The Redskins have selected 6′4″, 305 pound OT Trent Williams out of Oklahoma with the fourth pick of the first round of the NFL Draft.  Williams is a very good athlete who rarely gets beat when he’s focused because of his speed.  He will likely step right in and start for the Redskins providing that he can pick up the new zone blocking scheme that they are going to employ.  Williams was picked over Russell Okung because of his athletic ability as he is good at hitting moving targets.  Williams played in 12 games (all starts) at Oklahoma last season and he played in 51 games (39 starts) in his four years there.  I really like this pick for the Redskins.

OLB/DE Brian Orakpo made the Pro Bowl as a rookie for the Redskins this season.  He was the Redskins’ first round pick (#13) out of Texas.  He played in 16 games for the Redskins last season and he made 50 tackles, had 11 sacks, 4 tackles for a loss, he forced a fumble and he defensed 2 passes.  The sky is the limit of Orakpo as he has room to grow into an even better player than he was in 2009 in the near future for the Redskins.  CB Kevin Barnes was the second pick the Redskins made last April (3rd round, #80 overall).  He played in 4 games for the Redskins last season and he made 2 tackles and he returned 1 punt for 0 yards. Linebacker Cody Glenn (5th round, #158 overall) didn’t make the cut for the Redskins.  But, he got a job with the Colts and he played in 9 games for them making 9 tackles.  Linebacker Robert Henson (6th round, #186 overall) out of TCU also didn’t do much for the Redskins this season.  He played in 6 games and he made 3 tackles for the Redskins in 2009.  TE/FB Eddie Williams was picked in the 7th round (#221 overall) out of Idaho and he didn’t play in any games.  WR Marko Mitchell (7th round, #243 overall) was the Redskins’ last pick last April and he played in 10 games catching 4 passes for 32 yards (8.0 avg).  He also made 1 tackle.

GRADE FOR 2009:  C+

GRADE FOR THE FUTURE:  B

23-year old outside linebacker Brian Orakpo is one of only three players (Jairus Byrd, Buffalo and Brian Cushing, Houston) to make the Pro Bowl in their rookie year this season.  He has played in 15 games for the Redskins this season and he has made 48 tackles, 4 tackles for a loss, forced 1 fumble, defensed 2 passes and he has 11 sacks.  The sky is the limit for Orakpo who made a seamless transition from being a college DE to a pro outside linebacker.

The Washington Redskins pretty much ran up to the podium in New York to select DE/OLB Brian Orakpo earlier today.  He is 6′3″, 255 pounds and he runs a 4.6 40.  Orakpo is a physical freak who should be able to handle the move to outside linebacker for the Redskins.  He played 4 seasons with the Longhorns in Texas appearing in 46 games (21 starts) in which he made 132 tackles, made 38 tackles for a loss, had 22 sacks, batted down six balls, forced 6 fumbles and he also recovered a fumble.  The Redskins have been looking for a young impact defender to build their defense around and Orakpo could be just that guy.

The Washington Redskins selected 2 WRs and a TE in the second round of last April’s Draft expecting them all to make a impact.  None of them did but it would be dumb to count them all out already as I think at least one of them will step up in 2009 for the Redskins.  WR Devin Thomas was the highest pick the Redskins made last April.  He played in all 16 games (1 start) for the Redskins last season but he only caught 15 passes for 120 yards (8.0 avg).  Thomas also carried the ball 3 times for 53 yards (17.7 ypc) with a TD run.  TE Fred Davis was up next in the 2nd round for the Skins.  He played in 11 games (2 starts) and he only caught 3 passes for 27 yards (9.0 avg).  WR Malcolm Kelly was the final of the “Big Three” for the Redskins and he only played in 5 games (0 starts) catching only 3 passes for 18 yards (6.0 avg).  In the third round the Redskins selected OT Chad Rinehart who didn’t play in a game last season and was inactive in 14 of 16 games.  4th round CB Justin Tryon didn’t show much as a rookie either playing in 14 games (0 starts) and making only 4 tackles.  Punter Durant Brooks was a 6th round pick for the Redskins but he was cut in October.  He punted the ball 26 times for 1,030 yards (39.6 avg) for the Redskins last season.  He placed 9 punts inside the opposing 20-yard line and didn’t have any touchbacks.  Safety Kareem Moore was also selected in the 6th round by the Redskins.  He played in 14 games (1 start) for the Skins last season and he made 17 tackles.  QB Colt Brennan was the final of the 6th round picks by the Redskins last season and he played well in the preseason but didn’t appear in any real games last season.  He could develop into the #2 QB in the near future for the Redskins.  7th round DE Rob Jackson played in 3 games (0 starts) last season for the Redskins and he made only 1 tackle.  With the 249th pick (7th round) the Redskins selected safety Chris Horton who was by far the best player they drafted.  He played in 14 games (10 starts) for the Redskins last season and he made 76 tackles, had 1 sack, defensed 5 passes and had three interceptions.  Horton will likely be a starter for a long time on the Redskins.

GRADE FOR THE 2008 SEASON:  D

GRADE FOR THE FUTURE:  C+