The Redskins, by all accounts, hit the 2019 NFL Draft out of the park. Their work isn’t over, however. In fact, it never is.
Now, the Washington Redskins scouting department has to get back into player evaluation mode, so that they can be just as well-prepared for the 2020 NFL Draft, which will occur next April. It’s ten months away, and there’s still a season of college football left to play in-between, with all the storyline changes that season entails.
Regardless of the coming changes, however, it’s never too early to at least introduce oneself to the prospect landscape, so that one can know what to expect come draft season, and so that one can get a feel for the draft’s best areas.
In 2020, the NFL Draft could have one of its stronger classes in recent memory. On the offensive side of the ball, the quarterback class is improved, as is the running back class, and the receiver class, as we’ll talk about, has the potential to be a record-breaking group. On defense, there’s less proven talent, but just as much excitement, and the top-tier players are as “top-tier” as they’ve been in some time.
We won’t go into too much detail on the 2020 draft class as a whole, because those details are bound to be subject to dramatic change, once the 2019 season commences. But it’s never too early to do some digging on the best the draft has to offer. Thus, now is as good a time as any to spotlight these five players; collegiate players for you to watch during the 2019 season.
No. 5 – Missouri TE Albert Okwuegbunam
The 2019 tight end class was hyped up as one of the better ones in recent memory. As many as four tight ends were candidates to go in Round 1, and two of those players came from the same school. Two such players went in the top twenty, and sixteen tight ends were selected overall.
It was a strong class, with a surplus of top-end talent. Thus, it just makes it all the more impressive that Missouri tight end Albert Okwuegbunam was, at one point, considered to be a first-round candidate.
Of course, Okwuegbunam, while he has a first-round name, didn’t quite have the first-round game last season. But he made the right decision to go back to school for his senior season, and he has the tools to drastically elevate his game.
Okwuegbunam is a stellar athlete for his 6-foot-5, 255-pound frame, and his production is very impressive. He benefitted from an opportunistic Missouri scheme and a historic 2017 season from Drew Lock, but Okwuegbunam frequently showed off his tantalizing size-speed combo up the seam. During that 2017 season, Okwuegbunam caught 11 touchdown passes on just 29 catches, and in 2018, he added some consistency to his game, amassing 466 yards and six touchdowns on 43 catches,
Okwuegbunam still has a lot of refining to do. He’s not a technician as a route runner, and he could do more to match his frame with physicality. But he has a turbo button up the middle of the field, and he has the length, focus, and strength at the catch point to win in traffic. His game is incomplete, but the athletic traits are there, and with another season to learn and hone his positive qualities, Okwuegbunam could capitalize on his potential, and give the Redskins a high-upside option to succeed Jordan Reed and Vernon Davis.
No. 4 – Stanford CB Paulson Abedo
With Josh Norman entering his age-32 season, the Redskins are bound to move on from him sooner rather than later. The former All-Pro has been solid, if not spectacular, but in recent years, his play hasn’t amounted to his hefty contract, and in 2020, he can be released for just $3 million in dead cap.
Barring a resurgence, 2019 looks like Norman’s fourth and final season with the Redskins, and even if it isn’t, the Redskins could use some insurance on the boundary, to prepare for Norman’s looming departure. They have great depth, and plenty of young talent worth developing, but the cornerback position is one of the most important in the modern NFL, and thus can’t be settled at.
In the early rounds, the Redskins could search for Norman’s replacement across from Quinton Dunbar, and they might find that replacement in the mold of Stanford’s Paulson Abedo.
Abedo, standing at around 6-foot-1, 190, is coming off an incredibly productive sophomore season, in which he logged 64 tackles, four interceptions, 17 pass deflections, and a forced fumble in thirteen games. In 2019, as a true junior, he’ll look to expand on those impressive numbers, and maximize his stock for what could be his draft year.
Abedo has an enticing skill set, and this linked clip from draft analyst Rob Paul does well to spotlight a number of Abedo’s traits on one play. Abedo has the fluidity and burst to mirror wide receivers off their breaks, and he also has the length, instincts, and ball skills to be very disruptive at the catch point. A complete cornerback with all the athletic and intangible tools, look for Abedo to set the standard for this year’s class.
No. 3 – Alabama WR Jerry Jeudy (And everyone else)
I’ll just cut right to the chase. After all, it’s what defensive backs are always forced to do when they have to cover Jerry Jeudy.
You could make a case that Jerry Jeudy is one of the top five route runners in football. Notice, I didn’t say the SEC. I didn’t say college football. I said football.
It helps that Jeudy is a human joystick with insane lateral agility, balance, and change-of-direction speed, and he also attacks his routes with a keen understanding of how to get open. Check out this release by Jeudy, where he cultivates five yards of separation in mere seconds, by manipulating his leverage with the defensive back, displaying a combination of steady patience and sharp opportunistic awareness.
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Jeudy’s best work comes as a route runner, but that’s not to say he’s any less than spectacular during and after the catch. Jeudy employs laser-like focus at the catch point, and he has the body control to contort in midair and adjust to wherever the ball appears inside his catch radius. Once he has the ball, he’s as shifty as they come, and he has legitimate sub-4.4 long speed. His frame, standing at around 6-foot-1, 192, is a bit on the thin side, but it doesn’t sap his durability. More often than not, he avoids contact altogether.
The 2020 receiver class is set to be absolutely and completely stacked to the brim. Talents such as Laviska Shenault, Rondale Moore, Tee Higgins, CeeDee Lamb, Tyler Johnson, Justyn Ross, and Jaelen Reagor only begin to scratch the surface of the class’ extraordinary nature. Even Jeudy, on his own team, has another top three prospect in Henry Ruggs III, and two more high-potential players in Jaylen Waddle and Devonta Smith.
The 2020 wide receiver class has a chance to be legendary. That only makes it more impressive that Jeudy has managed to separate himself at the top. He’s an elite prospect in his current state, and with another award-winning season in 2019, he can cement himself as a top ten pick. The Redskins might not have a chance to select him, but even if they don’t, there will be plenty more talent to choose from.
No. 2 – Louisiana State S Grant Delpit
A player’s athletic profile varies across different classes. There are good athletes. There are great athletes. And sometimes, there are rare athletes, with traits that transcend all others.
These athletes don’t always work out. After all, there’s far more to the game of football than a few mobility metrics. But the best athletes inherently carry the most potential to do their job with the most speed, physicality, and efficiency. And when they have the intangible traits to couple with that rare athleticism, what follows is an even more uncommon find.
What follows is a superstar.
LSU’s Grant Delpit has the potential to be a superstar at the NFL level. At 6-foot-3, 203, Delpit has outstanding size for a safety, and he has the stellar athleticism to pair with it. Delpit’s explosive nature shows up on tape. In the box, he can close ground quickly and make pass disruptions with acrobatic mid-air ability and tremendous ball skills, and he’s also a very sure tackler, with 74 total tackles. He’s a homing missile in run defense, and as a pass rusher as well.
In coverage, Delpit is almost more dangerous; he has incredible range and instincts, and he has the combination of mental and physical quickness to be a playmaker and a safety blanket, all in one. For the Redskins, who may have a need at safety if Montae Nicholson doesn’t rebound in 2019, Delpit would be a welcome addition and more, if they find themselves in a position to draft him.
No. 1 – Iowa OT Tristan Wirfs
One could argue that the Redskins needed to address their tackle position with more resolve in the 2019 offseason, even before the Trent Williams situation flared up. The team let Ty Nsekhe walk in free agency, making a thin unit even weaker. Now, behind Williams and Morgan Moses, only Geron Christian stands between the starters and the reserves.
Granted, Washington was high enough on Christian to take him in Round 3, and Williams’ contract standoff might not have been predictable. But at one of the game’s most important positions, you can’t take any chances. Christian had his fair share of hiccups in 2018, before suffering an injury. Williams is aging, and has been battling injuries in recent years. The Redskins could have been better prepared. Instead, they’re facing a wash of uncertainty.
One way to combat that uncertainty? Invest heavily in the position in 2019. Now, if Trent Williams remains with the Redskins, then there’s less of a chance that they’d spend a first-round pick on an offensive tackle. But if Williams gets traded, or if he regresses due to age and injury, the Redskins need a new blindside blocker for Dwayne Haskins. And who better to pick than the guy who broke Brandon Scherff’s weight room record at Iowa this past spring?
Tristan Wirfs is a mountain of a man at 6-foot-5, 320, and he recently broke Scherff’s weight room record at Iowa by lifting 450 pounds in the power clean. His strength is a core building block of his game, as he outmatches just about every college defender with his power at the point of attack.
Wirfs combines that natural power with an innate understanding of leverage, engrained in him by a past as a wrestler, and he also has advanced hand placement for his age, as well as good explosion off the line. He’s not the dominant athlete that Trent Williams was coming out, but Wirfs’ forceful nature, as well as his attention to detail, should bode him well at the next level. He’s an outstanding run blocker, with the potential to match that ability in pass protection, and he’s worth watching in his junior season, to see if he takes the final steps.