The Washington Redskins made a splash early on in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft with their selection of defensive end Chase Young, out of Ohio State. After that pick, however, they were forced to sit by and wait while the rest of the league made their picks.
Washington will continue to wait through the start of Day 2 as well, with the lack of a second-round pick due to the trade for Montez Sweat in 2019. With major needs at the WR, TE, CB, and LT position, the first 32 picks of the draft went pretty much according to plan, as the Redskins knew they would have very little chance to grab any of the best players on the board after grabbing arguably the best player in the entire draft with the selection of Young. Watching the second round go by may be a little bit tougher, though, as anxiety will start to creep in as a few hopeful names might fall off in front of the Redskins pick at No. 66.
Barring a Trent Williams trade that lands Washington with an extra third-round pick, or even a second-rounder, the Redskins will only get one chance to draft on Friday night, and they need to make it count. In our Day 2 mock draft simulation, a couple of big names fell off the board directly in front of Washington, but we have them making the most of it by selecting the best TE prospect in the 2020 class at No. 66.
66. TE Cole Kmet — Notre Dame
There’s been a debate stirring in Washington circles as to what position of need the Redskins will try to fill with their third-round pick, and the common thought is that they will ideally aim to draft a cornerback or receiver at this position. However, in our mock, some top targets like Virginia CB Bryce Hall, or Colorado WR Laviska Shenault Jr. were off the board by the Redskins time to pick. There were other names like WR Chase Claypool or WR K.J. Hill, or OT Lucas Niang that were hard to pass up, but the lack of depth at the TE position led us to grab Kmet, who is arguably the best TE in the draft.
Washington has a desperate need at TE with Jordan Reed and Vernon Davis now gone, and there are few legitimate options in the draft that could start right away next year. Kmet is one of the only players who presents the Redskins with that opportunity, so we pulled the trigger at 66.
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