The Washington Redskins made the first surprising move in the draft selecting Iowa Offensive Tackle Brandon Scherff.
Instant Analysis Minutes After The Pick:
Brandon Scherff is a mean, nasty mauler who will pack an attitude with him each and every down. I know many will question Washington selecting him over Leonard Williams who many considered the top player in the draft. Speaking to scouts on Williams over the past month or so, many of them expressed some concerns with him as a pass rusher. He wasn’t a consistent pass rusher at USC. So there was a lot of projecting going on with him. However, with Brandon Scherff you know exactly what you’re getting — a productive football player.
I’ve long been opposed to the Redskins taking a guard at five overall. But according to Head Coach Jay Gruden, they will actually start him at right tackle. “That’s the exciting thing about Brandon — he’s very versatile,” said Gruden. “Heck, he could probably play center if he wanted to. But I think Day 1, we start him out at right tackle. Obviously we have a Pro Bowl left tackle. We’ll start him out at right tackle, see how he does and I’m sure he’ll pick it up quickly. The thing we liked about him also, he’s a very smart guy. He loves football, studies the game, knows a lot about it, has been well-coached in college. He has a lot of experience playing the position, so I think the transition will be smooth for him.”
My biggest concern with Brandon Scherff is that on film he clearly struggled in the passing game. I think moving to the Right Side could hide some of those issues he had in the passing game. However, I think eventually he will slide to Right Guard and be a Pro-Bowl caliber player. That’s where he belongs. With new Offensive Line Coach Bill Callahan, you’d have to think he’ll be able to help Scherff overcome those issues.
Either way, the Washington Redskins drafted themselves a football player. GM Scot McCloughan clearly identified that the offensive line needed an upgrade. From my understanding, the New York Giants were set to take him at nine overall. So when you consider that, taking Scherff at five makes sense.
More Jay Gruden Quotes On Scherff:
On the selection of Brandon Scherff with the No. 5 overall pick:
“Well, there was a lot of things happened, obviously, with the first four picks that had a lot of impact on what we were deciding to do. Then when it came to our pick, we thought that he was the best person for what we wanted, the best player available. If you’re talking about offensive linemen, you’re talking about a big, physical guy, and we want to bring that mentality back to this football team and it starts up front. We addressed the defensive front a little bit in free agency, and I think we had to address the offensive linemen, the offensive line room, and we did that tonight.”
On what was most impressive about Scherff:
“His toughness, his relentless tenacity. He’s a non-stop motor, plays every snap, he’s physical, he finishes blocks. He’s good in pass protection. There’s some things he can clean up. Obviously, he’s not a finished product yet, but he’s the closest thing we saw on tape. He can pass protect, he’s great in the run game. His double teams are ferocious. Physical, and most importantly, you can tell he has a great passion for the game. We’re looking for guys that really love to play this football game, because when it’s all said and done, you’ve got to have fun playing. I don’t think anybody has more fun at the tackle spot than Brandon.”
On if the pick was for the purpose of upgrading the team’s pass protection:
“We’re just looking at upgrading our football team. We felt that Brandon was the guy to do that right now at this pick. There’s a lot of things that we need to fix, obviously. We were a 4-12 football team. We’ve addressed some in free agency on the defensive side of the ball. We’ve made some changes, but we still have a long way to go with this draft. Very, very important – Round 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 – and it’s important for us to be right.”
On bringing in a player with Scherff’s demeanor:
“When you have a guy that’s this tough on film and it just echoes every time you watch him play, every play that he plays, you see the toughness and you’re like, ‘Man, we could use a little bit more toughness.’ Not to say we weren’t tough last year. We had some guys that competed and played very, very hard, no doubt about it, but when you add another guy of his caliber, his size, his strength, his tenacity, that only makes your football team better. It’s going to help our defensive line, it’s going to help our offensive line, it’s going to help our running game, obviously, and it’s going to help our passing game.”
Background On Scherff and Redskins Selection Notes:
- Started all 26 games over final two seasons at left tackle and had 36 career starts . . . started first seven games of season at left tackle in 2012 before injury in game seven . . . missed remainder of season due to injury . . . one of five seniors named to 2014 Leadership Group . . . member of Leadership Group for four consecutive years.
- Scherff is the third offensive lineman selected by the Redskins in the first round since 2000. The Redskins’ last two first-round offensive linemen – Chris Samuels (No. 3 in 2000) and Trent Williams (No. 4 in 2010) – have combined for nine Pro Bowl selections.
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Scherff is the second player selected by the Redskins at No. 5 all-time, joining Redskins Ring of Fame S Sean Taylor (2004).
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Scherff is the first Big Ten Conference product selected by the Redskins in the first round since LB Ryan Kerrigan in 2011. He is the sixth Big Ten product selected by the Redskins in the first round in the Common Draft era, joining DT Bobby Wilson (1991), WR Desmond Howard (1992), T Andre Johnson (1996), LB LaVar Arrington (2000) and LB Ryan Kerrigan (2011).
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