Cerrato says DL, OL were first consideration

[RedskinsInFebruary]

Cerrato was on the John Riggins show this afternoon--he basically told Riggins they were looking DL, then OL, but all the linemen they had rated high enough (the ones that would constitute an "upgrade" was the term he used I think) were gone by the Skins' spots in the draft.

[skinfan31]

I've been down on this FO for a long time. But for the first time I can say, I feel that they did a good job. I'm happy with the draft for the first time in years. Many people on this board don't agree with the first 3 picks, but based on the talent that was there I agree with Cerrato.

[live4burgandyandgold]

I really like this draft too. If you go back and look at the first round picks look at how many are OL and DL compared to everything else...its pretty obvious that the other teams raided that area before we got a chance to draft...i believe cerrato, and think he did the right thing.

[Redskins4ever]

I think with the weapons that were available by the time was picked, it was better to pass by the linemen on offense and defense. Jon Jansen getting injured every other season is a concern. But the Redskins are solid on the offensive line. As far as the defense, there are many young players that have the ability to become outstanding play makers.

[Fred Jones]

They targeted Merling with the first pick. First they liked him and second didn't think Thomas would have been available. When Miami took Merling and not Thomas the choice became academic.

I think with the Kelly pick they were targeting Campbell and Zona picked him up so they took Kelly.

Time will tell on the moves. Personally, I am going to watch Merling because I think he is going to be good.

[DarrellsMyHero28]

The road to hell is paved with good intentions...

In this case, the thought doesn't count, and I know we went with BPA and everything but it would be nice if we could get SOME help on either line.

[21LightsOut21]

im glad they didnt reach.. We pick up BPA and then we are set.. we can fill need positions with some vets until we are able to draft again.

[morpheusmeyers]

Going BPA is always smart. Getting P. Merling with our 1st pick or T. Laws with our 2nd would have been nice, but Merling went two picks ahead of D. Thomas, and Laws right before we picked F. Davis.

Hopefully Rhinehart is a player, and injuries on the lines are held to a minimum.

Overall I think we did pretty good. I would have liked to see us use our 5th on R. Scheunberg instead of trading down...but I'm not the one picking.

[DieselPwr44]

Doesn't wash with me.

In past drafts, they've wheeled and dealed to move up and down the board to get the player they want.

Every draft, for 11 years, this team has ignored the DE position in the early rounds of the draft like they were the plague.

And every year, we get another excuse as to why.

Same old song but just a different beat...........

[The Waterboy]

OL & DL are a concern, but they are not a problem. Scoring in the Red Zone was a PROBLEM. The Problem was that the SKINS did not have any sufficiently big WR for short yardage targets, thus the opposing team could sit on the run thereby stopping the SKINS inside the limited fieldage available defined by the 20 yard line and end zone.

The closer to the goal line the Skins got, the harder it was for them to make yardage as the WR were hard to find in the crowded limited space. The QB had to throw "downhill" to get to them.

Concerns MAY be addressed at anytime when the opportunity, time, and personnel coincide. On the other hand, problems MUST be address at the first reasonable opportunity, so the potential fix can be worked, demonstrated and proven. Not scoring in the red zone after running up and down the field is a MUST fix problem, not a nice to fix concern.

The WR and TE selections squarely addressed the MUST fix problem in 2008. Give the FO an "A" for actually addressing a PROBLEM and not squandering their early pick on "concerns".

[Commander Adama]

The road to hell is paved with good intentions...

In this case, the thought doesn't count, and I know we went with BPA and everything but it would be nice if we could get SOME help on either line.

It's also paved with ignorance

[DieselPwr44]

As far as the OL is concerned:

This OL has been horrendous in short yardage situations(rushing).

For all the talk and hype about how great a run blocking line they are,they have struggled to create any push in 3rd and 4th down short situations.

Healthy or not.

[Fred Jones]

The road to hell is paved with good intentions...

In this case, the thought doesn't count, and I know we went with BPA and everything but it would be nice if we could get SOME help on either line.

The team could have taken Merling with the 21st pick and probably picked Kelly with the lone second round pick.

Time will tell which combination of Merling/Kelly or Thomas/Davis/Kelly is better.

[Sonny9TD]

As far as the OL is concerned:

This OL has been horrendous in short yardage situations(rushing).

For all the talk and hype about how great a run blocking line they are,they have struggled to create any push in 3rd and 4th down short situations.

Healthy or not.

That is true. Rhinehart should start at left guard, and hope Randy Thomas stays healthy and they just might be able to run.

[meek]

Originally Posted by meek

The front office of this team is so full of BS its unbelievable. Everything is just so much spin its not even worth paying attention to anymore. Just yesterday, not even 24 hours ago, Cerrato got on TV and stated that they were very pleased with the draft in large part because every time they traded down they ended up still getting the same guy they targeted with the original pick. So which is it??? It can't be both. Some of us may be homers and drink the burgundy & gold Kool-Aid but enough is enough, they take us for fools.

Obviously, if we just missed out on DL players that we wanted to draft, then we did not get the guy we originially planned on taking. The 2 are mutually exclusive. Cerrato either lied through his teeth or the latest report about wanting Dlinemen is a lie.

Originally Posted by TheLongshot

Not at all, because that only applies to Devon Thomas, Justin Tryon, and Durant Brooks, who were all the next guy they picked after they traded. For the other picks (and the ones where we traded out of, like in the 5th round where Zorn said that there was a LB we were targeting that was picked before the pick), that is very much possible.

Jason

Quotes taken from thread: http://extremeskins.com/forums/showthread.php?t=245836&page=10&pp=15

Please excuse me if this comes across as a call-out post, that is not my intent. I think Jason made a valid point at the time, but one which is further undermined by this latest comment from Vinny. Instead, my goal is to keep track of all the pieces that continue to come out of Vinny's mouth in the aftermath of the draft to illustrate the fact that this FO continues to try and blow smoke up our butts.

Vinny appeared on Redskins radio in the week leading up to the draft and made a comment to the effect of Merling being rated very highly on their board and that they though he would be gone somewhere around pick 15 of the 1st round. Now, somethings got to give here.

Was Merling really evaluated by the team as a top 15 pick or was that a lie?

Did we really get the same player that we originally intended to each time we traded down or was that a lie?

Were OL and DL really our first considerations or was that a lie?

I realize that some people don't care that we get fed constant spin jobs from the front office, but I for one am growing tired of it. Those of us living in the DC area have to deal with it enough already from the politicians.

[bricucci]

2 guys with 1st round grades and the Mackey award winner. Redzone was the problem last year, if they overcome that and the D holds, this team can be very very good. Merling is going to be a good pro, but he wouldnt' bring the passrush everyone is screaming for, he a strong run stopper with the potential to be an 8 -10 sack guy, can you say Phillp Daniels 2.0. I really wished they had grabbed Campbell with the 48th pick and then Kelly or Davis (preferably Kelly) with the 51st pick. But I thought they had a very very good draft, the pick that I didn't like was the Colt Brennan grab, had to be better projects available with that pick, we all saw the Jordan Palmer experiment, you can keep your WAC QB's.

[bulldog]

None of the players were left on the DL where the Redskins were picking because they traded down.

Merling or Jackson could have been picked up at #21 or a trade down several slots before the end of the first round.

The truth is the Redskins traded too far down to get a blue chip DL or OL the way the draft now grades them out.

Wide receivers tend to fall because it is a notoriously difficult position to predict future performance and there are perhaps more WR busts in the top 45 picks than any other position.

[elkabong82]

Imagine that, Vinny and Co. stuck to their board. But I thought they were purposely ignoring DE so people could complain about them even though the majority of experts say they're draft was very good. Please. Vinny has already said DL was a target but value guys were taken a few times beofre their pick. Too bad somebody's word isn't good enough for the haters, then maybe we'd have some decnt threads to discuss, instead of repeats.

If you look actually look at the board, at who exactly was availble when we pciked each time, you'd see Calais Campbell was the only sole consideration, and he is a very big bust concern.

[SonnyJ]

Instead, my goal is to keep track of all the pieces that continue to come out of Vinny's mouth in the aftermath of the draft to illustrate the fact that this FO continues to try and blow smoke up our butts.

...

Dude, seriously - get a grip.

If you take all this stuff literally, you're going to give yourself a heart attack.

[CapitalDefense]

The one I am pointing to is picking the TE Davis(48th) and the WR Kelly(51st) over the rush end Quentin Groves, who was picked by Jacksonville at 52. Jack Del Rio is a great defensive mind, if Groves has a good year, that will hurt.

I was screaming pick Groves before both of those picks!

Calaias Campbell was picked at 50, so we also had a shot at him. So I will keep my eye on that one as well. Most think Vinny did a good job because we actually picked alot of players, folks its not quantity, it quality.

[GSF]

I thought they did a good job. I also thought/hoped they would take Groves, but I like the picks.

[meek]

Dude, seriously - get a grip.

If you take all this stuff literally, you're going to give yourself a heart attack.

You're not the first person to tell me that. What can I say...I take this team and my love for them very seriously. I feel like Lavar, I love the team and the players, I just don't trust the FO.

[TheLongshot]

Please excuse me if this comes across as a call-out post, that is not my intent. I think Jason made a valid point at the time, but one which is further undermined by this latest comment from Vinny. Instead, my goal is to keep track of all the pieces that continue to come out of Vinny's mouth in the aftermath of the draft to illustrate the fact that this FO continues to try and blow smoke up our butts.

Vinny appeared on Redskins radio in the week leading up to the draft radio before the draft and made a comment to the effect of Merling being rated very highly on their board and that they though he would be gone somewhere around pick 15 of the 1st round. Now, somethings got to give here.

Was Merling really evaluated by the team as a top 15 pick or was that a lie?

That kinda compels me to reply.

Is it really such a stretch that Thomas was rated higher than Merling? In most mocks, Thomas was off the board when the Skins picked. Vinny himself said that he didn't expect that Thomas would be there when they picked. He certainly didn't expect him to still be there in the second round.

Did we really get the same player that we originally intended to each time we traded down or was that a lie?

Considering the quality of player we got each time, no, I don't think that was a lie.

Were OL and DL really our first considerations or was that a lie?

I don't think that's a lie either. Just because you want something doesn't mean that you are going to be able to get it.

I think it is obvious from the way the draft played out that the team felt that they had a lot of depth needs at multiple positions. It is the reason why we didn't see the traditional trade up for a player of need.

I think the guys they were mainly looking at in the 2nd round on the DL were Merling and Laws. When neither fell to the right spot, they went with other players.

Jason

[hfmonk]

The one I am pointing to is picking the TE Davis(48th) and the WR Kelly(51st) over the rush end Quentin Groves, who was picked by Jacksonville at 52. Jack Del Rio is a great defensive mind, if Groves has a good year, that will hurt.

I was screaming pick Groves before both of those picks!

Calaias Campbell was picked at 50, so we also had a shot at him. So I will keep my eye on that one as well. Most think Vinny did a good job because we actually picked alot of players, folks its not quantity, it quality.

Because so many picks fail to last a year in the NFL you have to have quantity and quality...Since we got the best TE and the 2 best WR's in the draft, I think we accomplished that. Thomas wasnt even in our minds....He was expected to go as high as 11. Kelly we were praying for but not expecting him to last past 19. Davis had a chance of being taken by us at 21....he wasnt supposed to fall lower than the last pick of the first round. On top of that we got a starting caliber OL in Rinehart and two guys that could possibly develop into starters given the chance and the patience of the coaches in DeVan and Brown. So we got quality and quantity in the draft and UDFA's. This is a good draft for us.

I think Tryon has a roster spot, Kareem Moore and Rob Jackson have a shot at a roster spot, but dont expect Matteral Richardson to make it to even PS. The rest of the draft picks....flip a coin.

I bet Danny Verdun-Wheeler is going to be called bug or beetle for all of camp because his last name initials are VW.:laugh:

[TheLongshot]

The truth is the Redskins traded too far down to get a blue chip DL or OL the way the draft now grades them out.

Actually, the blue chippers for both were gone by the time #21 came around. When Atlanta traded up to their pick, they picked the last blue chip OT on the board. So, instead of settling for a lesser player, they went and took blue chippers at other positions.

Imagine that, Vinny and Co. stuck to their board. But I thought they were purposely ignoring DE so people could complain about them even though the majority of experts say they're draft was very good. Please. Vinny has already said DL was a target but value guys were taken a few times beofre their pick. Too bad somebody's word isn't good enough for the haters, then maybe we'd have some decnt threads to discuss, instead of repeats.

If you look actually look at the board, at who exactly was availble when we pciked each time, you'd see Calais Campbell was the only sole consideration, and he is a very big bust concern.

Just as a note, from most of what came out of Vinny's mouth, DE didn't seem to be a huge need in his view. He was more looking for a guy who could get some push from the inside. That's why I think Merling and Laws were big on their list.

But, as Blache says, you don't worry about what you don't have and you work with what you do have.

Jason