Three of the seven picks were used to address the secondary, two safeties and a corner. Phillip Thomas and Bacarri Rambo are the safeties; David Amerson is the corner.The thing that each of these guys have is a history of making plays. Since Amerson was taken first I will start with him.
David Amerson is a 6'1" corner that has a history of making plays. He had 19 college ints, 13 in his sophomore year. Phillip Thomas is a 6'1 safety that led the nation in int this season with 8. Barcarri Rambo is 6'0 and has 16 career ints. Each of these guys can be considered steals and they were all ranked to go higher than the Skins got them. These guys provide something that the Skins need more of, playmakers. The safety position should be 100% better than last year as guys either get healthy, off suspension, or earn roll as rookies.
Another thing that happened last year was how the offense fell off once Fred Davis was injured. In the third round they picked Jordan Reed. He needs to improve his blocking, but he is a weapon that can help the offense. John Keim had this quote.
“He’s a real athletic kid,” said Russ Lande, the college scouting director of the Montreal Alouettes and the NFL Draft analyst for the National Football Post. “He’s not a big kid, but he’s quick and very quick at getting to full speed. He has deceptive speed. He has soft natural hands. He’s a real intriguing guy as a receiving option and you can use him around in different alignments. But he’s so little if he tries to block he’ll get knocked on his [butt] a lot. But he’s so natural catching the ball and moving in space. He does good things.”
They also added to running backs in Chris Thompson and Jawan Jamison. I won't even second guess these two as Shanahan has so much success with RB's taking in late rounds. If he thinks these two have a chance, I doubt anyone will really question it.
That leaves us with Brandon Jenkins. He is an olb that rushes the passer. This team can't get too many guys like that. With Orakpo down last year the defense really suffered. Kerrigan got doubled relentlessly and it wasn't good for anyone. Jenkins is another value pick as he was projected to go in the second round and the Skins got him in the third. With 33.5 sacks in two of his seasons, he has the ability to get after the QB. He does have injury questions, but he should be healthy and the extra quality pass rusher is only a benefit.
Shanahan believes the Redskins are a better team now after the draft than they were before. It is hard for me to disagree with him. Now I can't wait for training camp to see how this secondary shakes out. As far as I am concerned, the draft couldn't have gone better.
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