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Redskins team needs per Frank Croyle

By Skin Patrol

Hat tip: Extreme Skins

Count me as someone who knows how difficult it is to provide daily, interesting, and accurate football related content, as I've failed miserably at that task regularly for months now. But I'm also unpaid and stupid. You won't find my words at a credible news site like, for instance, Yahoo Sports!.

Frank Croyle, who writes for Draft Insiders (which is probably an outstanding website, for all I know) recently had a piece on the Redskins Team Needs heading into the draft. Some of what he wrote is interesting as it (maybe) provides information on players the Redskins are interested that you may not know about. His credentials per Draft Insiders:

Frank Coyle is a nationally known pro football scout who publishes Draft Insiders' Digest. In it's 16th season, DraftInsiders.com is a website and publication dedicated to the year round coverage of NFL and NCAA Football.
So maybe the guy knows a thing or two about players and maybe he's got some contacts within the organization. That said, he also wrote some things I strongly disagree with. As one example:
Key Team Needs:
  1. Defensive line
  2. Offensive line
  3. Linebacker
  4. Defensive back
  5. Tight end

I would've taken 5 and 3 off the list. Linebacker seems pretty well shored up with Marcus Washington, London Fletcher, and Rocky McIntosh (all backed up by Lemar Marshall).
3. Linebacker - Washington signed veteran London Fletcher this offseason to fill the middle of their struggling defense. He is a productive defender who can stabilize a unit. They hope Rocky McIntosh lives up to his potential opposite Marcus Washington. They have little depth behind starters here and hope to draft into the deepest area of talent this April. In the middle rounds, they hope to get a chance at players like Stephen Nicholas and Juwan Simpson.
I shouldn't have to remind Mr. Croyle that the Redskins don't actually have any picks in the middle rounds. I think much of the talk about the 'Skins getting a Linebacker is based on the Briggs fiasco, though I think that was driven more by a loose lipped owner than any serious team need. Or at least that's my hope.

But if the Redskins are serious about pursuing a Linebacker "in the middle rounds" (which thay can't unless they trade down), I'd urge them not to. What happened in last year's draft, when we traded up for McIntosh, that convinced the front office they know the slightest thing about drafting Linebackers? Is replacing the guy you burned 3 draft picks on to select in the 2nd round with a 3rd-4th round pick really such a wise decision?

I don't really want to fault him too much for leaving TE and Linebacker on the list, actually, since he's included so many Football positions already and there simply aren't that many need areas. Offensive line has three positions, Defensive Line has two, and Defensive Backs occupy two as well. That's like half the starting positions on an NFL team right there. Presumably NFL teams, even of the 5 win persuasion, can't have needs at every position. So Frank can be forgiven for listing what are, in my opinion, some pretty covered positions. The only positions not covered by his list are Wide Receivers, Quarterbacks, and Running Backs (special teamers aren't real people). If you're going to generalize positions to the extent that we're only talking about 8 different categories, why stop at 5? I say go the whole nine yards, though maybe that's just me.

Here are the players Croyle lists that the Redskins "like" or "love" or etc. The Redskins are huge sluts:

They like DT Alan Branch and Amobi Okoye in the first round. They also like Tank Tyler and Justin Harrell in the mid first day area.
They like guard Ben Grubbs and Arron Sears.
They like corners Eric Wright and Tarell Brown there... On the second day, they have Daymeion Hughes and Fred Bennett on their short list. With the sixth overall pick, they love the idea of safety LaRon Landry to couple with Sean Taylor.
5. Tight End - The Redskins love Scott Chandler and Ben Patrick and see them as early contributors in their multiple attack. Chandler is a fine receiver, while Patrick is the more developed and all-around prospect.

The good news from all this is that Croyle has included so many damned mid round guys that surely the team must be pursuing a trade down scenario as it's pointless to target guys you won't have a chance at picking. Just because it happens to run concurrent with my favored Draft Day strategy, I like the idea that the 'Skins are keeping a close eye on many of the mid rounders.

Also Frank, might want to get your editor on board:

4. Corner/ Safety - The loss of CB Fred Smoot and Kenny Wright left this area thin...
Do you know something we don't? Is Fred Smoot on the team or isn't he? And wasn't it the inclusion of Kenny Wright in our secondary what made the position so weak to begin with?

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