NFL Draft Discussion: I Don’t Know Where Washington will go, but I Know Where They Shouldn’t go at #16

On what should be a boring Tuesday of news, I figured why not have an open draft discussion.

As usual, I will be jumping on my yearly NFL draft conference call today at noon with former general manager Mark Dominik. The Godfather Gil Brandt, used to be part of this call, but he’s no longer able to do so – so it’s just Dominik fielding questions from reporters.

*If you have anything specific you’d like me to try and ask Mark, please put your questions in the comments section.

I have no idea who we will pick in the first round come next Thursday evening. I have some educated guesses, but just like we saw last year, anything can happen, and what the fans deeply desire is usually not the direction this staff goes.

I’ll kick off the polite banter by listing the positions/players that this “staff” shouldn’t be considering at #16.

Defensive Tackle – I don’t care if Jalen Carter, widely considered a top 3 talent in this draft, drops to 16. HE SHOULD NOT BE THE CHOICE! No defensive tackle should be chosen at pick 16…

EDGE – There are five top edge rushers in this draft, and none should be the pick at 16. Anderson, Wilson and Murphy should be long gone by then, but even if one were to slide a bit, there are prospects at positions of need who would be better picks. You can give me all the Chase Young/Montez Sweat hypotheticals you can throw my way, but it won’t change my mind one bit to get me to want to bite on Lukas Van Ness or Nolan Smith.

Running Back – Before I get into my diatribe about why we shouldn’t take Bijan at 16 if he’s there, let me first start out by saying that RB always was, and still is, my favorite position on the football field. That said, you don’t buy a Lamborghini, then park in under your carport!

You can have an effective running game without having a “generational” running back. Case in point: No one last year would have had Miles Sanders as a top NFL back, yet he averaged 4.9 yards per carry and scored 11 touchdowns on the ground behind arguably the best offensive line in the league! Yeah, it’s the O-line that matters!

Wide Receiver – Ron loves to draft wide receivers in round one. This seems a bit odd with him being a defensive-minded head coach; but it’s true. 2023, however, should not be another year where this staff dips back into the wide receiver pool.

Safety – For the first time in a long time this football team looks to be set for the foreseeable future at safety. Starters Kam Curl and Darrick Forrest formed one of the best duo’s in the league last season, and the depth behind them (Percy Butler and All-Pro Jeremy Reaves) is really solid.

Now, I’m also going to include a player in here who I actually like; just not at #16 – Brian Branch. Branch is kind of a do-it-all type player in the secondary, spending the majority of his snaps at Alabama as the nickel corner. However, pick 16 on a 4.6 jack-of-all-trades guy is too high in my opinion – especially in this very deep corner class.

Center – Not much needs to be said here, as there is not a player in this draft worthy of such a high pick at the center position.

Feel free to discuss the above, and anything else that suits your fancy, in the comments section.