Redskins 7-round February mock draft: Defense early, offense late

Round 7

Round 7, Pick 216: Tyrie Cleveland, WR, Florida

Tyrie Cleveland is a pick in the opposite mold of Tyler Johnson. While Johnson is a lesser athlete with solid mental traits and play strength, Cleveland is an explosive threat with long speed that might just be in the sub-4.4. range. At 6-foot-3, 205, that is especially impressive, and it speaks to the upside Cleveland might have under an NFL coaching staff.

Cleveland is, of course, raw, and his speed doesn’t necessarily translate to the short-area quickness that wins routes, as The Draft Network’s Trevor Sikkema noted in the linked article above. But Cleveland has the size-speed combination to be a different kind of field stretcher for the Redskins, and he just adds another tool to the team’s increasingly versatile box.

Round 7, Pick 229: Anthony McFarland, RB, Maryland

Speaking of full tool boxes…

No, this isn’t a Home Depot ad. It’s an ad for Maryland’s Anthony McFarland, a player you might be familiar with, based on your college football rooting interests.

McFarland is an enticing player to the draft community; he’s a bit undersized at 5-foot-9, 200, but he has good athletic traits, none more so than the turbo button he hits once reaching open field. McFarland has excellent acceleration capacity, and he’s also slippery as a runner, possessing the contact balance and elusiveness to stay on his feet through adversity.

McFarland isn’t necessarily a developed player with his receiving ability and creation skills, but he has some traits that suggest upside in those departments. He’s not my favorite running back at this juncture (See: Appalachian State RB Darrynton Evans), but for a Redskins RB room that has a number of solid players already, health willing, McFarland is a nice compliment.