class have. You’ll hear that statement often, and it is indeed true. Ferrell is an average athlete; his lack of explosive athleticism isn’t a detriment to his game, but it can limit him in situations where better athletes would be able to thrive.
That said, Ferrell compensates for his general lack of athleticism with play power, long arms, and an impressive in-depth understanding of the game’s fine details, and how he can cultivate leverage for himself on a situational basis. One of the most nuanced edge defenders in this class, Ferrell poses a threat against both pass and run sets, and his production matches his profile: He logged 11.5 sacks, 20.0 tackles for loss, and three forced fumbles in 2018.
Ferrell projects as a Ryan Kerrigan-esque defender in the NFL. His athleticism is never going to wow you, but he has enough of it to properly supplement his diverse mental and physical skill set. Ferrell should be a quality starter for a long time in the NFL, and surefire reliability on the edge is in high demand.
Brian Burns has a serious case to make as potentially the top edge rusher in the 2019 NFL Draft. In any other class, he would likely be there already. But while Burns doesn’t necessarily get the love he deserves, the film reveals the truth: That Burns is a top-five overall prospect, and a blue-chip pass rusher in waiting.
Burns has every desired trait for an edge rusher at the NFL level. Length? 34-inch arms. Burst? 10-yard split near the ninety-ninth percentile. Bend? Easily the best bend in the class, and on par with transcendent prospects of past drafts. Lateral mobility? Cat-like.
Burns has very rare athletic traits, and he supplements them with a surprising level of nuance on tape. He knows how to gain leverage with his length, and he knows how to use a combination of traits to win against linemen, whether it’s a quick rush to the outside, then a counter back to the inside, or a fast, blunt hand swipe to push a linemen’s mitts away. Burns’ game has power; it’s just a type of power that doesn’t flash off the screen. It proves effective, however, when Burns gets pressure.
The biggest knock on Burns coming out of college was his weight; it was rumored that he played at 230 pounds. Burns put those concerns to bed, however, when he showed up to the NFL Combine at 250, having added 20 pounds of good weight. He still moved very well in drills, and his added weight didn’t seem to have a detrimental effect. His motor didn’t always burn red hot, but that’s less of Burns taking plays off and more of Burns conserving energy when a play gets away from him. These instances were present, but not prevalent, on his tape. All other evidence suggests he’s a very hard worker and a smart player who’s motivated to maximize his game.
Burns could stand to improve his play strength in certain situations, but even in run defense, he was able to use his length to anchor linemen and set the edge. He’s a prospect with very few holes to his game, and if he works with a coach who can take his transcendent athletic traits and maximize them, then Burns can be a double-digit sack artist for the Redskins, year in and year out. If he drops to the Redskins at No. 15, the Redskins, quite simply, must pick him.
Nick Bosa barely edges out Brian Burns as the top edge rusher in the class. The two are very close. On my big board, Bosa is situated at No. 2, and Burns is situated at No. 3. But where Burns is inconsistent, Bosa is not, and where Burns excels, Bosa does as well.
Bosa isn’t as athletically gifted as Burns; that’s one avenue Burns could use to become the top edge rusher in the class. But Bosa is a very advanced collegiate prospect with an innate understanding of how to win with combined traits.
While he isn’t a dominant athlete, Bosa is twitched up and relentless, and he possesses great burst off the line. He’s able to use bend to shrink around the edge and muscle away linemen with his natural leverage. Bosa’s hand placement is consistently precise, and each strike is punishing. At 6-foot-3, 266, Bosa is compact and hard to move, and yet, he imposes his will easily against offensive linemen.
Bosa has a shot to be one of the better overall edge rushers in the NFL right away. His consistency and prowess as both a pass rusher and run defender is very impressive, and while he doesn’t have the cliche developmental upside, he doesn’t need it. He’s already a blue-chip player, and as long as he can stay healthy, he’ll make a lasting impact at the next level.