It was a surprise to some but not totally unwelcome to Redskins Nation when NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell stepped to the podium at the 2015 draft in Chicago and announced that the Washington Redskins had selected offensive lineman Brandon Scherff with their first-round pick (fifth overall).
By the time Washington was in the spotlight, many in and around the National Football League assumed the Redskins would either go with defensive star, Leonard Williams with that first-round pick or trade back for more picks. They did neither however.
The consensus had been that Williams might have been the most highly graded player in the entire draft. But different teams grade guys differently and obviously, the Redskins did not feel that he was.
Washington General Manager Scot McCloughan made no secret of the fact that he would draft the best player available rather than drafting “for need.” And Scherff had not been said to be quite the caliber of a Top Five draftee. But since last night’s draft, it has become public knowledge that the Redskins had graded wide out Amari Cooper, defensive lineman Dante Fowler, Jr. and Scherff as their three top players. When Cooper and Fowler, Jr. were already gone – to the Oakland Raiders and Jacksonville Jaguars respectively – Scherff was their man.
Even McCloughan saying that he would be happy to come away from this draft with 10 players as opposed to the seven the team already had did not mean he was ready to possibly lose Scherff however by trading back.
“Well, you know, we had the phones in the room,” Head Coach Jay Gruden said to reporters after the pick had been made. “Not a lot of action. We had phone calls here and there. When it comes right down to it, if you have the guy you want, you’ve got to take him and that’s what happened. With Brandon, we had high grades on him all across the board. Our scouts did, our coaches did and if you trade back too far, you risk not getting him. It’s very exciting for us to get an offensive lineman – a guy that’s going to play here for a long time. Tough, physical, get us back to the glory days of running the football and being physical.”
The Redskins’ new offensive lineman will be a premier bookend to current starting left tackle Trent Williams. Scherff has all of the qualities that McCloughan has maintained he wants “in the trenches.”
Listed at 6’5” and 315 lbs., Scherff is huge. He is passionate. He is a team player. He was described by one Redskins player who played him in college as “kind of a thug in the game” and Walterfootball.com writes that he has a “mean streak.” A team captain at Iowa, he is a leader and with him, it’s about the team.
“His toughness, his relentless tenacity,” Gruden said, explaining what they like about Scherff’s impressive skills. “He’s a nonstop motor, plays every snap, he’s physical, he finishes blocks. He’s good in pass protection. There’s some things he can clean up. Obviously, he’s not a finished product yet, but he’s the closest thing we saw on tape. He can pass protect, he’s great in the run game. His double teams are ferocious. Physical, and most importantly, you can tell he has a great passion for the game. We’re looking for guys that really love to play this football game, because when it’s all said and done, you’ve got to have fun playing. I don’t think anybody has more fun at the tackle spot than Brandon.”
There is a lot to like about this kid. Scherff started all 13 games in which he appeared his senior year at Iowa, earning unanimous consensus All-American honors and being named first-team All-Big Ten for the second consecutive season. He received the Outland Trophy, awarded annually to the best interior lineman by the Football Writers Association of America, and was named the Rimington-Pace Offensive Lineman of the Year in the Big Ten conference.
With as much as there is to like, Scherff does have a few weaknesses, one of which is in pass protection. But that can, in all likeliness, be coached up considering his intelligence and offensive line coach Bill Callahan’s experience. There is enough up-side to him that this is a small enough issue that the Redskins felt comfortable enough to spend an early first-round draft pick on him.
Although he never visited Redskins Park, the team obviously had seen what they needed to see (and hear) in Scherff at the NFL Combine, through tape and via their own research. The former Hawkeye seems to be just the type of guy Washington wants on the offensive line.
“I think that’s what everybody – every lineman – wants to be known for,” Scherff said about the demeanor wanted in an offensive lineman. “They want to be known for tough, nasty, physical [play]. I think that just goes to show what Coach Brian Ferentz says back at the University of Iowa.”
He described himself as: “Nasty, physical, likes to finish blocks, likes to get after people.”
Since current starting running back Alfred Morris arrived in Washington, the Redskins’ run game has been good although it struggled a bit last year for numerous reasons. It remains to be see how he will adapt to the more power running scheme that Gruden seems to favor and that Callahan will bring to the team. But Scherff is definitely the kind of right tackle that is needed for such a system. His presence will definitely strengthen plays called off the right side of the line.
With the addition of McCloughan, Callahan and Scherff himself (and any other linemen that might join the team in the coming days), the Washington Redskins are obviously looking to set themselves up with a specific — and different — identity. While the personnel brought in gives an idea of what that identity is, there is no way to really know what it is until it actually develops. However, it wouldn’t be a surprise if it ended up being the “We’re calling this play and there is nothing you can do about it,” look that fans have been yearning for since the days of the Hogs.
Hail.