Question...

[Dirk Diggler]

How nice would Hutchinson look on our O line right about now? Assuming we would have still drafted Mr. sMoot in Round 2.

[Cskin]

In the long run, we would have been worse off. First of all, name a team in the league that has three number one lineman on it. Paying the money to the tackles is one thing, but guards for the most part are developed from athletic yet serviceable interior lineman.

Although we haven't seen Gardner light it up this preseason, I think he will prove to be an excellent selection in the first round. Just the fact that he got open the other night and George couldn't get him the ball means something.

The drafting of Gardner, Smoot, and Rosenfels will prove to be a solid foundation in which to build a championship contender. Add McCants to that draft and you might possibly have one of the most successful draft days in NFL history. And...what about Monds, with the proper conditioning and coaching, he could become the next Sam Adams.

[Henry]

I agree with Cskin. You don't want to build up your OL with first roud picks. It's too expensive. Not to nit-pick, but I think we only have one first rounder (Samuels) on the line right now.

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"Men, there's nothing to get excited about. The situation is normal; we are surrounded."

[hailredskinscom]

Epecially considering how many other needs that must be addressed int he future and the limited cap space we have. Somtimes it is good to have older vets like Szott on the line to provide the stability and smarts that a rookei just doesn't provide right away.

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[Cskin]

Henry,

Didn't we move up in the draft to take Jansen? Oh..well now that I think about it, I think we moved up several postions to the top of the second to take him. But...for arguments sake, it's not often that you take two lineman, tackles at that, in the first 35 selections consecutively in the draft.

Quite simply, you look for franchise tackles....you develop quality guards. Heck, even the Gangsta Johnson was a later round pick...and he was from Temple wasn't he?

The 1st and 2nd rounds of draft should be for impact players. That includes franchise Tackles, like Boselli or Samuels or Pace or Ogden, as well as QB's... Wr's... DT's... and Linebackers. Heck...add a good cover corner to that mix as well.

Safeties..Punters...Kickers....and OG should be picked as "Best Available Athletes" in the mid to late rounds.

Just my opinion....which when evaluated....tends to be torn apart like a wounded seal by a hungry Great White. HA!

[Henry]

Pretty sure we just grabbed Jansen with our second round pick. Doesn't change your arguement, which I feel is valid. Didn't mean to jump on you.

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"Men, there's nothing to get excited about. The situation is normal; we are surrounded."

[Montilar]

Only ONE #1 pick on the OL. Actually where the money comes in is when one turns into a stud such as Janson and to keep them you have to reward them. Kinda like what was done for Tre when he had the one healthy year in his contract year. And like what needs to be done for Janson. And if your fussing about money going out to a 1st round pick like Hutchison, Coleman was signed at 1.1 million for one year. And he may not even start. If there had not been such a need at WR, you can bet Hutchison would of been the pick and #%$^ the money.

Kinda interesting that the players with the long STARTING histories tend to be the ones taken higher isn't it. Sad thing is just like any other position, the best performers on the OL tend to go early in the draft. Statistically I would bet that the star to competent to bum ratio for the OL position is no different than any other postion based on when drafted.

Samuels #1

Raymer #2 (37th overall) 1995

Janson #2 (shoulda been a #1)

Campbell undrafted 1994 converted from TE (Carolina)

Coleman #2 (32cd overall) Arizona)

Fischer #5

Brandt undrafted

Fletcher #5 1999 (New England)

Albright undrafted 1994 (Miami)

Szott ?

Mookie Moore #4

Still on roster? Terrence Simmons, Ryan Kalich, Ross Tucker (at least according to redskins.com)

Kalich was in Europe and if I remember correctly European players get roster exemptions for part of preseason. don't know when that goes out of effect. Anyway kalich is a center/guard and would have to beat out Raymer/Fischer/Brandt.

[Cskin]

Henry,

Just joking about the "Great White" thing.... because quite frankly I enjoy the playful banter here. And... We've got quite a few here who just love to take the converse opinion, which makes for good posts and dialogue.

[Montilar]

Tre Johnson was a 2cd round pick, cskin. A relatively high second rounder if I recall correctly.

[Terry]

Gibbs showed us that with the right guys on your OL, you can mix and match with your offensive skill players, going to the SB with 3 different QBs and 3 different running backs.

Dallas may have had the triplets, but I look at the monster OL as the key. If they had been putzing around with their OL like we were under Norv, I don't think any of those three would be going to the HOF.

So your OL is a key component of a successful offense, and if you can keep it intact over time, you can plug and play different skill players and still expect good results.

But that being said, you don't try to build that OL by grabbing each lineman in the 1st round. For every high quality guy like Samuels or Jansen, it's nice to have somebody you grabbed in lower round - either by shrewd drafting or serendipity, and even an undrafted guy every once in a while. That way you can save those precious high round picks for skill position guys.

[redman]

Cskin nailed it.

To say it another way, you need to look not only at who else we could have drafted, but also who else we did draft and what needs we addressed. Name a better combination for us in both talent and need than WR Gardner and CB Smoot. The only possibility that comes to mind would be OG Hutchinson and WR Chambers, who we could have had in the second if Hutch went to us in the first. But Chambers surprised people in camp with how good he was, so on draft day he was a risky candidate to be counted on to address our dire need for a front-line WR. Both Gardner and Smoot should be at least steady offensive starters for many years. That's what you want out of mid-first round picks, and you're ecstatic if you get that mid-second round.

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"Loosen up, Sandy baby. You're just too damn tight!" - John Riggins to Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor

[NavyDave]

I would love to have Hutch that too many number ones on the line is nonsense when it's a can't miss type like Hutch.

However when we have a need of skill players like we do at WR and CB and we can also keep them from our rivals you take them.

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Take a sip of the Marty Kool Aid and Believe

[bulldog]

look. you can take any position in HINDSIGHT, four months after the draft and say we should have taken Player X.

right now it's Hutchinson.

But what if Westbrook had reinjured his ACL and Lockett had also sustained an injury of some sort?

Then you would be complaining we passed on Gardner or Moss and now have linemen but nobody to make plays on offense!

This kind of circular argument gets you nowhere.

The only way you can say we DEFINITELY should have taken Hutchinson was if the Redskins KNEW they already had a full corps of receivers healthy and simply ignored the need inside at guard.

That was not the case. Wide receiver was perhaps even more of a need area in April.

[Montilar]

I didn't say Gardner wasn't the right way to go, given the circumstances. Yes I would of liked Hutch, but given the situation, I figured Hutch was only gonna be taken if everything fell wrong. There was too much need at WR and DL/LB (if any were there) to take Hutchison.

What I was looking at, is the stupid argument about "too much money tied up in the OL". Well, if they took Dan Morgan, then look at all the money tied up at LB with lavar, Dan Morgan, and soon to be free agent Barber. Or look at the money that was tied up at cornerback with Champ, Deion and Darrell. Or at QB last year with George and Brad.

I listed the postion drafted to show that of the linemen that are being counted on, most of the better ones were high picks.

Whoever performs is getting the money. When Janson's contract comes due, your going to pay him just like Samuels. Just like Tre was paid. (wasn't his salary supposed to be above 4 million this year?). And you want to use that as an excuse to not draft Hutchison???

Yes it would be nice if some roster spots would get filled with low round draft picks. And yes we are now in the Marty era. But...... who was the last truly decent low round draft pick to make a major contribution to the team for more than one season. (if you throw out the one hit wonders such as Albert "head up his @ss" Connell, would the last one be Brian Mitchell?????. Albert wasn't a "low round pick" either. He was a "mid round" pick.

Stephan Davis as a middle of the road 4th rounder is pretty much the best mid or late round pick taken since Gibbs retired. Albert Connell, also a 4th would be the next best.

Name a late rounder (5th or lower) that has done more than make the team as a back-up for at most one or two years? I make Brad Badger as the best 5th or lower taken - but he's with the vikings and was the back-up until Stringers death ................

Actually what this says is the talent evaluation since Gibbs left has flat out S*CKED.

Oh, gibbs did great with lower picks on the line. But that's why he's in the Hall. He's one of the best. But Gibbs isn't here anymore. Neither is Bethard. Yes, It can be done. But you need to be able to evaluate talent. Post gibbs was another story entirely. Norv's tenure showed no talent evaluation skills at all. Marty and staff? who knows.

You can find a diamond in the rough sometimes. But you have to be good at sifting the wheat from the chaff. The skins haven't done that since before Gibbs retired.

[<IMG SRC="http://www.extremeskins.com/ubb/edited.gif" border=0> by Montilar on August 27, 2001.]

[ by Montilar on August 27, 2001.]

[Brave]

Hutch would look GREAT on our line ... but not any better than Gardner will eventually look lining up outside of it. Our hand was forced and the right choice was made.