The Washington Redskins are set to enter a new era with GM Scot McCloughan in charge of the upcoming NFL draft. Everyone is fully aware of McCloughan’s successful resume, but many don’t have much of a guideline to go by when projecting the “McCloughan-trends.” That is, until now.
After some heavy research and charting, we discovered a few “trends” that could help you further understand how Scot McCloughan drafts.
McCloughan’s Resume Under The Microscope:
1994-1999: Scout, Green Bay Packers
2000-2004: Director of College Scouting, Seattle Seahawks
2005-2007: Vice President of Player Personnel, San Francisco 49ers
2008-2009: General Manager, San Francisco 49ers
2010-2013: Senior Personnel Executive, Seattle Seahawks (was hired after the 2010 draft)
Notes:
- From 1994-2009 McCloughan’s teams drafted at least one WR every year with exception of 2002. Only two were first round picks (both top 10 picks).
- Tends to draft multiple DBs a year.
- 20 first round picks. Of the 20 only four have been top-10 picks. Those four top-10 picks consisted of two Wide Receivers, one Tight End and one Quarterback.
First Round Picks:
Aaron Taylor, G, 19 overall
Craig Newsome, DB, 32 overall
John Michels, T, 27 overall
Ross Verba, T, 30 overall
Vonnie Holliday, DE, 19 overall
Antuan Edwards, DB, 25 overall
Shaun Alexander, RB, 19 overall
Chris McIntosh, T, 22 overall
Koren Robinson, WR, 9 overall
Steve Hutchinson, G, 17 overall
Jerramy Stevens, TE, 28 overall
Marcus Trufant, DB, 11 overall
Marcus Tubbs, DT, 23 overall
Alex Smith, QB, 1 overall
Vernon Davis, TE, 6 overall
Patrick Willis, LB, 11 overall
Kentwan Balmer, DT, 29 overall
Michael Crabtree, WR, 10 overall
James Carpenter, OL, 25 overall
Bruce Irvin, DE, 15 overall
Schools Drafted From At Least Three Times:
LSU (SEC): 8
Alabama (SEC): 5
Florida (SEC): 5
USC (Pac 12): 5
Wisconsin (Big 10): 4
North Carolina State (ACC): 4
Penn State (Big 10): 4
Nebraska (Big 10): 4
Georgia (SEC): 3
West Va (Big 12): 3
Texas A&M (SEC): 3
Kansas State (Big 12): 3
Virginia Tech (ACC): 3
North Carolina (ACC): 3
Oregon (Pac 12): 3
Michigan (Big 10): 3
Miss. State (SEC): 3
Tennessee (SEC): 3
Washington (Pac 12): 3
Purdue (Big 10): 3
Conference Breakdown:
SEC: 7 schools
Pac 12: 3 schools
Big 10: 5 schools
Big 12: 2 schools
ACC: 3 schools
Amount of Players Drafted By Position:
QB: 11
RB: 13
WR: 25
OT: 13
C: 3
OG: 10
FB: 2
DE: 14
DT: 17
LB: 14
DB: 32
TE: 7
K/P: 5
Nutshell:
- Scot McCloughan clearly values Wide Receivers and Defensive Backs. At each stop during his career, McCloughan’s teams have drafted multiple receivers and defensive backs in almost every draft. Of course, many of the receivers and defensive backs that were drafted, failed. However, the more you try, every now and then you will come across a Donald Driver or Richard Sherman. It should also be noted that a lot of the DBs/WRs McCloughan has drafted were 6ft/6ft 1 or taller.
- McCloughan does have a trend drafting QBs. Especially as a Green Bay Packer, they drafted QBs almost every year. Again, many of them failed. But that’s a premium position and sometimes you’ll come across a Matt Hasselbeck or Russell Wilson.
- As far as schools, McCloughan’s drafts seem to favor the SEC. But as I’ll show below, McCloughan searches high and low for players. He’s taken from a lot of schools. With the Green Bay Packers, they even took a player from Morris Brown. That school has like one student now. So he’s very thorough in his evaluations.
- McCloughan isn’t afraid to take a kicker or punter high in the draft if that player is capable of being a franchise guy at those respective positions. With Green Bay, McCloughan and staff took a kicker/punter in the third and fourth round.
Chart of Schools Drafted From Throughout McCloughan’s career (no particular color code):
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