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2007 COLLEGE DRAFT REPORT CARD

by Jay Goldberg

The Redskins draft was typically brief and, outside of Landry, uneventful.  As far as college street free agents are concerned, they cut my favorite signing (Hollenbach) prior to to me getting around to writing this, the last of my draft report cards.

Landry is a great football player.  However, pairing him with Taylor, especially with the announced Taylor at free safety and Landry at strong safety could result in the Seahawk/Cowboy burned by the long pass disease. Both Taylor and Landry are best served as strong safeties.  Both are hard hitters with excellent read and react skills.  As free safeties, Taylor will be the better playmaker, but lacks top end speed and will give up big plays (both due tom lack of speed and by going for the big hit and missing on occasion), while Landry will prevent the big play but will have few interceptions.  Personally, I would leave Taylor at strong safety and put Landry at free safety where he has great range, is a sure tackler, can run with receivers, and will give up fewer long passes.  I also may have drafted defensive end Jamaal Anderson since the Redskins badly need a pass rusher (and free safety John Wendling could have been grabbed in round five).  Sartz is a former safety who has excellent speed and quickness but is not a top athlete and lacks speed.  He was fine covering tight ends in college but may have trouble with the faster tight ends in the NFL.  He is a sure tackler and could be a versatile backup linebacker.  Blades was excellent value in round six.  If you go by his workout numbers and size he would have gone undrafted.  If you go buy his game tape and heart he would have gone on day one.  I had a fourth round grade on him.   He should, at worst, be a solid and reliable backup.  Palmer has good size and bloodlines, but looked bad in post-season workouts and All Star games.  Yes, he has a good arm, but he is inaccurate and makes poor decisions.   Ecker was off may board because he needs work to become a NFL player.  He has good size and hands but lacks strength and speed.  His best shot for a NFL career is to get stronger and become a reliable blocker.  If he succeeds, he will be an asset since he can be an effective short yardage and goal line target.

In terms of college street free agent signings, Berman is a very small receiver/return man with sub-4.3 speed and tremendous athleticism.  He could be an intriguing return man if he can stand up to the punishment he will take in the NFL.  Heyer has excellent size and strength and is an ideal candidate for the Redskins' development squad.  He needs work on his technique.  With the need for pass rushers, Hickman, a short defensive end with good pass rushing skills, could make a run at a roster spot.  Jones, a small WILL is a good athlete who will be a good special teams player but may need to spend some time on Washington's development squad.  Quaterback Sam Hollenback, already cut, is a player I like more than Palmer.  He was productive in college, moves well in the pocket, is accurate, but will always look better on game day than in practice.  He reminds me of Jake Delhomme and may have bounce around like Delhomme did before sticking as a backup and eventually becoming a starter.  The fact that the Redskins cut him early was expected since they have a young starter, have two capable veteran backups, drafted Palmer as their project QB, and have NFL Europe star Casey Bramlet.   Once Bramlet showed up (after NFL Europe season), there were no practice snaps available for Hollenback.  He should have done a better job of selecting a camp to go to.  

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