The lone, glaring omission from the Redskins’ draft efforts was the lack of a guard coming out of the weekend. The brass has repeatedly touted Arie Kouandjio as a replacement for four-year starter Shawn Lauvao, who remains an unsigned unrestricted free agent, but the position yet to be addressed this offseason.
The only offensive lineman Washington selected was Louisville tackle Geron Christian in the third round. Coach Jay Gruden said the plan is to keep him at tackle.
“I still feel good about our offensive line,” said Doug Williams, senior vice president of player personnel. “The guard that we targeted wasn’t there. So, you don’t do a reach. You don’t go down to get a guard because you need that guy. … There were some guys on the board, but at our pick, those guys weren’t on the board. But we wanted to pick those guys. They were down further. And because it wasn’t about the need, as much as the value of what we’re picking at that particular time.
“So, when it’s our time to pick and you look over there at the guards, you look over there at the centers or what have you, if they weren’t there during the time we were picking, we didn’t go down. If there had been a guy up high, we would have picked that guy.”
Williams held his post-draft news conference Monday and touched on a variety of topics coming out of the weekend. Rookie minicamp begins May 11, and OTAs start May 22.
Alabama pipeline: The Redskins have taken four Crimson Tide players in the past two drafts – Jonathan Allen, Ryan Anderson, Da’Ron Payne and Shaun Dion Hamilton — but Williams said it’s just a coincidence. The team is looking for good players and Alabama has a lot of them. “It was about position, the guy there and his ability to play the game the way we want it to be played,” Williams said. “And that’s why we went there.”
Crowder still catching punts: Washington drafted Virginia Tech cornerback Greg Stroman and SMU receiver Trey Quinn in the seventh round, in part, due to their potential as punt returners. Jamison Crowder has held the job the past three seasons, but averaged just 6.3 yards per return in 2017. Williams said the job remains Crowder’s. “But at the same time, if you’ve got one of those guys that’s going to be active on game day, you certainly want to take a load off Jamison if you can,” Williams said. “You don’t want to just put a guy out there because he can catch the punt. You want a guy who can do some things with it. If Jamison can just play the slot and play football, I think you’ll take a lot off him and other guys can do those jobs, if we had to.”
Trade at No. 13: The team fielded “two or three” calls about the No. 13 pick, according to Williams. The Redskins, however, wanted to see if the player they wanted was still there. Apparently, he was as they selected Payne. “If the guy that we wanted is not there, then you call them back and see if you want to make the deal,” Williams said. “But you don’t make the deal unless all the guys that you have in front of you are not on the board anymore. … We got the guy we wanted.”
Quotable: “I’m a firm believer, whether or not it’s defensive line, whether or not it’s offensive line, the big boys make the little boys look better,” Williams said. “I don’t care how you cut [it] up. Little boys don’t make the big boys look better.
“The offensive line can make the running backs, the quarterbacks and the receiver look pretty good. And the D-line can make the defensive backs look pretty good. But I haven’t seen any defensive back that made the big boys up front look better.”
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