5 lessons the Commanders should learn from recent first-round draft blunders

Commanders must not let one man ruin their board

Vinnie Cerrato. The Iago of Washington football. Forced a bona fide football man like Marty Schottenheimer out by whispering in the owner’s ear while letting him win at squash.

Cerrato blew plenty of drafts in the first decade of the 21st century. This resulted in a dearth of talent from which the now-Washington Commanders have never really recovered. The wheeling and dealing in 2008 captures this futility perfectly.

He began by swapping three picks - a first, third, and fifth-rounder to the Atlanta Falcons for two seconds and a fourth-rounder. He traded that fourth-round pick to the Tennessee Titans for a later fourth and another in the fifth round.

If that wasn't enough, he swapped that fifth-rounder for two picks in the sixth. And what did he come away with?

Devin Thomas, Fred Davis, Justin Tryon, Durant Brooks, and Kareem Moore. That’s a whole lot of effort for a lot of mediocrity.

To be fair, none of the picks Cerrato gave up resulted in any special players. However, one of them turned out to be Harry Douglas - an average wide receiver who is having a better run as an analyst on ESPN.

If Washington had drafted him, at least they could derive some second-hand pleasure watching him on television.