The 2020 NFL Draft was one of highs and lows for the Washington Redskins. At the peak of excitement, the team drafted future stars like DE Chase Young and potential difference-makers like RB Antonio Gibson and WR Antonio Gandy-Golden. However, some of the lulls of the draft came in the later rounds for the Redskins, when they made some questionable selections like C Keith Ismael in the fifth round, or S Kamren Curl and DE James Smith Williams in the seventh round.
How you feel about the draft as a whole likely depends on your trust level in both Ron Rivera and Kyle Smith, the two masterminds behind the selections. While they didn’t allow themselves to be handicapped by roster needs, and rather let themselves pick who they thought was the best available player on the board, there are still some questions that have arisen afterward.
In our post-draft recap, we gave the Redskins a B+ overall for the 2020 draft, noting that the first four picks, (Chase Young, Antonio Gibson, Antonio Gandy-Golden, and Saahdiq Charles) were so solid that they could make any draft class look good. If you were to look at ESPN’s Mel Kiper’s grade of the Redskins class, some of the negatives are more apparent.
The Redskins got an interesting running back/wide receiver prospect with Antonio Gibson (66), who caught 44 passes and also averaged 11.2 yards per carry on 33 rushes last season. A smart playcaller will get him 10 touches a game. Antonio Gandy-Golden (142) is a 6-foot-4 raw wideout with a a massive 77-inch wingspan. He attacks the ball in the air, though he’ll need some time to develop. Saahdiq Charles (108) looks like a starting-caliber NFL offensive tackle, but the tape didn’t match his talent.
Young was a bit of a gimme pick at No. 2, and without a second-rounder I’ll stick with a C+ for Washington.
Kiper seems to almost knock the Redskins for drafting Chase Young with the second pick, saying several times that he “fell into their laps” at No. 2, though he also noted that he was “one of the most NFL-ready pass-rushers to come out of college in the last decade.”
Regardless, a C+ grade seems to be a bit low for the Redskins’ haul this year, but his reasoning isn’t far off. It wasn’t a perfect draft in every round, but it was good enough at the top to make a difference going forward. We are still excited to see what’s to come from Washington’s newest players.
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