The NFL draft resumes on Friday night and the Washington Redskins currently own the No. 22 pick in the second round, 53rd overall, and the No. 21 pick in the third, 84th overall.
On Thursday night, the Redskins selected TCU wide receiver Josh Doctson with the 22nd pick after trading down a spot with the Houston Texans and acquiring a sixth-round pick in 2017 in the process. Selecting a wide receiver was somewhat a surprise, as other positions, such as the defensive line, safety and center were considered higher priorities. However, general manager Scot McCloughan and the Redskins’ scouting staff felt confident taking Doctson.
The question now is what the Redskins will do on day two of the NFL draft and it’s likely they address the defensive line in either the second or third round. This draft was considered one of the deepest for defensive line prospects and it showed in the first round, where seven defensive linemen were selected.
The San Diego Chargers selected Ohio State defensive end Joey Bosa third overall and the San Francisco 49ers selected Oregon defensive end DeForest Bucker four picks later. Louisville defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins went to the New Orleans Saints with the 11th pick and Clemson defensive end Shaq Lawson went to the Buffalo Bills at 19.
In the back end of the first round, the Green Bay Packers took UCLA defensive tackle Kenny Clark at 27th, the Arizona Cardinals took Ole Miss defensive tackle Robert Nkemdiche 29th and the Carolina Panthers took Louisiana Tech defensive tackle Vernon Butler 30th.
Even still, four defensive linemen in the top 30 of NFL.com’s pre-draft rankings are still available, including Alabama defensive tackles Jarran Reed and A’Shawn Robinson, Clemson defensive end Kevin Dodd and Boise State defensive end Kamalei Correa. There are several other names that stand out, such as Oklahoma State defensive end Emmanuel Ogbah, Eastern Kentucky defensive end Noah Spence and Baylor defensive tackle Andrew Billings.
“You look into all that — depth of other positions on defense,” coach Jay Gruden said after the first round. “It is a good draft for that. We’ll address other positions, obviously, later. I don’t know which ones yet, we’ll see who’s available, but it is a very deep draft at a lot of positions for that matter. We feel like we can still add to this roster and get some quality players — second, third, fourth, fifth rounds.”
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