What will the Washington Redskins do about their defense?
By jonfox
If they don’t go for a 1st round pick based on sheer talent, then they have to get a starter on their defensive line with their pick #21. The pundits will talk about the Alabama defensive linemen A’Shawn Robinson and Jarran Reed but even putting aside the problems that Alabama defensive linemen have had in the NFL(Marcell Dareus is the only Nick Saban/Kirby Smart Alabama defensive lineman who’s made a pro bowl) neither one is worthy of a 1st or 2nd round pick.
Another name that will be whispered about is the Ole Miss defensive lineman Robert Nkedmiche. The Redskins were one of the few teams who met with him at the combine and Scot McCloughan usually doesn’t blanche from taking on risk. However, the on the field Nkedmiche has his flaws and isn’t a safe enough pick to depend on year 1.
Two players that should and probably will get consideration will be Chris Jones from Mississippi State and Matt Ioannidis from Temple, Both have non-stop motors, both have positional versatility(can play the 5, 3, 1 and 0) and both should be available when the Redskins pick in the rounds they’re expected to go in. Jones would get extra consideration because the Redskins love what they got from his former teammate Preston Smith a season ago. Jones isn’t the rusher that Smith is but they really need more of a lineman who can tie up blockers and penetrate more than a pure rusher.
As for the safety: unless they can work a deal for Kam Chancellor, there’s not many good options at strong safety for them. If Kyshoen Jarrett struggles to get healthy for 2016, then they’re going to have to hope that they hit on another rookie but this draft is very thin at this position. They might be stuck with a bad group of safeties and hope that the pass rush can cover for some of this deficiency.
Unless the Redskins suddenly find a bevy of talent on the defensive line, the spin coming from Ashburn will sound something along these lines: “We have Galette healthy, teaming him with Kerrigan and Preston Smith along with getting rid of some of the deadwood from the defense and not having Keenan Robinson and Perry Riley at inside backer will mean that the defense won’t need a lot of talent on the line.” If you read or hear this, it’s safe to say that the team is admitting that it’s going to be a long year for them on that side of the ball. No 3-4 defense can thrive unless they have at least one defensive lineman who offenses have to account for. And they might get something from their current group of linemen and acquisitions that might reach this level of talent.
It looks really unlikely though and far more likely that the run defense issues will become more pronounced. Interestingly enough, the Redskins have 6 defensive starters or contributors who will hitting free agency after 2016 and Ryan Kerrigan is owed a 10+ million dollar bonus at the start of the 2017 offseason. So, the Redskins’ plan might be to think long term, not commit a lot of money to defensive players because there could be a total rebuilding happening starting in 2017.