From 1969 through 1990, Washington used only three first-round picks (and nailed them)
Washington's decision to bring four top quarterbacks in for a visit on the same day created one of the biggest debates of the week.
On the surface, it's very odd to create a Top Golf laboratory experiment of sorts with Jayden Daniels, Drake Maye, J.J. McCarthy, and Michael Penix Jr.
The response, fueled by comments from former Patriots coach Bill Belichick, was that it's normal and standard and usual to bring a bunch of prospects in on the same day.
The obvious counter to that is the fact that this isn't about finding a new right guard or nose tackle. This is an organization-changing move. A face of the franchise. The most important draft pick the team has made since Robert Griffin III in 2012 or, before that, the back-to-back picks of LaVar Arrington and Chris Samuels in 2001 or, before that, the selection of Heath Shuler in 1994.
Looking for major draft-day choices before that, I stumbled over this: The Washington organization was the original eff-them-picks franchise.
If I ever knew it, I'd forgotten it. It's truly an amazing slice of draft history. From 1969 through 1990, the Washington franchise used THREE total first-round picks.
Twenty-two drafts. Nineteen years with zero first-round picks used.
And when they used them, holy crap. Hall of Famer Art Monk in 1980, nine-year starting offensive lineman Mark May in 1981, and Hall of Famer Darrell Green in 1983.
Wrapped around that run were eleven straight years with no first-rounder on the front end, followed by (after Green) seven more.
This was pre-free agency, when it wasn't easy to snatch veteran players to replace the lost picks. And the organization nevertheless went to the Super Bowl in 1972, 1983, 1984, 1987, and 1991, winning three of them.
It's an amazing piece of draft history that should be remembered. Even before free agency and the salary cap, it was possible to build a championship team with scant first-round picks.
Of course, it also helped to have a batting average of .667 when it comes to finding Hall of Famers with the first-round picks that were used.
