MVN - Most Valuable Network

Landry to the Washington Redskins

“With the sixth pick in the 2007 NFL draft, the Washington Redskins select LaRon Landry, safety, LSU.”

With that, Commissioner Roger Goodell announced that the Washington Redskins got the man they always wanted. LaRon Landry ranked at the top of the Redskins’ draft board, according to coach Gibbs. The Redskins telegraphed the move earlier in the week when team owner Daniel Snyder and vice president Vinnie Cerrato bluntly said they would pick the best player available over team needs when using the sixth pick. Said Snyder “I’m coming in trying to make sure that we get . . . a perennial Pro Bowl player . . . . We’re looking for a dominant player that early.” Landry was the consensus best defensive player available in the draft.

Scouting reports compare Landry to safeties Ed Reed, Troy Polamalu and Brian Dawkins. He is said to be an instinctive athlete with the “foot speed, balance and explosive closing burst to get into position and consistently make plays inside the box . . . .” At LSU, he was a competitive playmaker with breaking speed, not easily fooled by pump fakes, bootlegs or play-action. To see the full scouting report on Landry, go to NFL.com.

Although highly regarded, Landry might not crack the starting line-up for awhile. Pierson Prioleau won the starting safety position before he was injured on the first play of the first game last year. The Redskins signed safety Omar Stoutmire for depth. Rocky McIntosh did not start at linebacker until late in the season. Coach Gibbs, at his Tuesday press conference, pointed out that rookies need not start in their first year.

Landry, a free safety in college, is expected to play strong safety for the Redskins. In time, if this move works, the Redskins could have the most feared secondary in football.

The Redskins did all they could to move off the sixth pick, exploring a trade with Detroit and a shot at wide receiver Calvin Johnson, as well as trade down scenarios. Coach Joe Gibbs told a festive draft party crowd at FedEx Field that most teams “weren’t willing to move” on a trade for the Redskins’ draft slot.

Landry was the second LSU player selected in the draft. Quarterback JaMarcus Russell was selected by the Oakland Raiders with the first pick. Landry started 48 games with the LSU Tigers. He is credited with 315 tackles, eight sacks, 12 interceptions and 22 pass deflections. He is tied at seventh place at LSU with former Redskins Ryan Clark on total tackles. Clark’s departure from the Redskins in 2006 is thought to be a contributing factor to the decline of the defense’s performance.

Landry is the brother of Dawan Landry, starting safety for the Baltimore Ravens.
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With the second pick of the draft, the Redskins select Rocky McIntosh. The Redskins traded their 2006 second round pick to the New York Jets to move up to take McIntosh last year. The Jets traded the pick to the Chicago Bears, who traded it to the San Diego Chargers. The Chargers used the pick on Utah strong safety Eric Weddle.

With the third pick of the draft, the Redskins select T.J. Duckett. Selected as an “insurance policy” against Clinton Portis’ injury last season, the trade of the Skins third round pick to Atlanta is now viewed as wasted. Ladell Betts proved much better than the coaches expected, and Duckett was hardly used. He left under free agency and signed with Detroit. Atlanta traded the pick to the Denver Broncos who used it to select Notre Dame tackle Ryan Harris.

With the fourth pick of the draft, the Redskins select Brandon Lloyd. The Redskins packaged their fourth pick in the deal that brought Lloyd to Washington. Expected to relieve defensive pressure on Santana Moss, Lloyd’s first season with the Skins was disappointing. He met with Daniel Snyder at the owner’s meeting in March. Snyder said Lloyd was in “amazing shape.” He didn’t say anything about his ability to catch.

This entry was posted on Sunday, April 29th, 2007 at 12:32 am and is filed under LaRon Landry, Washington Redskins Draft, Washington Redskins, The Draft, Staff / Front Office, The Redskins. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.