The 2020 NFL Draft starts on Thursday, April 23. As a lead up to the draft, we’ll be giving a team-by-team breakdown for positional needs. For each team, we’ll give an overview of each team’s current depth chart and how big of a need each position in the upcoming draft. Find all teams and the rest of our draft content in our NFL Draft Hub.
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Washington Redskins 2020 Draft Picks Overview
Round 1 (2)
Round 3 (66)
Round 4 (108)
Round 4 (142)
Round 5 (162)
Round 7 (216)
Round 7 (229)
Washington Redskins Offense
by Rich Hribar
2019 Washington Redskins Ranks
*denotes new addition
Quarterback
Dwayne Haskins
Kyle Allen
Alex Smith
Washington selected Haskins with the 15th overall selection a year ago. The rookie struggled heavily, completing just 58.6% of his passes for 6.7 yards per pass attempt and the exact same touchdown rate (3.4%) as his interception rate. His supporting cast can absolutely be questioned, but with a new coaching staff in place, Haskins will have to make a significant stride in his second season to ensure he gets a third year.
It’s doubtful Washington goes with a Josh Rosen-type of move at No. 2 overall, but we shouldn’t put it at zero odds, either. Behind Haskins, Washington could have pursued someone to push Haskins but instead opted to trade for Kyle Allen while Alex Smith’s status remains murky at best.
Running back
Derrius Guice
Adrian Peterson
Bryce Love
Peyton Barber*
J.D. McKissic*
Josh Ferguson
This is quite a gaggle of options in the running back room. Derrius Guice has managed to find the field for just five games over his first two seasons, but did flash in his limited opportuning a year ago with 6.6 yards per touch. The team retained Adrian Peterson after reaching 1,000 yards from scrimmage in each of the past two seasons. Peterson turned 35-years-old this past March.
Washington also went out and signed a pair of backs in Peyton Barber and J.D. McKissic to go along with last year’s fourth-round draft pick Bryce Love, who missed all of the 2019 season with an ACL injury. Washington may not have a solidified RB1, but they have enough bodies entering the season.
Wide receiver
Terry McLaurin
Kelvin Harmon
Steven Sims
Trey Quinn
Cody Latimer*
Cam Sims
Jester Weah
Darvin Kidsy
Emanuel Hall
Jordan Veasy
Washington’s top three wideouts currently were all 2019 rookies. The team appears to hit a home run on Terry McLaurin in the third round (76th overall). As a rookie, McLaurin caught 58-of-93 targets for 919 yards (15.8 Y/R) and seven touchdowns. Undrafted rookie Steven Sims had a 34-310-4 line in the passing game while totaling 1,240 all-purpose yards. Sims came on late in the season a receiver, with 20-230-4 over the final four games.
The same is true for sixth-round pick Kelvin Harmon. Harmon had 22 catches for 290 yards over the final seven games after just eight receptions for 75 yards prior. Both Sims and Harmon remain unknown long term assets considering their initial draft capital, but team didn’t add a veteran in the first wave of free agency and only have one pick prior to day three in which they would realistically entertain taking a wide receiver. Washington should add another young player to their receiving corps, the question remains with what pick.
Tight End
Jeremy Sprinkle
Richard Rodgers*
Logan Thomas*
Hale Hentges
Marcus Baugh
Caleb Wilson
The top three tight ends for Washington have combined for 81 receptions, 779 receiving yards, and six touchdowns over the past three seasons. Jeremy Sprinkle did little with the opportunity last season after Vernon Davis was lost, catching 26 passes for 241 yards and a touchdown while averaging 6.0 yards per target. The team went out and added Richard Rodgers on a one-year contract and Logan Thomas on a two-year deal. Thomas has the most intriguing profile of the group, converting to the position at the NFL level, but this group is lacking all-around from a playmaking stance and long term commitment stance.
Offensive Line
LT: Trent Williams/Cornelius Lucas*/Geron Christian
LG: Wes Schweitzer*/Jeremy Vujnovich
C: Chase Roullier/Ross Pierschbacher
RG: Brandon Scherff/Wes Martin
RT: Morgan Moses/Timon Parris/Paul Adams
Washington was a lower-level offensive line by just about all metrics last season, ranking 31st in adjusted sack rate (9.8%). A portion of that can be attributed to Haskins, who took a sack on 12.5% of his dropbacks compared to just 5.7% with Case Keenum behind the group. But even factoring in the impact Haskins had, Washington ranked 21st in pass blocking win rate per ESPN and 20th per Pro Football Focus in pass blocking efficiency.
The right side of the line to center is in good shape immediately, but right guard Brandon Scherff is playing on the franchise tag and looking for a long term deal while center Chase Roullier is in the final year of his contract.
While that side at least has immediate starters, the left side is another story. Trent Williams is on the depth chart, but his situation and standing with the team remain cloudy as he was given permission to seek a trade. He’s stated before that he’ll never play for the team again and is expected to be dealt at some stage.
Donald Penn took the most snaps at left tackle for Washington a year ago, who remains unsigned. The team added journeyman Cornelius Lucas to the position, who has started 16 games in six NFL seasons for four teams. The team also lost Ereck Flowers from the left guard position, replacing him currently with Wes Schweitzer, who was a backup last season for the Falcons.
Washington Redskins Defense
by Dan Pizzuta
2019 Washington Redskins Defensive Ranks
interior defensive line
Da’Ron Payne
Jonathan Allen
Matt Ioannidis
Tim Settle
Caleb Brantley
Treyvon Hester
Washington is pretty set with the interior defensive line. High draft picks were used on Da’Ron Payne and Jonathan Allen, who have turned into good players, but arguably the best of the bunch has been 2016 fifth-round pick Matt Ioannidis. Ioannidis and turned into one of the most disruptive interior defenders against the pass. He was ninth last season among interior defenders in ESPN’s Pass Rush Win Rate and has 44 quarterback hits over the past three seasons.
EDGE
Montez Sweat
Ryan Kerrigan
Jordan Brailford
Ryan Anderson
Cameron Malveaux
Ryan Bee
Montez Sweat came on during the second half of the season as Washington’s first-round pick. Ryan Kerrigan remains an underrated edge rusher, though he’ll turn 32 years old in August. By almost all accounts, Chase Young will be added to this group. While edge isn’t the biggest need on this roster, Washington will feel good with their three-man pass rush rotation.
Off-ball Linebacker
Thomas Davis*
Kevin Pierre-Louis*
Cole Holcomb
Nate Orchard
Josh Harvey-Clemons
Reuben Foster
Shaun Dion Hamilton
Jared Norris*
Thomas Davis isn’t the coverage linebacker he used to be at 37 years old but was still a solid tackler with the Chargers last season. Cole Holcomb was also a tackle machine as a fifth-round rookie but was a liability in coverage. The coverage can be handled by Kevin Pierre-Louis, who was solid there with the Bears last season. Under Ron Rivera, the Panthers just nickel on 65% of their snaps last season with just two linebackers on the field.
Cornerback
Fabian Moreau
Kendall Fuller*
Ronald Darby*
Jimmy Moreland
Greg Stroman
Simeon Thomas
Danny Johnson
There’s a lot of unknown here and the known isn’t that great. Fabien Moreau and Jimmy Moreland both played well on a per coverage snap basis last season, though they had the benefit of opposing offenses picking on Josh Norman so often. Of course, to replace Norman Washington signed Ronald Darby, who was the only corner to be worse than Norman by Adjusted Yards allowed per coverage snap among 92 corners with at least 300 coverage snaps in 2019. Former Redskin Kendall Fuller returns after getting his best play as a slot/safety hybrid through the Chiefs’ Super Bowl run last season.
Safety
Landon Collins
Sean Davis*
Desahzor Everett
Troy Apke
Jeremy Reaves
Maurice Smith
Landon Collins continued being Landon Collins after his big free agent signing last season. He was stretched a bit in coverage without much help around him in the back end of the secondary. That help still really isn’t here. Washington signed Sean Davis, who only played one game last season with the Steelers. Pittsburgh has 15th in DVOA against deep passes in 2018 per Football Outsiders when Davis was the free safety. It wouldn’t be surprising to see Kendall Fuller continue to work as a safety to add depth here.
