Remembering the Redskins’ booms and busts of the draft
Best first-round pick: Darrell Green. Washington celebrated its first Super Bowl victory by taking a building block for its next two with the final first-round pick in 1983. Selected immediately after Miami got Dan Marino, Green started right away and was a mainstay in the Redskins’ secondary for almost two decades. He was an All-Pro on the 1991 championship team and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2008. Sammy Baugh (sixth overall in 1937), Charley Taylor (third in 1964), Art Monk (18th in 1980) and Champ Bailey (seventh in 1999) also became Hall of Famers.
Best late-round pick: Chris Hanburger. With their 18thround pick — 245th overall — in 1965, Washington got a 13-year starter at linebacker who’d become a four-time AllPro. Hanburger started 135 consecutive games from 196877, a streak that ended only when he had his appendix removed. Along with Jack Pardee, Hanburger was part of the defense that helped the Redskins reach their first Super Bowl, and he was inducted into the Hall of Fame as a senior candidate in 2011. Guard Russ Grimm (69th overall in 1981) was part of the famed “Hogs” offensive line that paved the way for three Super Bowl titles.
Worst first-round pick: Heath Shuler. The third overall pick in 1994 started only 13 games for the Redskins, completing 47.7% of his passes and throwing for 13 touchdowns and 19 interceptions. Washington lost nine of those games, and it was clear its glory days were over. One more season with New Orleans didn’t go much better for Shuler, who went on to serve in Congress and if not for Ryan Leaf would be in the discussion as the biggest QB bust in NFL draft history. Robert Griffin III takes a lot of heat, but that should be more for what the Redskins gave up to move up to take him second in 2012 and how his injuries were mismanaged.
Best trade: The Ricky Williams trade. The Redskins got eight picks, including two first-rounders, from New Orleans for moving down from No. 5 to No. 12 in 1999. Thanks to the Saints’ desperation for Williams, Washington had the capital to move back up to take Bailey seventh overall and selected linebacker LaVar Arrington with the second overall pick in 2000.
Worst trade: The RGIII trade. To get Griffin at No. 2 in 2012, Washington traded the
No. 6 pick and its secondrounder that year plus firstrounders in 2013 and 2014 to the Rams. Griffin’s magical rookie season led to a playoff berth, but the depth depleted by the trade hurts the Redskins to this day. Not to mention, Ryan Tannehill went eighth, Russell Wilson 75th and Nick Foles 88th in the quarterbackheavy draft, but at least the Redskins got Kirk Cousins 102nd with one of the picks they didn’t deal away.