There are seemingly two ways that the Washington Redskins could choose to go with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft; they could draft DE Chase Young, or they could trade back in the draft and likely receive a massive haul of picks.
Many believe that the right move is taking the generational talent in Young, but you can’t be chastised for believing that replenishing the Redskins draft assets is the smart move as well.
However, all of these plans were being made under the assumption that the Cincinnati Bengals draft Heisman-winning QB Joe Burrow with the first pick. But are we certain it’s a 100% lock that Burrow winds up playing for the Bengals in 2020? What if they don’t pick him?
What if Burrow is still on the board for the Redskins at No. 2? Does that alter their draft strategy at all?
This is a wild scenario, of course, but there have been some rumblings out of the college and combine circles that say Burrow may not be too thrilled to play in Cincinnatti, even though his dad tried to quiet the chatter on that front. But let’s carry on with this thought experiment and assume that Burrow pulls an Eli Manning and declares ahead of the draft that he will not play for the Bengals if they draft him. What do they do? They’d have to draft Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa with the first pick, as they’re looking to fill a dire need at QB, and Tua is not a bad second option. That brings us to the Redskins, who now have an interesting decision to make. The way I see it, they could do one of three things:
Continue On With Chase:
This seems like the No. 1 option for Washington, as they have a solid option at quarterback, and the prospect of Young at No. 2 is just too good to pass up on. The timing of the Burrow announcement would also play a part in this. Depending on whether the Redskins scouting department had two hours vs. two days to do their homework on the LSU quarterback, they might choose to stick to their books and draft Young, the safe pick.
Look at Trading the Pick:
A lot of this speculation rests on your evaluation of Burrow vs. Tagovailoa, and whether or not you think that Burrow is on a completely different level than Tua. If you think that Burrow is far-and-away the best QB in this draft class, then it stands possible that the Redskins could get more draft capital for trading away the rights to draft him.
Speculation on the number of draft picks that Washington would get in return for the rights to draft Young have varied a bit, but some have been hoping that they could get three first-rounders — the same haul the Redskins gave up when trading up to draft Robert Griffin III in 2012. This is unlikely to happen, though, as the NFL has seemingly learned its lesson on trading away hoards of draft picks for a single player in return.
I’ve predicted before that the Redskins could offer up the No. 2 pick and receive two first-round picks (2020, 2021), a second-rounder (2020) and potentially a third or fourth (2021). How much does that haul improve if the prospect in question is Burrow, rather than Young? Two firsts, and two seconds? It’s hard to imagine it would climb to three firsts, and even if it did, is that enough to pass up on Young?
Draft Joe Burrow:
Crazy, right? Once again, it rests completely on your evaluation of Burrow, and your thoughts on Dwayne Haskins, the Redskins current QB who is set to enter his second season. A move like this isn’t unprecedented in the recent NFL either — just this past year, the Arizona Cardinals traded their 2018 first-round pick Josh Rosen to the Miami Dolphins so that they could draft Heisman-winner Kyler Murray with the first overall pick in 2019. It worked out in Year 1 for the Cardinals, with Murray winning the Offensive Rookie of the Year award.
I personally believe that Haskins has shown enough growth in his time on the field to prove that he is likely to become a solid quarterback in Washington, and if he’s surrounded by the right pieces, he can be pretty good. That’s just me. If the Redskins scouting department feels that Burrow is a future Hall-of-Famer and, like Young, you absolutely can’t pass up on him, it could be a different story.
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