2011 Draft Special: Pick #10- Washington Redskins

Game Of Inches Mock Draft (so far):
1) Carolina Panthers- DT Nick Fairley (Auburn)
2) Denver Broncos- DE Da'Quan Bowers (Clemson)
3) Buffalo Bills- CB Patrick Peterson (LSU)
4) Cincinnati Bengals- WR A.J. Green (Georgia)
5) Arizona Cardinals- QB Blaine Gabbert (Missouri)
6) Cleveland Browns- OLB Von Miller (Texas A&M)
7) San Fransisco 49ers- CB Prince Amukamara (Nebraska)
8) Tennessee Titans- QB Cam Newton (Auburn)
9) Dallas Cowboys- DT Marcell Dareus (Alabama)

Redskins have the best fantasy team ever! If there was ever proof that you need chemistry along with talent to actually win football games, then Dan Snyder's Washington team is your Exhibit A. Although, their talent evaluations aren't spot on either. This team really needs to stop pouncing at every single free agent that hits the market like a horny high school boy that pounces at every girl that winks at him- even the uggos. As bad as this team was in 2011, this team looks like it's just going to get worse over the years.

We're going to mix things up a bit and start with the defensive side first. They have some great contributors including middle linebacker London Flecther, defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth, safety LaRon Landry and linebacker Brian Orakpo. Yes, I purposefully left CB DeAngelo Hall off of that list because he's awful, but we'll get to him in a second. Brian Orakpo is a great, young talent (he's only 24 years old) and he's already an elite pass rusher. I put him on par with Mario Williams and Julius Peppers. London Fletcher is a fantastic middle linebacker and is probably better than Brian Urlacher at this point in both men's careers. But the biggest problem is that he's 35 years old. Even if the Washington Redskins do draft defense well (and that's a big "if") by the time that defense gets good, Fletcher might not be. Albert Haynesworth is still a fantastic talent, but at this point in time, the Redskins need to release or trade the defensive tackle because no way that talent will ever perform in a Redskins uniform again.

And then we have DeAngelo Hall. I'm so upset that he keeps getting accolades. First a Pro Bowl birth and then the Pro Bowl MVP! Ack! What the hell! He's so bad that we here at Game Of Inches have an effect named after him: The DeAngelo Hall Effect. This is where a cornerback is so bad that opposing quarterbacks love to throw on him, but because he gets so many passes thrown his way he gets so many interception opportunities that he ends up with a lot of interceptions. As Jay Cutler said in 2010 after Hall picked the quarterback four times:

I've played against him before. There's no reason to shy away from him. I mean, that's hard for me to say, throwing four picks at a guy, but I'd still, if we had to play them tomorrow, I'd go at him every time, if we could.

Yeah, Hall is a bad corner and a bad player moving forward for this Redskins team.

According to Football Outsiders, the Washington Redskins had the 27th best pass defense and the 18th best rush defense.

Washington has some major holes to fill on offense. Let's be honest, when you think Rex Grossman is a better option than you're starting quarterback, then you need a new quarterback. However, the Redskins are pretty much stuck with Donovan McNabb. Not only did they gave up valuable draft picks but they are tied into a huge five year contract with the Syracuse alum.

While the Redskins don't have even close to an every down back with the aging Ryan Torrain and Clinton Portis or even with youngsters Keiland Williams and James Davis, it doesn't matter because head coach Mike Shanahan has the best zone blocking offensive line scheme ever that I could be the running back for the Redskins and gain 4 yards a carry every time I touched the rock. Plus, Shanahan takes the GOI view that running backs are as fungible as tic tacs.

Chris Cooley is a good tight end but as rookie TE's Tony Moeaki, Aaron Hernandez, and Rob Gronkowski proved in 2010, you can find better tight ends than Cooley very late in the draft. As far as wide receivers go, Santana Moss is fine, but he's 31 years old and already showing signs of decline from not the greatest talent to begin with. The receiver who plays across from Moss, Anthony Armstrong, looks really good and fast, but looks to be closer to Johnny Knox than Mike Williams.

Last year, Washington had the 22nd best run blocking and pass blocking offensive line (although I think the low run blocking ranking is because of the talent of the runners and not the talent of the guys blocking). There were some bright spots on this line but they had the second worst blocking center in 2010.

So what direction should the Redskins go? Every team needs an offensive lineman and yet so far none has been picked yet. There are some great defensive lineman like North Carolina's DE Robert Quinn still available that could help out the Redskins as well. The 'Skins are in desperate need of a center and Florida's Mike Pouncey (brother of Steeler's center Maurkice Pouncey) is still available but there are plenty of better and more talented offensive lineman still waiting to be picked.

Because the Redskins are a bad team, they should take the philosophy that other bad teams should take in drafts: draft the best and most talented player still standing. In this case, it's Robert Quinn. Mel Kiper has Quinn ranked 7th on his big board and Scout's Inc has Quinn ranked 9th. According to this mock draft, they both have Robert Quinn as the best available player left.

Redskins traded away their third round pick to New Orleans and their fourth round pick to Philadelphia so this year, even more than past years for them, they need to draft well at the top. I'm not quite sure who will be available for the Redskins in the second round but they need to take the same approach as they should take in the first round and draft, no matter the position, the best player available.

I've seen many mock drafts that have the Redskins drafting Cam Newton but considering the Cardinals, 49ers, Titans, Bills, and Bengals have (or could have) quarterback issues, I find it hard to believe that Newton will even be available to Washington.

Redskins' Needs:

- Quarterback

Donovan is done and Rex Grossman shouldn't even be in the league

- Defensive Lineman

- Defensive Back

- Wide Receiver

- Center