Once more, go read this.
I advocate trading down in this draft. The #21 position looks less and less likely to yield a must-have type player and our needs are more quantity (depth) than quality (starter). The more picks the better when addressing an aging defensive and offensive line, linebacker depth, WR, CB, safety, etc. The good news is that the Redskins are apparently interested in trading down. Hat tipped towards PFT:
Jason Reid and Jason La Canfora of the Washington Post suggest that the Redskins will look to trade down if the top players on their draft board are gone when their turn to pick in round one comes around.
Possible targets for the team include Oklahoma receiver Malcolm Kelly, Virginia offensive lineman Brendan Albert, and Vanderbilt tackle Chris Williams.
A fine list of players, I suppose, though I'm bigger on the linemen than I am on Kelly. The Post has the story:
The Redskins hold the 21st pick in the April 26-27 draft, and they are expected to discuss trading down if the top players on their draft board have been selected when they are scheduled to pick. How the draft unfolds will help to determine the Redskins' plan, and Vinny Cerrato, executive vice president of football operations, said he is always interested in making a good deal.
"You never rule anything out," Cerrato said recently. "When you're trying to improve, you explore all your options to make the team better. If someone comes to you with something that makes sense, you think about it."
The remaining question is trading down... with whom? There's been little substance regarding our hypothetical trading partner. Many teams no doubt would like to trade down, though are limited towards that end by circumstances outside their control, such as willing and available partners. Baltimore, perhaps? They are allegedly interested in Joe Flacco:
“If [Flacco] was playing at a major college,” ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr., said, “we’d be debating right now whether he should be the first pick in the draft or ahead of Matt Ryan. I can’t see anyway he gets out of the first round. At the end of the first round, you’ll hear Joe Flacco’s name in there — at worst an early second rounder.”
The Ravens could gamble and hope he falls to them in the second round. Another option is trading up — maybe to the Redskins, picking 21 and desiring to trade down.
This was precisely the scenario contemplated here by some of you reader(s), where a team could emulate the 2005 Redskins, who traded up for then rookie Jason Campbell. With the retirement of Steve McNair, the Ravens need to find their future quarterback.
Let us help, please.