Xavier Su'a-Filo - A Risk the Redskins Can't Afford to Take

When I use the word "risk" and "Xavier Su'a-Filo" in the same sentence, please try not to get your feathers ruffled. He's not a risk is the sense that you think, that I think, that you think I mean by risk...............get it? Confused, are you? Well you should be. Let me help put things into perspective for you.

Su'a-Filo may be one of the safest players in this draft. He should become a very good starting guard for years to come in the NFL. He's one of a handful of players who comes with very little question marks. He's as solid as they come.

Here is where the "risk" part comes in.

If we use our 34th pick on an offensive guard, we "risk" missing out on an offensive tackle or defensive tackle at that spot. If we use our 34th pick on Su'a-Filo, we risk injuring Robert Griffin III again, because that could mean we could have another season of Tyler Polumbus starting at right tackle. If we draft the UCLA product, who is as steady as they come, we "risk" having an abundance of players on the team, at one of the easiest spots to fill in the entire league - guard.

If there is one position we have enough of on this team, it's guard. Josh LeRibeus, Chris Chester, Shawn Lauvao, Mike McGlynn, Adam Gettis, Maurice Hurt and even Tom Compton can play guard. Lauvao was signed to be a starter on our offensive line, so that leaves just one spot, with potentially six players competing to earn it. I think that's plenty to generate good competition in training camp.

Now some will argue that drafting Su'a-Filo would allow the Redskins to move away from the average play, and big contract of Chris Chester, and that is a valid argument, but one could also make the argument that young guys like LeRibeus, Gettis, Hurt and even Compton, should be given a fair chance this offseason, under a new coaching staff, to see if they are worthy of a starting position before we turn our backs, and move on from them, labeling them as Shanahan failures.

For as good as I feel Su'a-Filo could become, I think our best approach is to hope one of the top offensive tackles falls out of the first round - a player like Cyrus Kouandjio or Zack Martin, or a guy like Ra'Shede Hageman is sitting there at pick 34. If these three players are gone, we try and trade back, and target a tackle like JaWuan James or Billy Turner with a later second round pick, or make a move on a kid like Marcus Martin to play center.

For or a team with some glaring needs along the offensive line, drafting an offensive guard with the top pick is not a luxury the Redskins can afford.