The first round of the 2011 NFL Draft is in the books, and the newest member of the Washington Redskins is (now former) Purdue defensive end Ryan Kerrigan. The Redskins took Kerrigan with the 16th overall pick in the first round after trading back in the first round from the tenth overall pick. The guys over at SB Nation handed out grades for every team picking in the first round, and they gave the Redskins a B-. Here is their rationale.
DE Ryan Kerrigan, who will move to OLB in Jim Haslett's 3-4, is an interesting playing style complement to Brian Orakpo. There will be rough patches for Kerrigan, however, who is somewhat limited athletically.
First of all I think Kerrigan is a better athlete than he is given credit for, and he showed that at the combine. I also don't know if they factored in the Redskins trading back, and the second round pick they received as a result of it. They should get extra points for that, even if it's just because of how rare that is.
I think Kerrigan is a solid fit for the Redskins. You can never have enough guys who put forth the kind of effort that Kerrigan will. The fact that they also got the 49th overall pick as a result of trading down is icing on the cake. I'm not completely sold on Kerrigan (I might have preferred Cameron Jordan if I was making the pick myself) but I do think it was better than a B- grade.