http://wtop.com/washington-redskins/2017/04/redskins-5-best-worst-first-round-picks








10:52 am, April 26, 2017
60°




Who are the best and worst first-rounders in Redskins draft history? Here’s a look at the top and bottom five.


Day 1 of the NFL Draft is generally a symbol of hope for a team’s future. The best of the available young college talent is up for grabs and each team with a pick has a crack at it. On Thursday, the Washington Redskins (barring a trade) will presumably use the 17th overall pick to add a blue chip defensive player to help improve a defense that ranked just 28th last season.

In theory.

The ‘Skins might instead take a running back. Or a wide receiver. Or they’ll figuratively set this city’s sports talk stations ablaze by taking a quarterback to replace the good-but-not-good-enough Kirk Cousins.

Such choices factor into this list.











For example, Rod Gardner (pictured above) was by all accounts a bust as the 15th overall pick in 2001. He lasted just four years in Washington after failing to produce more than Santana Moss, Chad Johnson, Steve Smith and Reggie Wayne — all great receivers selected after him.

But Gardner didn’t quite make the cut as one of the five worst first-rounders in Redskins history, because he topped 1,000 receiving yards in 2002 and was moderately productive in Burgundy and Gold. This list is for first-rounders who had little-to-no production and were thus wasted picks.

Here are those five picks, presented in no particular order. Once we wade through this muck, I’ll let you know the criteria for the five best first-round picks.



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Andre Johnson (30th overall in 1996)

This offensive tackle out of Penn State was supposed to be the heir apparent to Jim Lachey, but instead never played a single down as a Redskin and made only three appearances as a Detroit Lion. He’s not only one of the biggest busts in Redskins history…he’s one of the biggest busts in NFL history.



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Heath Shuler (3rd overall in 1994)

How bad was Heath? He was benched for a 7th round pick (Gus Frerotte), completed fewer than half of his passes and threw six fewer touchdowns than interceptions as a Redskin (13-19 TD-INT ratio). His selection is often credited with setting the franchise back decades. You know you’re a bust when ‘Skins fans can say, “I wish we took Trent Dilfer instead” with a straight face.



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Desmond Howard (4th overall in 1992)

How does a Pro Bowler and Super Bowl MVP make this list? Because he did those things as a special teamer in Green Bay. As a wide receiver and a top five pick, Howard was a massive disappointment. His 66 catches for 1,033 yards and five TDs would have been a nice rookie season…but it was his entire three-year career in Washington.



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Ralph Guglielmi (4th overall in 1955)

Don Allard (4th overall in 1959) and Cal Rossi (9th overall in 1946) were worse picks (neither ever played a down of NFL football, let alone for the Redskins), but the Guglielmi selection looms especially large because 15 Pro Bowlers were selected after him and Johnny Unitas was picked eight rounds later. Ouch.



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Charlie Gogolak (6th overall in 1966)

One of the worst NFL Draft sins is taking a kicker in the first round. Gogolak is the reason that became conventional wisdom. The first kicker ever selected in the first round had a good rookie year but lasted only three years in Washington, making a woeful 56 percent of his kicks. Gogolak’s career highlight was combining with his brother Pete to score 14 extra points in the Redskins’ 72-41 victory over the New York Giants in a November 1966 game.



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Art Monk (18th overall in 1980)

Monk is one of the most beloved Redskins of all time, playing on all three Super Bowl winners and retiring as the NFL’s all-time leader in catches (940). Though it took a ridiculously long time for him to get enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Monk was one of the most consistent receivers in NFL history. He was the first player to top 100 catches in a season, first to record a touchdown in 15 straight seasons and first to catch a pass in 180 consecutive games.



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Darrell Green (28th overall in 1983)

Green might be one of the greatest first-round value picks of all time. A cornerback lasting 20 seasons with one team may never be replicated, especially at his level of production. Green was a two-time Super Bowl winner that made seven Pro Bowls and four All-Pro teams, not to mention his Walter Payton Man of the Year award in 1996 and spot on the 1990s All-Decade Team. Perhaps most remarkably, he kept his trademark speed all the way to the end of his career at age 42 (and beyond) and became the first player to record an interception in 19 straight seasons.



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Charley Taylor (3rd overall in 1964)

Taylor played all 13 of his NFL seasons in Washington and did so at a time when black players on the Redskins roster were few and far between. He also retired as the NFL’s all-time leading receiver 14 years before Monk did so (the picture above is Taylor’s 634th reception to top Don Maynard’s record in 1975), notching 649 catches in an era not conducive to big numbers in the passing game.

Taylor stuck with the franchise even after retirement, spending time with Bobby Mitchell in the team’s front office before becoming a receivers coach under Joe Gibbs and Richie Petitbon.



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Chris Samuels (3rd overall in 2000)

Samuels was durable (141 games in 10 seasons), dominant (six-time Pro Bowler) and a model citizen off the field. If the Redskins weren’t so terrible in the 2000s, he would have been a first ballot Hall-of-Famer.



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Sammy Baugh (6th overall in 1937)

I know I said I’m not doing this in any particular order, but in this case, I’ve saved the best for last. Baugh is perhaps the single greatest player in NFL history, retiring with 13 league records at three different positions. In addition to being the first QB to excel at the forward pass, he was an All-Pro punter and safety, becoming the only player in NFL history to lead the league in passing, punting and interceptions in the same season. No wonder he’s the only Redskin to get his number retired.



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11

Best- Darrell Green

Worst- Heath Shuler

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Griffin_III




Robert Griffin III (2nd overall in 2012)







He played college football at Baylor, where he won the 2011 Heisman Trophy.


Griffin had a successful rookie season with Washington, setting records for the highest passer rating and highest touchdown to interception ratio by a rookie quarterback, and leading the Redskins to the top of their division and their first playoff appearance in five seasons. He won the 2012 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year award and although unable to participate due to injury, was named to enter the 2013 Pro Bowl. However, Griffin was less successful during his subsequent tenure with the Redskins, and his performance was plagued by injuries. After suffering a concussion during the 2015 preseason, Griffin was replaced by Kirk Cousins and remained benched for the rest of the year. He was released by the Redskins following the end of the season and signed with the Cleveland Browns shortly after.









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RGme was pretty good as long as he was healthy. Problem was, he weren't none too healthy most of the time after his rookie year.

Reminds me a lot of Strasburg. Great pitcher when he's healthy, but too fragile to last.

Ol' Becky should be glad he pushed her away. They don't pay HS coaches too much. At some schools, assistant coaches do OK, but not many. RGme will have to pay his dues as a HS or college assistant and even a head coach at a cream puff school before he can land a good college head coach job. In the meantime, that other white broad he's with will have long since dumped him. A big dick don't pay for no fur coats and Mercedes Benz.

Who is your favorite?

Westbrook fit the offense Marty Schottenheimer was building, and would have done well, but Marty told Danny to stop meddling and just write the checks, and bruised his ego, so someone else came in. Westbrook wasn't a speed demon. Instead, he was a possession receiver. I don't know if he ever would have had Hall of Fame credentials, but I think he was good for the offense Marty had in mind.

A lot of people call Beathard a genius, and maybe he was, but they don't mention the draft where if Art Monk hadn't been there unexpectedly when the Redskins picked, he was going to draft Mendenhall in the first round. He got him in the second round (I think there was a reason he was still on the board), and I think he only played a couple of years. I don't know if the problem was injuries or not.

Some players, like Curtis Enis, had basically career ending injuries VERY early on, so it's kind of hard to say they were busts because of a lack of talent. Steve Emtman was very good until his injuries.

Unquestionably, the biggest bust ever for the Redskins was Cal Rossi, who was drafted twice in the first round. The first time, the idiot owner of the Redskins didn't realize he had another year of eligibility left, and the second time, didn't account for the fact that he didn't want to play pro football.

Sorry, I didn't intend to make it look like Enis and Emtman played for the Redskins. They were only in there as examples of talent that was injured too early to judge.

Gruntled Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Westbrook fit the offense

i just remember the Skins had a shot to tie for first place late in the season, with under a minute left in OT, on a great drive into the red zone, and then Westbrook took his helmet off and threw it. 15 yard penalty and they ended up missing a FG instead. That kinda ruined the whole season, and it seemed like they were just cursed to suck after that game.

westbrook Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Gruntled Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Westbrook fit the offense
>
> i just remember the Skins had a shot to tie for
> first place late in the season, with under a
> minute left in OT, on a great drive into the red
> zone, and then Westbrook took his helmet off and
> threw it. 15 yard penalty and they ended up
> missing a FG instead. That kinda ruined the whole
> season, and it seemed like they were just cursed
> to suck after that game.

I didn't say he was perfect or Hall of Fame material, just not as big of a bust as someone like Heath Shuler. He was far from perfect, and I remember a big fight he got into with a teammate at practice.

Gruntled Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> westbrook Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Gruntled Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > > Westbrook fit the offense
> >
> > i just remember the Skins had a shot to tie for
> > first place late in the season, with under a
> > minute left in OT, on a great drive into the
> red
> > zone, and then Westbrook took his helmet off
> and
> > threw it. 15 yard penalty and they ended up
> > missing a FG instead. That kinda ruined the
> whole
> > season, and it seemed like they were just
> cursed
> > to suck after that game.
>
> I didn't say he was perfect or Hall of Fame
> material, just not as big of a bust as someone
> like Heath Shuler. He was far from perfect, and I
> remember a big fight he got into with a teammate
> at practice.

Actually he KICKED Stephen Davis's ass after Davis called him a queer. Knocked his ass out.

Stephen Davis was a league MVP, thousand yard rusher, and has a super bowl ring. Westbrook was an overpaid chump.

I agree...just stating the facts behind the incident.

I won't say that RGIII was the worst Redskin first round pick. He wasn't even close. However when you consider what the Redskins gave up in order to have the chance to take him, a first and second round pick in 2012 and first round picks in 2013 and 2014, I think there is an argument.

Davis was good Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Stephen Davis was a league MVP, thousand yard
> rusher, and has a super bowl ring.


I don't know how many times Sonny used to say "Give the ball to Stephen Davis". Ol' Sonny knows his game, allright, but the pantywaist deadskins gave Stephen Davis to another ball team.

Ol' Snyder has everything backwards.

GO EAGLES Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Ol' Snyder has everything backwards.

Davis played 7 seasons for the Skins and only 3 for the Panthers, but at the end of his career he still signed a one day deal with Carolina so he could retire a Panther. All those years as a Redskin weren't too important to him i guess