There is a lot of, well, stuff floating around these days as we are less than two weeks away from the NFL draft. You hear that just about every team wants this player or that one and wants to trade up or down. I literally could spend all day on the keyboard pounding out the latest rumors being floated around. Certain reports, however, make me stop what I'm doing and take notice.
John McClain of the Houston Chronicle is one of the best and most respected NFL reporters out there. He doesn't just make stuff up or pass along something that he overheard one guy say or anything like that. He's old school and he's going to be pretty sure about something before he reports it. So, when I saw this tidbit I, as noted above, stopped what I was doing and took notice:
I don't know what they have to offer, but I hear the Redskins are trying like crazy to trade up to get one of the quarterbacks, Blaine Gabbert, I imagine.
This, of course, has all of the elements of the smoke that was discussed here earlier this week. And I'm passing it along only because of who wrote it. But let's assume for a moment that it's true and the Redskins are hell bent on putting Blaine Gabbert in burgundy and gold. What would it take for the Redskins to trade up from tenth overall to a position where they would have a reasonable shot at Gabbert?
The fourth pick could be a good spot from which to pluck Gabbert. If, as predicted, the Panthers take Cam Newton first overall and the Broncos and Bills address other needs, Gabbert could be there when the Bengals draft with the fourth pick. Of course, there is no guarantee that John Elway is happy with Tim Tebow or that the Bills will stick with Ryan Fitzpatrick or that the Bengals won't prepare for life without Carson Palmer.
But, for the purposes of the exercise here, let's assume that Gabbert is available in the fourth slot and that the Redskins want to go get him. According to the draft value chart, the fourth pick is worth 1,800 points and the tenth is worth 1,300. The 500-point difference is the value of the 40th pick in the draft. The Redskins hold the 41st pick, so one would think that perhaps one of their seventh-rounders to make up the difference might get the deal done. This doesn't mean that it would be a good idea. In fact, I'm sure that it is just unanimous that it would be a terrible idea. But, in answer to McClain's query about what they have to offer, there's the answer.
What do you think? Should the Redskins trade up to get their QB of the future? More importantly, will they?
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