RELATED LINKS:-- Cravens Wears No. 21 For Taylor-- Fuller Has Quite The NFL Family
It's fair to acknowledge that handing out draft grades the day after the draft has concluded is risky business. The risk, of course, is getting it wrong, which is what happens a lot anyways, so the term "risky" in this situation doesn't hold nearly the same weight anymore (there's no risk in getting clicks, which I suppose is what I'm doing here, too).
And yet, it's always re-assuring to have NFL pundits express positivity towards your team and their decision-making, if only to brag to your friends about how your team got it right, and their team got it wrong, and "Here's Proof!"
Well, here's Mel Kiper's. He gives the Redskins 2016 draft class – complete with seven players – an A-minus, the best of the rest of the NFC East teams.
He gives the Giants a B-Plus, the Cowboys a C and the Eagles a C.
For those that don't have ESPN Insider access, here's a look at what Kiper said about the group – with some minor annotations on my end.
"This is one of my favorite classes [off to a good start]. Josh Doctson is the top wide receiver in the draft for me, and the Redskins got him at No. 22 [yeah they did, along with a 2017 draft pick]. An absolute steal. Su'a Cravens is a versatile player perfect for sub-packages, and he not only attacks the line of scrimmage -- check the TFL totals -- he'll pick off passes if you test him [The Redskins already view him as a dime-back].
"Kendall Fuller is a question mark because of his knee, but if he's 100 percent that's an extremely good value in Round 3 [he figures to be by training camp, at latest, according to head coach Jay Gruden]. Nate Sudfeld is a good developmental quarterback if you can get his mechanics in order [GM Scot McCloughan said there's never a number on how many quarterbacks should be in the room], and Keith Marshall could be a steal out of Round 7 [he's very quick, 4.31-second 40 quick]. Matt Ioannidis has a chance to help them on the defensive line, and I think he has a little Dan Klecko [another former Temple NFL player] in him. I love how physical these players are -- a theme of last year's class -- and I think several of them can help an improving team get better [music to Redskins fans' ears]."
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