Written by Pat Breen (20/4/99). Player profiles compiled by Chris Suh.
Following 1998's disappointing results, the Redskins had a full complement of draft picks throughout rounds 1 to 7, selecting at the 11th pick in the first round. In addition, the Redskins had Carolina's first rounder (5th pick) after trading Sean Gilbert in the previous draft. However, the Skins dealt their original first rounder (#11) and their third rounder (as well as 2000's 2nd round pick) to the Minnesota Vikings in exchange for Brad Johnson after the departure of Trent Green to St. Louis (prior to the draft).
Leading up to the draft, a number of units were identified as areas of need for the '99 Redskins:
CRITICAL NEEDS
As per usual, the Redskins were either cryptic or quiet about who they liked in the upcoming draft, or what positions they were going to focus on addressing. About the only clue the Redskins did give, was that they made it clear they probably would not bother with a QB in the first round:
"I personally graded the '83 quarterbacks, and Elway was better than anyone in this draft. I also think Kelly, even though he played only two games as a senior, was a better quarterback than anyone in this draft. And Marino played better as a junior than anyone in this draft." - Charlie Casserly on QB prospects in the '99 Draft
In early draft evaluations, Casserly made it clear the only QB he would consider drafting in the first round would be Couch. But the biggest college celebrity in the media hype was not a QB - it was Texas's powerful RB Ricky Williams, the NCAA Division 1-A all time rushing leader. Williams had rushed for well over 6000 yards in his college career with an astounding 2124 yards in his final season. Many sporting publications earmarked Williams as the top player in the draft.
In the weeks leading up to the draft, many outstanding college players were interviewed and evaluated at Redskin Park, sending rumours flying amongst fans. Top prospects that were reviewed included Ricky Williams (RB), Edgarrin James (RB), Champ Bailey (CB), Chris McAllister (CB), Torry Holt (WR), Jevon Kearse (DE/LB), Chris Claiborne (LB), Aaron Gibson (OT) and Cameron Spikes (OG). Ricky Williams, Champ Bailey, and to a lesser extent Torry Holt became fan favorites in the upcoming draft.
Ricky Williams originally seemed like the natural fit for the top pick in the draft, but questions about his appearance, his weight gain whilst "on tour" and his hiring of a questionable agent (rapper Master P) slowly eroded his surefire status among league personnel men. Others had more legitimate worries about his small hand-span and apparent fumbleitis, but his phenomenal college numbers tended to speak volumes, silencing most critics.
Trade offers and trade rumours abounded about teams wanting to trade up to get the Redskins #5 pick. The Redskins were very receptive to offers, and seemed to salivate over the prospect of making a blockbuster trade. Rumours included teams such as Baltimore, St Louis, Oakland and Minnesota wanting to trade up. (Several Vikings fans insisted their team was offering their two first round picks plus Jake Reed, but I could find no official source). Teams that made legitimate offers to the Redskins included New England (who had two very late round picks - #20 and #28), Miami, and New Orleans (who were offering all their 99 draft picks plus additional picks in later drafts). Of course, any trade would not take place until draft day, which kept rumour-mills working overtime.
On Friday, the day before the draft, grim news arrived at Redskin Park. The Rams had traded a second and fifth round draft pick in exchange for pro-bowl RB Marshall Faulk from the Colts - translating into almost certainty that Indy would draft Ricky Williams, thus weakening the trade value of the Redskins #5 pick as a result. Almost every team that had shown interest in the Redskins first rounder had wanted Ricky Williams. The Skins had been very interested in trading with New Orleans (Casserly had discussed this heavily with Saints GM Bill Kuharich during the March owners meetings), but this offer would now be off the table. The Patriots were still interested in trading up to take Edgarrin James at #5, offering their two late first rounders as well as their two third rounders. Miami was also interested, but could not beat what the Pats had proposed.
"The Marshall Faulk trade changes some things, but weīre still getting the fifth player, and you canīt be disappointed with that." - Charlie Casserly
"Is he worthy of being the first overall pick? I donīt know, but if you take him you're safe at corner." - Chris Palmer on Champ Bailey
The Redskins started the first day of the draft with two picks - their first (#5 overall) and second rounder (#40 overall). Noone outside a few people knew it, but the Redskins had already made up their minds to reject the Patriots offer to trade up and draft Bailey if he was available at #5. A few hours before the draft started, a reporter had got in contact with Casserly telling him that the Colts were not going to draft Ricky Williams, but Edgarrin James. Obviously, the Skins could not be sure this would happen, but Kuharich phoned Casserly to say that if it did, the Saints were definitely still interested in trading up. The details of the trade involved Washington trading the fifth overall pick to New Orleans for a first (#12), third (#71), fourth (#107), fifth (#144), sixth (#179) and seventh (#218) round picks. In addition, the Saints would send 2000's first and third rounders to Washington.
"When we were considering the New England trade, we couldn't find a single case of a team going from 5 back to that area and winning the trade. So we decided to accept New Orleans' offer. We thought it was the better deal." - Casserly on rejecting the Patriots offer
With this confirmed, Casserly phoned GM's of every team picking between sixth and eleventh to see if they would be interested in trading down to the twelth spot. If there were no takers, the Skins decided they would take Chris McAlister if he was available. Chicago was the only team who was interested - they had the seventh overall pick. The Redskins and the Bears worked out a deal that would send the #7 to Washington for the Redskins first (#12), third (#71), fourth (#106), and fifth (#143) round picks, in addition to the lower of the Redskins third round picks in 2000.
The draft proceeded, with three QBs being snapped up in the first three picks (which was widely expected) - Tim Couch going to Cleveland, Donovan McNabb going to Philidelphia and Akili Smith going to the Bengals. The Colts then picked James, and the Redskins rapidly made a number of calls, dealing their pick to the Saints after confirming that the Bears would definitely trade their pick. The Saints picked Williams, and the Rams followed picking Torry Holt. The net result was that the Redskins were able to get the player they wanted originally at #7 (Roland "Champ" Bailey), and pick up a sixth and seventh draft pick, plus an additional first round pick in 2000. Along with drafting Bailey, the Redskins announced they would be cutting Cris Dishman the following Monday, who had struggled in 98 and became a cap victim.
"When we were on the clock with New Orleans, we then agreed to the deal with Chicago. You're talking about a lot of phone calls in a short period of time." - Casserly on April 17's wheeling and dealing
"Oh, man, I remember watching him when he played for the Oilers, and he was a great corner. That's as big complement. Man! Oh, that means a lot right there. For them to do that, that means they got a lot of confidence in me." - Bailey on replacing Cris Dishman
"The biggest thing for Champ is to come in here and learn how to play cornerback at this level. With specific coaching, spending all of his time on defense, he can make great strides and improve. We're not going to fool around with the offensive part of it until he's thoroughly comfortable as a corner." - Norv Turner on drafting CB/WR/KR Champ Bailey
"We gave it consideration before. We like Stephen Davis. We like Skip Hicks. We felt that getting another corner outweighed getting a running back." - Casserly on Ricky Williams at #5
In the second round, the Redskins traded with the Bears, sending their second (#40) and fifth (#144) round picks to Chicago to move up a few a spots (#37) to take RT Jon Jansen from Michigan. The Skins were excited about his attitude and durability (he had started 50 straight games in four years), and liked Jansen more than any of the DEs (another problem area) available. The Redskins expect Jansen to compete and possibly start at RT in the 99 season.
"He's a tough, nasty guy, and his durability has been excellent." - Charlie Casserly on drafting Jon Jansen
"I think he fits the things we're looking for in an offensive lineman. I believe we have enough players that, through competition, we can raise our level of play." - Norv Turner on drafting Jon Jansen
"My feeling is, I'd like to come in and start. But I have to come in and learn the team chemistry and the playbook and things like that." - Jon Jansen on being drafted by the Redskins
The Redskins began the second day of the draft with a fourth round pick, two sixth round picks and two seventh round picks (the extra sixth and seventh pick resulting from the Saints trade on day one).
With their fourth round pick (#107), the Redskins selected Nate Stimson from Georgia Tech. Stimson had played LB throughout college until his final year, where he played DE with reasonable results. The Redskins liked his work ethic and impressive 40 yard dash results, envisioning him as a backup at SLB behind Greg Jones and Ken Harvey, and providing some punch on special teams.
"He's got to make this club as a linebacker and contribute on special teams" - Casserly on drafting Stimson
"You could see Nate had the experience. He weighs 260 pounds and can run 40 yards in 4.6 seconds. That's a big man to be doing that. He can help us now on special teams, not only with his athletic ability but with his aggressive mindset." - LB Coach Jeff Fitzgerald on drafting Stimson
"I should have been playing those other years, and this just proves it even more. I like proving people wrong. I'm going to keep doing that." - Stimson on lack of playing time in college
"It's hard to come out of nowhere. A lot of people get illegal phone calls from agents during the season. I didn't get any calls until after the season." - Stimson on being drafted by the Redskins
Instead of waiting until the sixth round to make their next pick, the Redskins made their fourth and final trade of the weekend, sending a sixth (#179) and seventh (#218) round pick to Denver in return for the Bronco's fifth (#165) rounder. With the fifth rounder, the Redskins took Derek Smith, a LT out of Virginia Tech. Smith had excellent size and upper body strength, but had dropped into the fifth round after tearing the ACL in his left knee at the combine in February. The Redskins realised he would not be healthy enough to play until late in the season if at all, but the opportunity to trade a sixth and seventh pick to acquire someone who had originally been a third rounder on their draft boards seemed too good to pass up. Smith was also the subject of a few puns, considering an existing player on the roster with the same name.
"We thought it was worth the draft choice because we had him graded higher than the fifth round." - Casserly on drafting Smith
"I got up and walked off. I thought I had twisted my knee. When some doctors told me it was probably torn, I thought 'Why now?' I've been rehabbing three hours a day, five days a week." - Smith on his knee injury
"Derek was a highly productive left tackle who came on at the end of the year. It's a good investment. His knee got as good a recommendation as you could get." - Casserly on Smith being unable to play right away
In the sixth round (#181), the Redskins took K Jeff Hall, the Southeastern conference's all-time scoring leader. Hall was the rated behind Martin Grammatika from Kansas State, who had been taken by Tampa Bay in the third round. Hall is expected to compete against Brett Conway and Cary Blanchard in camp for the Kicker's job.
"It's up for grabs. Going into the draft, I wouldn't have expected to draft a kicker, but we were all a little hesitant about what was going to be there in rounds six or seven. It seemed like the logical thing to do. The other players on the board may be on the practice squard or not make the club. Jeff can be a starter." - Casserly on drafting Hall
With their final pick (seventh round, #217 overall), the Redskins took Tim Alexander, a WR from Oregon State. Alexander only played one season at WR catching 52 passes, and had played QB for the previous three seasons.
"Tim's an athlete who can get better than he is after playing just one year at receiver." - Casserly on drafting Alexander
| Rnd | No | Name | Position | School | Height | Weight | 40-time |
| 1 | 7 (7) | Roland "Champ" Bailey | CB | Georgia | 6'0 | 184 | 4.42 |
| 2 | 6 (37) | Jon Jansen | RT | Michigan | 6'6 | 307 | 5.3 |
| 4 | 12 (107) | Nate Stimson | LB | Georgia Tech | 6'1 | 260 | 4.6 |
| 5 | 32 (165) | Derek Smith | LT | Virginia Tech | 6'6 | 310 | 5.45 |
| 6 | 12 (181) | Jeff Hall | K | Tennessee | 5'11 | 190 | - |
| 7 | 11 (217) | Tim Alexander | WR | Oregon State | 5'11 | 185 | 4.6 |
Comments? Mail Pat at patb@aus.sun.com