NEW ORLEANS, LA – JANUARY 13: LSU Tigers quarterback Joe Burrow (9) warms up prior to the College Football Playoff National Championship Game between the LSU Tigers and the Clemson Tigers on January 13, 2020 in New Orleans LA. (Photo by Todd Kirkland/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Ron Rivera is ready to usher in a new era of Redskins football. Drafting one of these five players will get Washington headed in the right direction.
The Redskins have more roster holes than one offseason can fix. Nonetheless, new head coach Ron Rivera must start to add significant to his team immediately. That will require Washington to draft the right player with the No. 2 overall selection in this year’s NFL Draft.
The biggest question the organization needs to answer is whether or not Dwayne Haskins is really their franchise quarterback of the future. Expect Rivera and his staff to give the former Ohio State star a chance to grab hold of the job this season. Nothing past 2020 is guaranteed for Haskins, but he’s a good bet to start next season as the team’s starter under center.
That puts the Redskins in a position to draft the best player available. That should lead the team’s front office to select one of the following five players. Washington has a long path towards respectability, but it must start with a very productive NFL Draft. Hitting on the No. 2 pick is a necessity to kickstart this team’s rebuild.
5. Joe Burrow
The Bengals will almost certainly make Burrow the No. 1 overall pick. If they don’t, the Redskins should sprint to the podium to take advantage of their mistake. With all due respect to Haskins, he’s miles behind the former LSU star as a prospect.
It’s even possible that the Redskins might try to find a way to sneak up to the first overall pick if they truly grade Burrow out as an elite prospect. Washington doesn’t want to pick this high in the draft again for quite some time. That does open up the possibility of it selling out for a potentially franchise altering quarterback.
Burrow almost certainly won’t end up with the Redskins, but it’s not an impossible outcome. That’s why he checks in at No. 5 on this list.