The man, the myth, the hair. It's pretty clear the Redskins had a solid 2011 draft. They turned six picks into twelve and every single player made the team or practice squad. Excluding Jarvis Jenkins' pre-season IR injury, every single one of the 12 players was on the active roster at one point and contributing. It'll be interesting to see how many of these guys beat out the competition next year. All that said, I gave the Redskins an "A" simply for netting six extra picks and avoiding drafting a QB. Locker, Ponder, Gabbert have not impressed, which means the Redskins would have been in a world of hurt. Enough on my opinion, here's what Mel Kiper had to say revisited:
Post-draft grade: C+
Summary: This felt like a novelty -- a Redskins draft with a ton of picks. The story of this draft was the fact that Washington didn't see a quarterback it wanted. Given the returns in the range in which the Redskins would have picked, it looks like a good calculation, at least in the short term. Only moving way down the board and ending up with Dalton could have looked better. Instead, the Redskins traded down, got Ryan Kerrigan at No. 16 and really aced the pick. Kerrigan picked up 7.5 sacks and played exactly as his draft projection had him pegged. Round 2 pick Jarvis Jenkins never saw the field because of injury, but both running back picks, Roy Helu and Evan Royster, played well when given the time, and I still think Leonard Hankerson has a chance to develop. Maurice Hurt looks like a seventh-round keeper. Having a lot of picks can help; it certainly helped this grade rise over the course of the season.
New grade: B
Only a B? This is where I'd get the Andy Dufresne nerves to tell Kiper, "How can you be so obtuse?" Kiper's response:
