Pick 3 contest update after Round One

Thirty-two total selections have been made in the 2018 draft. The Redskins didn’t trade down, and made their selection at #13.

The pick

In a move that surprised a lot of people, the ‘Skins front office brainstrust passed on two players that seemed to qualify for best non-quarterback available, Safety Derwin James and LB Tremaine Edmunds, to select a position of perceived need — DL Da’Ron Payne.

The most popular first round player nominated in the Pick-3 contest, Vita Vea, went off the board at the 12th pick. It is a widely held opinion that if Vea and Payne had both been on the board for the ‘Skins pick, Washington would have taken Payne over Vea, despite the fact that Redskin fan sentiment seemed to be running the other way, with Vea the mock draft darling at #13, and most Redskin fans seeing him as the odd-on favorite to fill the role as defensive run-stopper.

Click here to see the Pick-3 contest article and entries

Still, Da’Ron Payne was a popular choice in the Pick-3 contest. With 32 entrants in the contest in total, 14 of them (almost 44%) scored with Da’Ron Payne. Eleven entrants correctly predicted Payne in the 1st round, with 3 others scoring points by listing his name in later rounds.

Analysis of Payne pick from Redskins expert Mark Bullock:

The 6-foot-3, 311-pound defensive tackle fills the Redskins’ biggest need along the defensive line at nose tackle. Coming from Nick Saban’s Alabama program, Da’Ron Payne has benefited from quality coaching that has led him to play with fundamentally sound technique. He’s incredibly stout and can take on double teams while not giving ground and maintaining gap integrity. He also uses active hands to fight for position and leverage to not only control blockers, but to beat them.

[Pre-draft evaluation of what Da’Ron Payne could bring to Redskins]

As a pass rusher, Payne has plenty of potential. During the regular season, he was inconsistent with his rush, although he would flash a good rep a couple of times a game. But in the playoffs and particularly in the championship game, Payne took over and dominated the line of scrimmage in all aspects. He showed a good first step and different moves, including an effective club-swim combination that enabled him to skip by blockers quickly.

Payne will have to become more consistent in that area and prove he’s able to sustain pressure over the course of the season instead of just getting hot in one or two games. But those dominating performances came in the biggest games of the year for Alabama and played a huge part in winning them the championship. While that side of his game develops, Payne is ready to start as a run defender right away. He shows quickness in the run game to penetrate and the ability to play more conservatively with leverage and occupy blockers to open lanes for his linebackers to flow through.

Pick-3 standings

With the Thursday night draft kickoff in the books, here are the standings at the top of the Pick-3 board, with 7 draft selections still to come for the Redskins:

Still lots of points to be scored

With the potential points in each round increasing round by round, there’s plenty of opportunity for any of the 32 entrants to win the contest.

Points for the correct player in the correct round:

• Round 1 = 6 points
• Round 2 = 8 points
• Round 4 = 13 points
• Round 5 = 16 points
• Round 6 = 20 points
• Round 7 = 25 points

If a player on the entrant’s list is selected in a different round than predicted, the entrant will earn 5 points, regardless of which round the player is drafted in, and regardless of the reason for the difference in round.

Redskins in Round 2

Barring a trade, the Redskins have only one pick on Friday (#44); I’m sure we’ll all be on the edge of our seats to find out if the front office can get another impact player for the team.

Best remaining players

According to SB Nation, here are the 30 next best players remaining. The next Redskin selected is likely to come from this list of names:

16. Harold Landry, Edge, Boston College

17. Maurice Hurst, DL, Michigan

20. Josh Jackson, CB, Iowa

21. Derrius Guice, RB, LSU

22. Will Hernandez, G, UTEP

23. Orlando Brown, OT, Oklahoma

29. Connor Williams, OT, Texas

31. Harrison Phillips, DL, Stanford

33. Mark Andrews, TE, Oklahoma

36. James Daniels, C, Iowa

37. Sam Hubbard, Edge, Ohio State

39. Ronald Jones II, RB, Southern California

40. Dallas Goedert, TE, South Dakota State

41. Nick Chubb, RB, Georgia

43. Carlton Davis, CB, Auburn

44. Ronnie Harrison, S, Alabama

45. Mike Gesicki, TE, Penn State

47. Tim Settle, DL, Virginia Tech

48. Christian Kirk, WR, Texas A&M

49. Martinas Rankin, OT, Mississippi State

50. Mason Rudolph, QB, Oklahoma State

51. James Washington, WR, Oklahoma State

52. Brian O’Neill, OT, Pittsburgh

53. Anthony Miller, WR, Memphis

54. Jessie Bates III, S, Wake Forest

55. Courtland Sutton, WR, SMU

56. Tyrell Crosby, OT, Oregon

57. Uchenna Nwosu, Edge, Southern California

58. Kerryon Johnson, RB, Auburn

59. Isaiah Oliver, CB, Colorado

The second round kicks of with the Cleveland Browns on the clock at 7:00 p.m. ET.