It's going to require a little bit of patience to judge whether or not we screwed the pooch by taking Scherff over Williams.
I was among those jonesing for us to take Williams, but only based on the pre-draft hype, our anemic pass rush, and looking at the same highlight vids everyone else was looking at. Sacks look a lot more exciting on youtube than a guy backpedalling in pass pro.
But I "got" what Mclovin' was doing taking Scherff at #5. The OL has been such a disaster for so long that grabbing the consensus best OL in the draft was not just a screaming need pick, it was also a statement pick. And we know he tried to trade down, but there weren't takers, and the Giants were reportedly poised to take him at #8. All the talk about finding football players, tough guys, meat and potatoes guys, to start rebuilding the LOS and the culture, that speaks to me. And I think it should speak to all Redskins fans given the past 20 years.
There is also the long-term projections on these two guys. Williams is mercurial, a little different cat. There were questions about his motivation. Truth is we won't know for a few years what kind of man he is, and whether or not the preseason flashes translate into long term stability and a cornerstone type player. If he turns out to be Reggie White, we're going to all rue the day we let him get away, and that's even IF Scherff turns out to be John Hannah or Russ Grimm.
In four or five years, this discussion will have some meaningful, empirical evidence to consider. We'll know if preseason flashes from Williams in his rookie year mean he's going to become a consistent, professional disruptive force on the defensive line, and we'll know if McLoughan was right in projecting Scherff to be a rock on an OL that has been sadly lacking in those for longer than many of us can remember.
Just hoping we remember the bigger picture as we go week-to-week this season, trying to pass judgment on how the first round of the 2015 draft played out, based on whether or not Williams got a sack that loops repeatedly on Sportscenter.