‘Tis the season to be drafting.
The big boards, little boards, mock drafts, and drafts that deserve mocking are out in full force as the 2021 NFL Draft is just a week away. And for the NFC East champion Washington Football Team, this silly season seems to be as silly as ever.
The question: What will Ron Rivera do in the 1st round? Trade up from the No. 19 position? Trade down? Stay put? Draft a quarterback? An offensive lineman? Take a linebacker?
In his latest mock draft, NFL Network's Peter Schrager had Washington making a surprise selection of Clemson running back Travis Etienne.
His reasoning: “I love this addition to Scott Turner's offense,” he wrote. “Etienne is electric between the tackles and in the open field as a ball carrier, but also adds value in the passing game. Washington still needs another playmaker or two on offense to be a threat in the NFC.”
Kevin Sheehan Show producer Brendan Darr vehemently disagreed with this idea.
“It’s a terrible idea,” Darr said, adding it would be a "massive mistake" for Washington.
(Listen to the full segment from The Kevin Sheehan Show starting at 15:40)
While most mock drafts don’t amount to a hill of beans in this crazy football world, Darr added Schrager has some credibility that should worry Washington Football fans.
“And Schrager is really accurate and it’s frustrating that he put a running back at 19,” he said, adding Schrager has a reputation for being one of the most accurate draft prognosticators. “And it’s annoying on a level that I’m struggling to put into words that he has a running back at 19. And I can’t take it. I hate it, I hate it so much.”
Kevin Sheehan took a different approach, arguing the pick of a running back isn’t what upset him, but what running back.
"If Washington has a running back as the highest-rated player on their board at 19," Sheehan said. “I do not have a problem with them taking a running back at 19.”
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“If they pick a running back and it’s Travis Etienne and it’s not Najee Harris,” he added. “I’ll be really upset. To me, Najee Harris is the No. 1 back in this draft and I don’t know why anybody would put Etienne or (Michael) Carter or anybody else in front of him.”
Harris, who turned 23 in March, played four years at Alabama where he totaled 638 carries, 3843 yards (6.0 avg.), and 46 touchdowns on the ground, and another 781 yards and 11 TDs on 80 catches.
Etienne, who turned 22 in January, in four years with Clemson had 686 carries, 4952 yards (7.2 avg.), and 70 TDs on the ground with another 1155 yards and 8 TDs on 102 catches.
Now listen, what if Najee Harris is the number four player on their board and the next best player available at 19 is the 21st best player? You wouldn't take the RB in that case?"
Sheehan added this is not to say running back Antonio Gibson, who had a fantastic rookie season for Washington after being selected in the 3rd round a year ago, doesn’t have potential.
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“I like Antonio Gibson, don’t get me wrong, I like him a lot. I think he really has incredible potential. He also is banged up a lot. He’s also not Najee Harris if he were there at 19,” Sheehan said. “Harris is gonna be a game-changer for a team. He’s gonna be a major impact player, I think, for a team. We have seen more and more in recent years this so-called ‘commodity position’ be more impactful to wins and losses. More impactful in terms of some of the really good backs – Derrick Henry, obviously, Dalvin Cook – majorly influential for teams.”
Sheehan said he doesn’t think Washington will take a running back with their first-round pick but doesn’t hate the idea. “I wouldn’t be outraged if the highest-rated player on their board, and it wasn’t even close, at 19 was a running back. I wouldn’t have a problem with them taking that player,” Sheehan said.
“I would! Please stop taking running backs in the first round,” Darr responded almost instantly. “Especially, if you are a team that already has a starting running back [Gibson] and a pass-catching running back [J.D. McKissic], you don’t need to then draft a running back in the first round. You don’t need to do it. It’s not worth it. It rarely ever pays off. Except for Christian McCaffrey and even then, Mike Davis was fine as a replacement for him [when McCaffrey was injured last season]. It’s outrageous that teams still take quarterbacks knowing what we know about the modern NFL.
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“Thinking about taking a running back in the first round, especially if you are a team that already has a running back, is crazy.”
But Sheehan believes a running back would be fine in the 1st round for Washington if they pick based on who the team rates highest, not where the need is most glaring.
“And they’re gonna compare [picking a running back] to, ‘Well, we got a need here at left tackle, we’ve got a need here at linebacker, but both of these players have 84 grades and Harris has a 96,’” Sheehan said. “I don’t want them to pass on an ‘A’ player. I don’t.”
For Darr, with Washington having so many needs elsewhere on the roster, a running back in the first round would be a luxury they can't afford. He argues it would also be a terrible decision regardless because it would be a poor allocation of scarce resources.
"The idea that taking a running back in the first round is an idea of a bygone era," he said. "It just doesn't work. And there's just better value elsewhere."
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