Reviewing Washington Football Team drafts over the last 20 years
By Jonathan Eig
2016 NFL Draft (Scot)
Scot’s final draft missed early and missed late, but got a couple good players in the middle.
- BEST: Kendall Fuller (3)
- WORST: Josh Doctson (1)
- VALUE: Matt Ioannidis (5)
Fuller was traded as part of the deal that brought Alex Smith to Washington, but has now returned to help secure the secondary. And Ioannidis was a major steal. But Doctson is just one more wasted attempt to find a receiver.
2017 NFL Draft (Doug Williams and Kyle Smith)
After McCloughan left, Bruce Allen reshuffled the executive staff and made Doug Williams Vice President of Player Personnel and Kyle Smith Director of College Personnel. They worked pretty well together.
- BEST: Jonathan Allen (1)
- WORST: Ryan Anderson (2)
- VALUE: Chase Roullier (6)
Washington pounced when the talented Allen fell to them and it has worked out very nicely. But his Alabama teammate Anderson was clearly over-hyped and did little in his four seasons. Roullier was a sixth-rounder who has steadily risen to become one of the best centers in the league.
2018 NFL Draft (Doug and Kyle)
More hit and miss results.
- BEST: Daron Payne (1)
- WORST: Derrius Guice (2)
- VALUE: Tim Settle (5)
Payne has lived up to expectations and Settle further solidified the defensive line. Guice was a gamble on top-flight talent which did not pay off.
2019 NFL Draft (Doug and Kyle)
A disaster at the top, but solid results from the rest of the draft.
- BEST: Terry McLaurin (3)
- WORST: Dwayne Haskins (1)
- VALUE: Jimmy Moreland (7)
Haskins was a clear disappointment – meant to be the franchise quarterback who was simply cut in less than two years. But McLaurin is a stud. Along with Moreland (and first-rounder Montez Sweat, fifth-rounder Cole Holcomb, and sixth-rounder Kelvin Harmon), some serious roster rebuilding was underway.
2020 NFL Draft (Ron Rivera and Kyle Smith)
It had been assumed that Kyle Smith had been handling most of the decision-making about personnel while Doug Williams was the public face of the front office. That seemed to be confirmed when Kyle was promoted to vice president of player personnel. He and new coach Ron Rivera shared draft responsibilities and did pretty well.
- BEST: Chase Young (1)
- WORST: Antonio Gandy-Golden (4)
- VALUE: Kamren Curl (7)
It’s obviously too early to say anything for sure, but Young looks to be a superstar. Curl continues a run of late-round defensive backs who have come up big. Gandy-Golden may prove me wrong, but he didn’t show much in his rookie season.
Next. Round by round free safety options for WFT. dark
2021 NFL Draft (Martin Mayhew)
An actual general manager is on board once again, with a pretty good roster of picks. In less than a month, we’ll be able to make some way-too-early predictions about Best, Worst, and Value picks for 2021. I can’t wait.