Snider: Redskins offer no drama – it’s Young at No. 2
The Redskins made the right move. They resisted the temptation of multiple picks or a promising passer and took Chase Young with the second overall pick on Thursday.
Bravo for doing the right thing.
It would have been easy for the Redskins to trade the pick hoping to fix several problems. Or, decide Dwayne Haskins isn’t ready to succeed and go for another Alabama player in Tua Tagovailoa.
But that would have been overthinking. The Redskins drafted perhaps their best defensive pass rusher since Dexter Manley in 1981 (ironically in the fifth round.) Ohio State’s Young is supposed to be the next Nick Bosa, who helped propel San Francisco to the Super Bowl two months ago. The best defensive player in a generation, some experts say. How can anyone be disappointed with that?
Sure, Young is only one man and it takes one big village to win in the NFL. But Washington just gained the tip of the spear that is so hard to find. They found someone to follow on Sunday afternoons.
If this defensive front with five first-round picks doesn’t dominate the NFL by midseason, then it’s time to trade them all for receivers and tight ends and go Air Redskins. But owner Dan Snyder didn’t hire coach Ron Rivera to win shootouts. Rivera and defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio are here to win 17-13 games and they need Young to do so.
The Redskins offense is going to limp along this year. No dominant left tackle or tight end will not help Haskins develop into a top-rate quarterback. If Rivera thinks it’s a slow build, then he’s going with this strength first and offense next year.
If Young isn’t the next great player over the next three years, do we consider the pick a bust? Well, we’ll see. It’s hard for a rookie to be a dominating player, especially this year with no offseason camps to sharpen.
If Young can just dominate sometimes, that’s all that should be expected. All those boo birds on Twitter who tweet the Redskins should have traded down or taken Tua need to exhale and let Young find his way to passers.
Young is a Washington-area native like linemate Jonathan Allen and Haskins. He knows what’s at stake for a franchise needing to score big with the second overall selection. Young knows this pick will be debated in every corner of the Washington area from Westminster to Waldorf.
But think of the potential this move makes. The line should just dominate with Rivera yelling “charge” per every snap, with Del Rio foaming at the mouth during midweek practices. The starting offense doesn’t practice against the starting defense during the regular season, but Rivera may not match them up in preseason either to prevent discouraging his offense. They can’t match up.
Hopefully, fans will look back on this pick as the start of the franchise revival. But the Robert Griffin III pick 10 years ago proves there are no guarantees.
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Rick Snider is an award-winning sports writer who has covered Washington sports since 1978. He first wrote about the Redskins in 1983 before becoming a beat writer in 1993. Snider currently writes for several national and international publications and is a Washington tour guide. Follow Rick on Twitter at @Snide_Remarks.
