Larry Brown #43 Posted November 5, 2007 Share Posted November 5, 2007 Remember Andre Johnson, the offensive tackle we selected from Penn State in the first round of the '96 draft? I came across this little writeup about the thought process that was going on behind the scenes leading up to that pick. It's a distant enough memory now that I think we can all look back and laugh about it, and it's kind of a fun read, even though it turned out to be a disaster. All was not lost that year, of course. We did manage to snag Stephen Davis in the 4th round. Imagine what a tandem Stephen Davis and Mike Alstott would have been for about 10 years? I recall the Bucs taking Alstott almost immediately after we took Andre Johnson... ... The Redskins, who traded their first round pick for Sean Gilbert, went into the draft looking to draft an offensive tackle with the seventh pick on the second round. But they started to get nervous when tackles started to go off the board late in the first round. Jermane Mayberry went to Philadelphia at No. 25, John Michels went to Green Bay at No. 27 and Pittsburgh grabbed Jamain Stephens at No. 29. The Redskins were now down to one tackle they liked -- Andre Johnson of Penn State -- and there were seven players to be selected before they could make the pick. They were particularly worried about Tampa Bay, which selected two spots in front of them on the second round. The Bucs had wanted an offensive tackle on the first round with their second choice, but decided they couldn't pass up defensive tackle Marcus Jones at the 22nd spot. That meant the Bucs would be looking at a tackle on the second round. Redskins general manager Charley Casserly decided he wouldn't risk losing Johnson. He gave the Dallas Cowboys a third round pick to move up from the 7th spot on the second round to the 30th spot on the first round and grabbed Johnson. Casserly said, "I think everyone in the NFL knew we wanted to take an offensive tackle with our second pick and yet we felt we could be sitting there and get jumped for it pretty easily. The decision was let's make the deal, get the player and then we have it done, instead of sitting there, hoping and praying the guy's available.'' By trading up, the Redskins got only one pick on the first day of the draft. But they still considered it a productive draft because they got Gilbert for the first pick and the offensive tackle they liked. They also think they got a steal with running back Stephen Davis with their fourth round pick. They had him rated much higher than that. The Redskins have now selected three offensive linemen with what amounted to their second round pick the last three years -- Tre Johnson, Cory Raymer and Andre Johnson -- and they think they've built the foundation of their line for the future. Round 1 -- Andre Johnson, OT, Penn State -- Johnson is expected to be the team's left tackle of the future because Jim Lachey's career is winding down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nightbird Posted November 5, 2007 Share Posted November 5, 2007 Where did you find this? I know we're pining for a real GM here nowadays, but it's amazing how many busts he drafted. Throw in Desmond Howard, Heath Shuler, Tydus Winans, Kenard Lang, Michael Westbrook, Reggie Brooks, Skip Hicks . . . grrrrrr. This Johnson guy simply could not play football. He could barely step backwards before the end would blow by him. Didn't even make the roster as I recall. Jim Lachey's career wound down all right -- and we ended up with Shar Pourdanesh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RenegadeTK Posted November 5, 2007 Share Posted November 5, 2007 sad..... so sad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.