Thinking Like Bruce Allen

I wanted to take off my scouting hat for a moment, and don my fancy GM hat for the day. Yes, I'm going into the mind-set of what I believe Bruce Allen is thinking as we approach the NFL Draft.

Below I'll give my opinions on some positions on the team, and what I believe Bruce is thinking as this draft approaches. Please know that these are my opinions, as I imagine they are seen through the eyes of our GM, and in no way represent what Bruce Allen is actually thinking(at least I think).

On Shanahan Leaving: Heck yeah! Now I get to run this team how I want. No more listing to that bozo, and his goofy son. This is my team now baby!

Offensive Tackle: Yeah, I tried, and struck out a few times in free agency, to lure a decent tackle our way. I didn't try too hard however, because I see value in the draft, and I believe we can get a quality young player to build around for the future. Despite what Shanahan may have thought, I believe Tyler Polumbus stinks, so don't worry fans, you'll see a much better product on the field this year. Oh, and by the way, don't sleep on Tom Compton!

Center: Sure we moved Kory, but please don't read too much into that. We believe he can play the position better than he played guard(hell, even I could play better at guard than he did), but make no mistake, we want to upgrade the position in the draft, and feel we have a good shot to do so early on. We are eyeing the third, but don't be shocked if we go there in the second after a trade-back.

Guard: I can basically go out a buy this team a starting guard in free agency. I did so this year. Some people say I over-spent in this area, but I/we believe we have found a good young player in Lauvao.  Despite what you all may have been hearing, I do have faith in our younger guys. Gettis took some big steps last year, and he's hungry to prove himself. And don't anyone sleep on LeRibeus - he's going to surprise many of you. We feel we have guys on this team who can play this position, so don't expect a high draft pick at guard.

Wide Receiver: Hey, you guys and gals must have loved what I did for you, when I went out and signed DeSean Jackson! We viewed wide receiver as a huge need going into the offseason, and I think we did a great job addressing that need. I would still like a bigger wide receiver to mesh in nicely with this group of Smurfs, but I feel we can get a developmental prospect later on in the draft, or as an un-drafted free agent. You all know Jay is a big fan of the passing game and his wideouts, so I'm going to try and keep him out of my ear on Friday night, haha.

Defensive Line: I realized this was another area of need this off-season, and I think we have applied a nice band-aid with the addition of Jason Hatcher, and by re-signing Chris Baker. Bowen is recovering nicely from his micro-fracture surgery, and despite what you may have heard, he is certainly in our plans for this season. I also have high hopes for Jarvis Jenkins, who for some reason, everyone seems to be writing off. We feel we have a nice starting rotation, and solid depth, so I don't plan on targeting a prospect early in the draft, unless a player we have rated very high slips out of the first round. Even then, we'd have to consider a trade-back approach. We do plan on targeting a later-round developmental player in this draft however.

Outside Linebacker: We have two of the best young outside linebackers in the game. We just exercised our option on Kerrigan, and make no mistake about it, Orakpo is in our long-term plans. This will not be addressed in the draft with a high pick.

Inside Linebacker: We love the veterans we brought in this free agency, and we feel we really have a good young player in Keenan Robinson; we just need to keep him healthy so he can show all the fans what he's about. We feel the draft is weak at inside linebacker, and although we may address the position in the later rounds, don't expect that player to be much more than a special teams contributor, and reserve linebacker. And just in case you're wondering, no, we wouldn't consider Shazier in the second round - he doesn't fit our scheme.

Cornerback: We feel this draft has some good depth at corner, and although we took Amerson with our second round pick last season, don't be surprised if we look at this area again with a fairly high draft pick. We love Hall, but he's no spring chicken, and we would like a bigger corner to pair opposite David for the future.

Safety: This is one that I keep getting a lot of questions on. We saw a lot of depth and value in last years safety class, and we took advantage of that. We love Philip Thomas, and believed he would have been a starter last year had he not got injured. We are expecting big things from him this season. I went out and signed Ryan Clark because I know he can still play, and that he'll provide a great veteran presence to our young guys both on and off the field. We re-signed Meriweather, and we are prepared to let him battle it out in camp for a starting position. We are even giving Jackson a second chance - as you all know I believe in second chances for players. We would like to see how our young guys develop before we address safety again. This years draft class is very weak, so don't expect us to use a high pick on a safety. We have guys who can play the position now, so if up our young guys don't show their worth this season, we may look at safety in 2015.

On Kirk Cousins: Yes, we are very open to trading Kirk. We believe he deserves the right to earn a starting spot in the league, and we can not offer him that here in Washington right now. We will however, not let him go for just anything. We are looking for at least a second round pick. If we do not get an appropriate offer for what we believe he is worth to us, he will remain a Redskin.

I hope I have answered all of your questions leading up to the NFL Draft. If I have left anything out, please add them to the comment section, and I will try to get to them as soon as I finish polishing our three Super Bowl trophies, cleaning Mr. Snyders office, and making sure no strands of my hair go un-combed.