NFL Draft: Redskins take offensive lineman Scherff, a solid pick

Brandon Scherff.
Brandon Scherff.
The Washington Redskins turned away from flashy and picked a solid, NFL-ready offensive lineman in Iowa’s Brandon Scherff with the No. 5 pick in the 2015 NFL Draft.

While he can play tackle, he is likely to step into the Redskins lineup on day one at guard to join Trent Williams on the left side. It could turn the Redskins offensive line from a liability to a strength, just like that.

As a senior left tackle, the 6-foot-5, 320-pound Scherff won the Outland Trophy as the nation’s most outstanding interior lineman. He’s powerful, smart and consistent with good technique. And he’s concerned a high character, well-respected player, despite his reputation for being nasty on the field.

An added plus for picking Scherff is that most believed that NFL East rival New York Giants were hoping to get him with the ninth pick.

The Redskins passed on the flashier defensive end Leonard Williams, who most experts considered the best talent in the draft. With teams going for needs, and perhaps concerned about Williams’ shoulder, Williams dropped to the New York Jets with the 6th pick.

While Scherff was a surprise pick, perhaps Redskins new general manager Scot McCloughan tipped his hand a bit Monday when he said, “I think you want your tackles to be your bigger guys – taller and longer. With our guards and with Coach [Bill] Callahan and what our plans are is power. You know, in-line power. We’re talking 320-plus [pounds] hopefully, coming off, head-butting and going. We want to be able to run the football, it’s very important. It sets up everything else for us. The center, of course, is usually the leader. He needs to be highly intelligent, be able to read the defenses and make the checks he needs to make. But again, at any one of those positions, we want big guys, we want smart guys and we want tough guys. I’ll give a little bit on athletic ability – especially inside at guard and center – for just a consistent football player that gets out there every day and you know exactly what you’ve got.”

Draft Notes: Tarboro’s Todd Gurley, who played at Georgia, was chosen 10th by the St. Louis Rams… CBSSports’ Pete Prisco gives the Redskins only a B- for its pick of Scherff explaining, “They have a big need on the line, so I get it. This is a nice, solid pick — but not a wow pick, which they needed.” With all due respect, the Redskins have been burned more times than I can count by getting a player for the ‘wow’ factor.

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