Good afternoon from Indianapolis, where the NFL Scouting Combine is underway.
Offensive linemen, tight ends and specialists are trickling through the media center on the club level here at Lucas Oil Stadium. Speaking to offensive linemen was a much bigger deal last year when the Redskins were searching for a cornerstone left tackle. I’ll be looking more closely this year at quarterbacks, receivers and defensive players, who will meet reporters later in the weekend.
There are a number of different positions the Redskins could stand to address with the 10th-overall pick. And considering they had the NFL’s 31st-ranked defense last season, there are plenty of options on that side of the ball. (I’ll discuss quarterback later.)
Needs at nose tackle, left outside linebacker and free safety are clear; the hard part is finding a player at those one of those positions that satisfies need and value at No. 10.
There’s another wrinkle, too. With the 3-4 defense becoming more prevalent in the NFL—about one-third of teams run some form of it as their base package now—teams are coping with a lower supply of quality players best-suited for it.
“At the time when there were was maybe four, five, six teams that were doing it, it was easy to find those hybrid defensive ends that were a little bit too small to play in a 4-3 but just perfect to play in a 3-4 as your outside rush linebackers,” said new Carolina Panthers coach Ron Rivera, who coordinated San Diego’s 3-4 defense for the last three seasons. “Now it’s hard to find that big explosive nose that can control the middle.”
The demand for players suited to a 3-4 has increased, but one executive believes the supply has increased, as well, because of how popular the spread offense has become in college.
“With the spread offenses, you get more 3-5-3 defenses, which is a little more similar to what we run,” Pittsburgh Steelers director of football operations Kevin Colbert said. “Some defenses in the colleges are changing to supplement some of the extra demand in the NFL.”
How that balance will impact the Redskins is unclear.
Several draft analysts, particularly NFL Network’s Mike Mayock, have suggested that this year’s crop of defensive linemen is extremely deep. The Redskins, then, appear well-positioned to select a premier end at No. 10, such as Wisconsin’s J.J. Watt, Alabama’s Marcell Dareus or North Carolina’s Robert Quinn. But the value for nose tackles and outside linebackers projected to be available at No. 10 doesn’t appear to match up in the Redskins’ favor at this point.
Of course, there are two months left in the process for things to shake out. Redskins coach Mike Shanahan is expected to address reporters tomorrow afternoon, but last month he discussed the importance of drafting a player that has experience in a 3-4.
“I don’t think you’d ever not take a guy who’s an athlete because you play a certain front,” he said. “That’s why you coach him.
“But sometimes you have to project a guy. If he’s in a 4-man front can he play the nose tackle, defensive end, the outside linebacker? If he’s in that area of 6-3, 255-270, is he a [Pittsburgh linebacker James] Harrison. Is he that type of guy? People forget that Harrison was cut six times and all a sudden he’s the player of the year. Those guys are out there. You just have to make sure he fits your system.”
