2019 NFL Draft: Washington Redskins full mock draft
By Joe Romano
The Washington Redskins enter the 2019 NFL Draft with as many questions as answers and may be the toughest team to figure out which direction they can go.
As the headline states, the Washington Redskins are a tough team to predict entering the 2019 NFL Draft. A brief look into their latest offseason and last season reveal why.
Washington was an overachieving team in 2018. Anchored by solid play in the trenches, they were never truly terrible and never anything better than adequate. Alex Smith at the helm seemed perfect for that type of team. Unfortunately a late season, gruesome injury has Smith facing questions if he will ever play again. That is one of the biggest reasons this team is unpredictable in the draft; the quarterback position.
With Smith on the mend, Washington ran through every option at quarterback. Incumbent Colt McCoy, the apple of the Redskins eye, was given the first shot. He got hurt and replaced by veteran Mark Sanchez, who also got hurt. Josh Johnson was signed from the AAF to take over and play the final few weeks. Entering 2019 the Redskins only have McCoy left on their roster from that trio.
The most likely starter at signal caller is recently acquired Case Keenum who wore out his welcome after one year in Denver and was traded for a sixth round pick. Keenum has the leg up but Washington has always loved McCoy. Those two will likely battle it out. Not to spoil the article, but unless one of the draft’s top three quarterbacks fall to them, I do not see Washington selecting a quarterback at all in this draft. Instead they can roll with Keenum and McCoy for the season until 2020 when Smith’s future will be clearer and they can find a long term answer.
Free agency was not very kind to the team either. Washington signed former Giants safety Landon Collins to a massive deal. Usually it is bad practice to pay a box safety that much money especially considering his former team had the option to keep him under a reasonably priced franchise tag and decided not to. The loss of Preston Smith on the edge will hurt this team as well. The only other notable addition is Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie who retired around Halloween in 2018.
Their biggest offseason addition aside from Keenum is going to be the return of Darius Guice. It is easy to forget that Guice was the closest thing to Saquon Barkley in last year’s draft. His return gives the Redskins an extremely talented backfield with Adrian Peterson coming back and Chris Thompson returning from injury.
This was clearly not a great offseason for Washington. That being said, this is a roster that can win some games with their trench play and just enough skill position production.
This mock draft was done using The Draft Network’s mock draft machine and the site’s predictive big board. There are no trades, only the teams picking in their respective draft slots.