The Washington Redskins have the No. 2 pick in the 2020 NFL Draft. While they may draft Chase Young with it, they aren’t opposed to moving it either.
The Washington Redskins could be trade partners for teams looking to move up for a quarterback.
2019 was not kind to the Washington. The Redskins went 3-13 and fired their head coach Jay Gruden before Halloween. Washington ended up with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft. While they may stand pat and select the best player in the draft in Ohio State Buckeyes defensive end Chase Young, Washington isn’t entirely opposing to trading the pick either.
New head coach Ron Rivera was asked this question at the combine on Wednesday. While he says early communication with largely absent owner Daniel Snyder has been good, Rivera and his team are certainly keeping all their options open.
“We are looking at everything,” said Rivera. “Everything is possible, everything is an option. What we do we’re going to decide as a group and we’ll go forward from there.”
It was a diplomatic response, but one of tremendous confidence. It was non-committal, yet it gave us the impression Rivera and his group know exactly what they’re doing. This typically has not been the case for Washington, who used to employ a team president who wouldn’t pronounce his starting quarterback’s given name correctly.
Though a defensive-minded coach like Rivera would love nothing more than to draft his version of Lawrence Taylor with the No. 2 overall selection, it is wise for Washington to hear out all potential trade offers.
Washington already has its starting quarterback in Dwayne Haskins. Barring something unpredictable from the painfully predictable Cincinnati Bengals, they will use the No. 1 overall pick on LSU Tigers quarterback Joe Burrow. This puts Washington in an immensely power position picking at No. 2.
Quarterback-desperate teams could look to move up to draft either Tua Tagovailoa of the Alabama Crimson Tide or Justin Herbert of the Oregon Ducks with that pick. Both are locks to go in the top seven, but teams can never give up too much to get a franchise quarterback.
Washington won’t be able to land Young if it trades back, but the amount of assets it could get doing so would yield the pieces necessary to put this full-scale cultural turnaround into motion. The Redskins must build through the draft and this is how they can do it. They can move back a few spots to get more bites at the apple.