I liken the Redskins marketing department to a hard-up husband who turns to his wife every single night and asks, "Do you wanna?" On behalf of all the husbands out there, I'd like to think that we have a bit more pride than the folks who came up with "R U In?" Then again, what better analogy is there for a balding dude whose ever-growing gut is being outpaced only by his ever-growing libido than the group whose job it is to monetize the loyalty and passion of a fanbase?
(I will conveniently refrain from commiserating with the married women out there, or "understanding the plight" of the constantly barraged wife. The difference between husbands and the Redskins marketers is that we husbands are just "making ourselves available" while the other group is clearly forcing itself upon the fanbase in a sometimes uninvited and unwarranted fashion. After all, when a husband gives his wife a Christmas card, how many times has she opened it to find an advertisement for Audi? Nice move, Dan.)
One thing I will say for the folks over in the Redskins marketing group: they are tenacious. That is exactly what we need as we make preparations for the draft in April. The #6 overall draft spot isn't always the catbird's seat. Last year though, it turned out to be, as Cleveland parlayed it into a very nice collection of picks from Atlanta for the right to draft Julio Jones. There will be at least a few guys available at #6 that the Redskins should have no problem finding a team interested in come April. Names like Trent Richardson, Justin Blackmon, Robert Griffin III and Morris Claiborne are all capable of landing the Redskins a comparable package to what Cleveland received from Atlanta last year.
While I do see the value in keeping the pick and taking the best guy we can get there, remember that Cleveland netted an additional first rounder and two additional second rounders to trade down in the first round (along with a pair of fourth round picks). That is potentially four starters for the price of one. If we believe in Bruce Allen's ability to find talent in the first four rounds the way he did last year, this is a no-brainer.
Further, with no Matt Barkley in the draft, the price of RG3 goes up a little bit if he slips to our spot. We could still pick up a quality quarterback later in the first round or at the the top of the second if Shanahan decides not to pursue any free agent signal callers. Simply put, we are not an RG3 away from winning. There are going to be options later in the first round and in the second round that will represent not only upgrades from what we have, but also bright futures in the NFL.
And for those of you who are beyond frightened about passing up some of the talent at the top of this draft, remember that the Redskins have money to spend this offseason. Regardless of how you feel about free agency, the money will get spent, and so ideally it will get spent to fill at least one of the glaring holes that could have been plugged with the #6 overall pick.
I am not suggesting we trade back so we can build around Rex Grossman. We need to take a step forward at the quarterback position.
I am not suggesting we trade back to avoid making a mistake on RG3. He appears to be an incendiary talent.
I am not suggesting we trade back because there will be nobody available at #6 who can help us.
I am suggesting that trading down in the first round--and the resulting package of picks we would get in return--would put our rebuilding process into overdrive. It would be like a turbo boost to the development of our roster, as well as our long-term prospects.
At some point, we will be able to fall in love with a guy at the top of a draft, bring him to D.C. and call it a day. We are not there yet. Today, we need to find another team who is in love with a guy available at #6, and then we have to pound the phones with the consistent message of: "Do you wanna (trade)?"
I can just see it now:
R U In(terested in our #6 pick)?
Get to work guys.