[Almanac Index] [Redskins 99 Draft]
How do you grade the Redskins '99 Draft (A-F)?
This survey is now closed, and no longer taking responses.
| Name | Grade | Comments |
| Steve Repsher | B+ | It's this close to being an A. It IS an A as far as getting all the right breaks. (Thank you Indy) Making the Saints trade was a no-brainer. I'm concerned CC gave up too much to get back up to #7. In seventh round, why not take a shot with Kansas State WR Darnell McDonald? |
| Pat Breen | B+ | Some nice first day maneuvering to get the guys they wanted. If Hall makes the team as a solid Kicker (which is a big long shot), I would increase my grade to an A. The trade for Smith was very interesting to me - considering their ownership difficulties, perhaps the Redskins should have made a more concerted effort to get more value out of their lower picks, however if Smith emerges as a decent prospect at LT in the next couple of years it will certainly have been worth the trade. |
| Brian Carpenter | B | It looks to be like Casserly did a good job getting Bailey plus all the draft picks with the trade for Williams. I agree with some who say we might have got a little more from Ditka if we would have pressured him. I also fell we gave up too much in the trades with Chicago and others. We should come out of the draft with 2 starters, Jansen and Bailey. But why would we waste a pick on Jeff Hall when we have so many more glaring needs on OL, DL, and WR? |
| Rich in Roanoke | A | Well done - good picks throughout, help for secondary, run stopping (LB/DE), two OTs, a WR and a PK which is a good idea because we haven't had much luck in the FA market.. |
| rora1 | A | If all we had gotten was Bailey as a WIDE RECEIVER, the rating would be a B. MANY player ratings said Bailey was the best WR in the draft! If either Smith (next year) or Jensen (this year or next year) becomes a viable starter the draft has to be an A. If they both were to become starters and Bailey stays healthy, this draft would have to be whatever is better than A. ?God-Like? |
| Duane Buck | A- | I was worried early about giving up the early pick to N.O., but then the way Casserly traded back for the 7th pick was impressive. I rate the Redskin draft as a A-. They got a tackle in round two, that will help....plus they have 3 #1's next year...wow! |
| Bill from Dallas | A | A much better than prior years, but not an a+, gave Chi a bit to much to move back up, probably under the heading easy come easy go |
| Scott Lawrence | B | I would give the Redskins a B. Much of that is on the strength of the Redskins getting arguably the best player in the draft with the 7th overall pick. My primary concern with this draft is that no defensive ends were taken. My secondary concern is that no wide receiver was drafted until the 7th round. If it was a choice between drafting a kicker and drafting a wide receiver, I would rather have seen the Redskins get a wide receiver. I share Steve Repsher's concern that the Redskins gave up too much in the trade with Chicago. If Jon Jansen wins the starting job this year, I would give the draft a B+. If offensive tackle Derek Smith wins the left tackle job within the next 2-3 years, I would give the draft an A. |
| Ray Bailey | B+ | I like four of our selections. Champ Bailey is a no-brainer. Jansen and Smith are good picks and could be looked at as great picks in a few years. I am intrigued with Stimpson, I watched a few ACC games this year and he has a great motor. I'm not too impressed with the other choices. I hate drafting a Kicker. Overall a grade of B+. |
| Anonymous | C | Bailey should be a safe pick, but to give up basically all the choices except #1 next year we obtained from the Saints, is just too much. Instead of being in a position to help in many areas, Redskins really upgraded one at CB. Two if Jansen can play tackle at the next level. We certainly did not address a horrible DE situation, nor WR. Again, it looks as if we as fans must wait for two seasons from now, instead of next season. |
| Mike Chisholm | A | I was a little worried at first when we traded away Ricky Williams pick, but getting Champ justifies it all. You can't beat drafting one of the best CB prospect in decades and then put him on a team where he can learn from arguably the best CB ever to play the game, throw in a first round pick next year and all the pick we were able to work w/ in the draft and they deserve an "A+" just for the first round. I was a little disappointed in the amount of pick we traded away to keep upgrading, but I feel they were justified. Jansen was a steal were we got him and a draft necessity for us w/ our little piggy O-Line. We just need our piggies to turn into hogs, Souweeeee! Our three first-rounders next year will be the beginning our reign as the team of the 21st Century. Note to Carolina Panthers: Suckers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Seifert won't save you as long as you've got the Sean Gilbert curse in the organization. P.S. thanks for Champ P.S.S. thanks for next years Champ, too! |
| Steve Long | B+ | CC should have traded the middle #1 from next year for a 2 and 3 this year. we're tight on cap $ this year but you're not going to be able to pay for three #1's next year unless the cap jumps big time. The other option will be to trade a 1 next year for a 1 in 2001 plus extra 2000 picks. |
| Robert Blunt | A+ | The Redskins get an A+ for taking champ baily and getting the first round draft pick in 2000. The Redsins don't really need Ricky Williams as much as Camp Baily in my opinion because they have a great runner in skip hicks if you watched the Tampa Bay game last year you would know how he can run it inside and out. Besides Derrel Green should teach champ alote this year. Jan janson is a guy that probably wont get injured and give our line some real consistantsy. |
| Paul M Mahoney | B+ | I have long been a critic of Casserly; however, to be fair, one must give credit when credit is due. He did a very good job this year. We had 5 holes to fill (in order of priority) this off-season: QB, CB, OT, DE, and WR. He was able to fill 4 out of 5. The grade is B+ because: I think he gave up too much to Minn. for B. Johnson, and too much to the Bears to move up in the first round. Cook may be a good, run-stopping DE. We could have used all of those lower picks to fill more holes. Take a chance on a long-shot. I think Jansen will be a solid starter for many years; he looks like a Jumbo Elliott. I like Derek Smith (I live w/in 45 minutes of Va. Tech and saw him play several times over the past 2 years.) He is a good, tough OL, and may be able to play LOT. There were many OL drafted in rounds 4 and 5 that we could have used. There were many DE who were "tweeners" that we could have brought in, perhaps they could play on passing downs to rush the opposing QB. We missed some opportunities, and with some many needs it hurt to give away all those round 4 and 5 picks. We need a K, but Hall does not have a history of being able to nail the long kick, and did not put kick-offs into the end zone at UT. BUT, overall a good offseason and draft for Casserly. |
| Stewart Small | B | Grade: B/B-. Charley Casserly finally had a first-round he could be proud of. He wheeled and dealed and still got the man he wanted. He traded down and stockpiled the team with draft picks and picked up who could become the heir apparent to Darrell Green when (if?) he steps down. What Casserly did in that first round last weekend was reminiscent of Bill Parcells first draft with the Jets when he had the #1 pick, traded down twice to gain draft picks, selected the guy he always wanted in the first round, then used all those extra draft picks wisely. This brings me to the downside of the draft. While I am happy we have three #1 picks next year, I don't think Casserly used the extra picks very well. Why did Casserly give up two picks to move up and select a guy (OT - Derek Smith) who probably won't play this year because he's recovering from a knee injury suffered at the scouting concubines? He may never recover. Casserly lost major points with me there. I also think he passed up on some defensive ends that other teams are happy with. |
| Larry from Canoga Park | C | I think that Champ Bailey will be a nice kick returner and adequate corner. Jansen and Smith could become regulars also. The real question is who is going to kidnap and sequester Casserly and Turner to prevent them from trading away all of next year's number one picks for Norm Sneed, Art Donovan and Big Daddy Lipscome? |
| Jon RokkKrinn | B- | Why so low? Well, first I will commend CC for being very honorable and professional in doing what he genuinely felt was the best for the Redskins as an organization. His moves were impressive and showed guts and initiative. Lets start by looking at the picks: Champ Bailey: Obviously, he is a talented athlete. There is no argument about that. He has good height at six feet, but his weight is a concern. At only 180 lbs he may be pushed around by larger "Irvin" type receivers in the NFL. He is also not a good hitter. Similar to Deon in the fact that he is excellent as pass coverage and very average at hitting and tackling. Camp should help us in a position that we do need a good amount of help. Hopefully, he will enable our weak defensive line to get more sacks by providing blanket coverage. Jon Jansen: This is my favorite pick of the draft. Why? Well, it answers one of our most glaring needs, O-Line. Also, Jansen has the size and skills to probably step in and start for us this season. Also, he spells his first name correctly. This was a wise pick by CC. Nate Stimson: This pick I didn't like. I thought that DE Aaron Smith, DE Antonio Cochran, WR Na Brown or RB Cecil Collins would all have been much better picks in the 4th round. Plus any of those players would have addressed a serious need in those positions. LB is a deep area on our team and picking a guy who want; highly rated and who is too small for DE didn't make much sense to me. Derek Smith: Well, even though I hate the Hokies, this was a great pick. I saw Smith play and I think he will be able to start for the Skins once he recovers from his injury. This was a first round level player that we "stole" in the 5th round. Jeff Hall: This pick I absolutely hated with a bitter and burning passion. This was a pure waste of a pick. This guy would probably not have even been drafted and we could have gotten him as a free agent. Plus, the big knock on this guy is that he has a weak leg. Hmm, he is accurate but has a weak leg. Hasn't that been the problem with the past several kickers we have had on our team? This was a very unimpressive selection. Instead we could have gotten WR MarTay Jenkins or WR Dee Miller and addressed a glaring weakness on offense. Tim Alexander: All I have to say about this pick is: too little, too late. WR was a glaring weakness for our team and we wait until the last round of the draft to address it. This guy may not even make the team. And if he does then that is a sign that we are pretty desperate at this position. Our 4th round pick should have gone to the WR position. Overall I like Champ, Jansen and Smith. I don't like the picks of Stimson, Hall and Alexander. CC goes 50/50 with me. After a strong first day, I felt CC really had a below average second day of the draft. He is a class act, but don't expect Snyder to keep him. Now, I mentioned at the beginning of this interminably long diatribe that I would touch on the Ricky v. Champ debate. First, let me say that, contrary to popular belief, I would have taken Williams instead of Champ. Why? Well, I have the traditional and rather typical answers to that. First, I fell a RB has more impact over more games during a season and the post season. I feel that teams can latch onto a talented back and ride his to a championship while cannot do this with a CB. Second, We are very weak at the RB position. All we have is Hicks and Davis. Davis has already proven to be unable to be the starting back. He is far too average. Hicks was also less than spectacular when he played. Unless Hicks has a dramatic improvement in playing ability, the Skins will be saddled with a rather pedestrian rushing attack that will lead to teams teeing off on the pass rush and killing our fragile million dollar QB. Third, franchise backs are rare and when you have a chance to scoop one up I believe you should. Now, I also have stronger more unconventional arguments as to why the Skins should have drafted Williams. Forget about all that garbage I just spouted out about what RB's can do for a team versus a CB and all that garbage. Lets talk about what really matters. The spirit of the franchise. The spirit of the fans. Williams could have brought an identity to the Skins that they have lacked since John Riggins left. Also, Williams would have brought star quality and larger than life glamour to a sagging and broken down franchise. Williams would have also pumped up the fans and given them extra reason to come and cheer at the games. Williams would have enables Skins fans to hold their heads up a little higher. Williams would have been a symbol of success in which Skins fans could find hope and excitement. Champ does none of this. He is not the star Heisman trophy winning franchise back. He is just a very good corner back that nobody in America really knows or cares about. Hew does not symbolize what Williams does. He will not given an identity to the team or energize the crowd's hopes and desires. This is the real reason why the Skins should have drafter Williams. And if he turns out to be the next great RB then the Skins really doomed themselves to ridicule. |
| Carl E. Seely | C- | At best a C- . I say that because of lost potential. The Saints offered every team above us more than we received and we overpaid for the move back up. While I like having another 1st rounder, if we don't convert picks into talent it's not much good. Aside from lost potential, we came out of the draft with two possible starters. We got that last year without a first round pick. Our draft is top-heavy - if Champ ain't a star, this draft goes down the tubes. |
| Andy Rauch | B+ | After reviewing the entire two days of the draft I have decided that I like what the 'Skins did. I was a little pissed at first, when they passed on Williams, but I've decided that Champ is actually less risky than Williams and provides a better gain to the team. CC gets a B+ from me, it would have been an A if we had not given the Bears as many picks to move back up, or if we had received a player from the Aint's. I still believe that we came away with 2 great players, Johnson and Baily, one tough RT, Jansen, and a few others who may contribute in the future. The additional pick in next years first round is nice to have, but it can't help the 'Skins this year unless we make a trade - which I think we will do (just not sure when). I am not predicting a playoff year, however, since I believe the draft picks will take time to make a difference. The only difference maker could be Baily, and I assume Johnson, but we are much farther than a QB & DB away from the playoffs. |
| Anonymous | A+ | - |
| Tony Jones | B- | I feel you can't grade a draft until 3-4 years after that draft...these players haven't played one down in the NFL. I like the trade that CC did with the Saints, but to give up all those picks except for next year's #1 was too much with a team needing so much. Thought they could use those picks to bring in players to compete against others in their position to make the "team" better. I like the pick of Jansen in the second round, but I feel he would have been there 3 choices later and still would have keep those picks. At first I didn't like the Nate Stimson pick, but after thinking about it for a few hours, I like it. Gives us depth at MLB with speed and he can also help out on the special teams. I also like the pick of Smith, however, again, I feel he would have been there at the Skins next pick (due to injury) and still could have had the picks they traded. Drafting Hall was and still is unbelieveable for someone who doesn't have leg strength for a kicker. The Skins have said they wanted a kicker with a strong leg, but they draft one who doesn't....hummm. The pick of Alexander instead of McDonald from Kansas State really baffies me to this day, and I don't think I will understand it unless Alexander makes the team and and contributes and McDonald is a bust at TB. The best part of the draft was getting a QB in Brad Johnson who can help us this year, where drafting a rookie could not. |
| Bob "Chief" Lewis | A- | I would grade the Redskins draft as an "A-" We did some fancy trading. We got the guy we wanted, we also got a #1 draft choice next year out of the deal. This alone would be a "A+" The 2nd round pick of the OT looks fairly solid but the rest of the draft was just so-so in my opinion which pulls the overall grade down from a A+ to a A-. Nevertheless one of if not the best drafts in the 1990's for the Skins. |
| Rebel Yell | B | I would give the Redskins 1999 draft a "B" I think Charley Casserly made some great draft day deals, especially considering the "ownership" problems that are hanging over the team. As tempting as taking Ricky Williams was, I feel it was a no-brainer taking the picks from New Orleans. Then moving back up to 7, to get Champ was brilliant. Casserly got his man, and a couple of draft picks to boot. He also addressed the offensive line problem, by drafting a couple of good OT prospects. I feel this may well be the best Redskins draft in years. |
| Mike Hord | B | Based on the players taken, (top two picks) and what it does in improving the overall needs of the team, a B is warranted. However, I think the Skins should have drafted Williams instead. The grade does not reflect this because you don't grade what you don't have. |
Comments? Mail Pat at patb@aus.sun.com