The-Hogs.net - Washington Football Discussion, Redskins to Commanders Era

The bust thread, with all the arguing over who sucked more than who is a little depressing. Time for something more optimistic - who are the all-time draft or undrafted free agent steal in Redskins history? I'm talking about a guy like Mark Murphy or an Antonio Pierce or Brian Mitchell or Joe Jacoby type player. Someone who vastly outperformed their draft position. Not looking for an argument over who is better than who. Let's just talk about those great players and remember the enjoyment of watching them play.

Darrell Green. If his future was seen before, he would have been a top 10 pick. I think that Reed Doughty should also be on the list. He isn't a super star, but he is a quality player, and he would have gone a lot higher if they knew what they knew now.

There are just so many to choose from. For example:

Gene Brito 17th round
Eddie LeBaron 10th
Raleigh McKenzie 11th
Heorge Stark 11th
Larry Brown 8th
Len Hauss 9th
Trade of Davis for Bobby Mitchell (& Angelo Coia)
Chris Hanberger 18th
Joe Jacoby undrafted
Gary Clark undrafted
Monte Coleman 11th
Jerry Smith 9th
Trade for Jurgy

My pick is Hanberger. 18th round pick, 9 Pro Bowls.

In 6 months from now, it will be Donovan McNabb

Any one of the starters on the SuperBowl teams.

Jacoby being undrafted and becoming our best lineman is far more value then expected. A left tackle at that.

Darell Green was a first round pick and well he surely lived up to his expectations all though he was relatively unknown before he was drafted.

Ken Harvey was a fabulous player who played on a roster of sub par players.

I also think Mark Rypien has to get some love here. A sixth round pick leading the team to a Super Bowl



Plenty of players to choose from who are considered steals.

Baugh was a 1st round pick. We got Fischer in a trade.

yupchagee wrote:Baugh was a 1st round pick. We got Fischer in a trade.

Yeah got my facts mixed up. They were before my time,I just thought I read that somewhere. Wont happen again. No disrespect to the legends.

HEROHAMO wrote:Any one of the starters on the SuperBowl teams.

Jacoby being undrafted and becoming our best lineman is far more value then expected. A left tackle at that.

Darell Green was a first round pick and well he surely lived up to his expectations all though he was relatively unknown before he was drafted.

Ken Harvey was a fabulous player who played on a roster of sub par players.

I also think Mark Rypien has to get some love here. A sixth round pick leading the team to a Super Bowl



Plenty of players to choose from who are considered steals.

With all due respects to Rypien, he had an outstanding year in no small part because he was playing what might well have been the best O-line ever.

yupchagee wrote:

HEROHAMO wrote:Any one of the starters on the SuperBowl teams.

Jacoby being undrafted and becoming our best lineman is far more value then expected. A left tackle at that.

Darell Green was a first round pick and well he surely lived up to his expectations all though he was relatively unknown before he was drafted.

Ken Harvey was a fabulous player who played on a roster of sub par players.

I also think Mark Rypien has to get some love here. A sixth round pick leading the team to a Super Bowl



Plenty of players to choose from who are considered steals.

With all due respects to Rypien, he had an outstanding year in no small part because he was playing what might well have been the best O-line ever.

I'm with HH. If a QB is a 6th round pick and goes to the probowl twice, is the SB MVP and is a significant part of the #1 offense in a year that team win the SB. He has to get some love!!!

My list would also inclde:
Big Jake undrafted
B Mitch 5th
Gus Frerotte 7th
and a bunch more already listed

Trades include:
Jay Scheoder (sp?) for Jim Lachey (one of the best LT in Football)
Mike Olephant for Ernest Byner
Whatever we gave Cleveland for Bobby Mitchell
and of course our trades with Philly for two HoF QBs!

skinsfan#33 wrote:

yupchagee wrote:

HEROHAMO wrote:Any one of the starters on the SuperBowl teams.

Jacoby being undrafted and becoming our best lineman is far more value then expected. A left tackle at that.

Darell Green was a first round pick and well he surely lived up to his expectations all though he was relatively unknown before he was drafted.

Ken Harvey was a fabulous player who played on a roster of sub par players.

I also think Mark Rypien has to get some love here. A sixth round pick leading the team to a Super Bowl



Plenty of players to choose from who are considered steals.

With all due respects to Rypien, he had an outstanding year in no small part because he was playing what might well have been the best O-line ever.

I'm with HH. If a QB is a 6th round pick and goes to the probowl twice, is the SB MVP and is a significant part of the #1 offense in a year that team win the SB. He has to get some love!!!

My list would also inclde:
Big Jake undrafted
B Mitch 5th
Gus Frerotte 7th
and a bunch more already listed

Trades include:
Jay Scheoder (sp?) for Jim Lachey (one of the best LT in Football)
Mike Olephant for Ernest Byner
Whatever we gave Cleveland for Bobby Mitchell
and of course our trades with Philly for two HoF QBs!

As I said above: Draft rights to Ernie Davis (who died from leukemia without ever playing) for Mithchell & Angelo Coia, who was a decent reserve WR. We gave up Norm Snead for Jurgy.

It's hard to pick one but I would have to say the best "STEAL" was

Jim Lachey for Jay Schroeder. That was an absolute steal for the skins.

Andy614 wrote:It's hard to pick one but I would have to say the best "STEAL" was

Jim Lachey for Jay Schroeder. That was an absolute steal for the skins.

Jay had some pretty solid seasons with us before he was traded.

And Lachey had gone to the Probowl before arriving to Washington.

In hindsight, Lachey had the better career but at the moment of the trade, I would have called it even. And besides, QB is always the position most teams are worried to secure, and we all know that the Raiders love gunslinger QBs.

We did not have that problem when Jay left, of course. Doug Williams and Rypien were already on the roster.

Tre Johson also turned out pretty good. He was drafted by us at the end of the second round, went to the ProBowl in 1999 and missed few games.

Dexter Manley 5th Round Pick
Joe Jacoby
Doug Williams out of the USFL for basically nothing.

Ummm... John Riggins, anybody? Free agent, 1.5 mil for 4 years in '76.

Sep. 4, 1975—The Redskins paid a big price for a big man. A month after signing defensive tackle Dave Butz to a free agent contract, the Redskins and his old team, the Cardinals, settled on compensation. The price was two first-round picks, in 1977 and 1978, and the Redskins’ second rounder in 1979.

http://www.csnwashington.com/04/06/10/B ... eedID=2992


A steep price but still a steal.

But the best of all:

Sep. 4, 1988—Quarterback Jay Schroeder wanted out of town after Doug Williams took his job and led the Redskins to victory in Super Bowl XXII. Beathard and Joe Gibbs finally found the deal they wanted and they sent Schroeder to the Raiders and got back offensive tackle Jim Lachey and some draft picks. The Redskins got the best of this one as Schroeder became a journeyman quarterback and Lachey was the best left tackle in the game for several seasons before injuries cut short his career.

And going the other way:

Apr 16, 1998—The Redskins had traded for Sean Gilbert in 1996, giving up their first-round draft pick for the Pro Bowl defensive tackle. His contract expired after that season and he held out for all of the 1997 season, refusing to play under the franchise tag that the Redskins had applied to him. The Redskins franchised him again when free agency started in 1998. Gilbert signed an offer sheet that made him the highest-paid defensive player in history. The Redskins were more than happy to decline to match and they accepted Carolina’s first-round picks in 1999 and 2000 as compensation.

How about signing London Fletcher from free agency? One of the best MLBs in the game and the leader of the defense.

Fletcher was also undrafted.

Deadskins wrote:

Sep. 4, 1975—The Redskins paid a big price for a big man. A month after signing defensive tackle Dave Butz to a free agent contract, the Redskins and his old team, the Cardinals, settled on compensation. The price was two first-round picks, in 1977 and 1978, and the Redskins’ second rounder in 1979.

http://www.csnwashington.com/04/06/10/B ... eedID=2992


A steep price but still a steal.

But the best of all:

Sep. 4, 1988—Quarterback Jay Schroeder wanted out of town after Doug Williams took his job and led the Redskins to victory in Super Bowl XXII. Beathard and Joe Gibbs finally found the deal they wanted and they sent Schroeder to the Raiders and got back offensive tackle Jim Lachey and some draft picks. The Redskins got the best of this one as Schroeder became a journeyman quarterback and Lachey was the best left tackle in the game for several seasons before injuries cut short his career.

And going the other way:

Apr 16, 1998—The Redskins had traded for Sean Gilbert in 1996, giving up their first-round draft pick for the Pro Bowl defensive tackle. His contract expired after that season and he held out for all of the 1997 season, refusing to play under the franchise tag that the Redskins had applied to him. The Redskins franchised him again when free agency started in 1998. Gilbert signed an offer sheet that made him the highest-paid defensive player in history. The Redskins were more than happy to decline to match and they accepted Carolina’s first-round picks in 1999 and 2000 as compensation.

Two firsts and a second is a steal? I may say in hindsight it was worth it, but hardly a steal.

VetSkinsFan wrote:

Deadskins wrote:

Sep. 4, 1975—The Redskins paid a big price for a big man. A month after signing defensive tackle Dave Butz to a free agent contract, the Redskins and his old team, the Cardinals, settled on compensation. The price was two first-round picks, in 1977 and 1978, and the Redskins’ second rounder in 1979.

http://www.csnwashington.com/04/06/10/B ... eedID=2992


A steep price but still a steal.

But the best of all:

Sep. 4, 1988—Quarterback Jay Schroeder wanted out of town after Doug Williams took his job and led the Redskins to victory in Super Bowl XXII. Beathard and Joe Gibbs finally found the deal they wanted and they sent Schroeder to the Raiders and got back offensive tackle Jim Lachey and some draft picks. The Redskins got the best of this one as Schroeder became a journeyman quarterback and Lachey was the best left tackle in the game for several seasons before injuries cut short his career.

And going the other way:

Apr 16, 1998—The Redskins had traded for Sean Gilbert in 1996, giving up their first-round draft pick for the Pro Bowl defensive tackle. His contract expired after that season and he held out for all of the 1997 season, refusing to play under the franchise tag that the Redskins had applied to him. The Redskins franchised him again when free agency started in 1998. Gilbert signed an offer sheet that made him the highest-paid defensive player in history. The Redskins were more than happy to decline to match and they accepted Carolina’s first-round picks in 1999 and 2000 as compensation.

Two firsts and a second is a steal? I may say in hindsight it was worth it, but hardly a steal.

I say in hindsight it was still a steel. He was worth twice that.