Redskins Saturday Spotlight: The complications of a top three pick

Best player available

The obvious benefit that comes with picking early is getting one’s pick of the litter of the top talents in a given NFL Draft class. The worst teams often have the luxury of picking without the restriction of need, and thus, they can focus solely on one question: Who is the best player available?

Among the teams in contention for the No. 1 overall pick, both the Dolphins and Bengals are heavy favorites to land a quarterback early in 2020. In this sense, drafting Dwayne Haskins in 2019 helped the Redskins, because if the Redskins pick the earliest, out of themselves, the Jets, and the Broncos, then they could be in play for the best non-quarterback in the 2020 NFL Draft.

And no, before you ask, they shouldn’t consider a quarterback in 2020. They should find a coach who’s willing to work with Haskins and see out his development.

As of now, the best non-quarterback in the 2020 NFL Draft class seems to be a unanimous selection. It’s Ohio State’s Chase Young, an edge rusher with outstanding athleticism, power, length, and speed to get around the edge.

Maybe before the 2019 season, the Redskins wouldn’t have considered Young, being that they had Ryan Kerrigan. But Kerrigan’s gotten off to a slow start this year, and he isn’t getting any younger. And the prospect of being able to pick a player like Young at edge is a rare thing. He and Montez Sweat would form a formidable duo with incredible upside.

Much has been made of the Redskins draft position in recent years; situated in the middle of the field, they’d always be stuck with the leftovers from the first tier. But with a top pick, they’d have their choice, and the best player available, regardless of position, can never be ruled out. But for the Redskins, there’s more to it than that.