Skins trade down to nab QB Ramsey

CNNSI.com's Pat Kirwan There's no doubt Steve Spurrier had to get a quarterback in this draft, and he knew Patrick Ramsey would not be available at the bottom of the second round, so get him now. He's accurate, smart and has learned the quarterback position at Tulane when they were the inferior talent on the field, forcing them into many more passing situations, which is great experience for a quarterback. He does not have the mobility of David Carr or Joey Harrington but demonstrated at the Senior Bowl he has all the throws, and when you're with Spurrier, brains and arm strength are more important than foot speed. My concern about Pat was the 13 interceptions when you consider Harrington threw five and Carr threw seven. It will be Steve Spurrier's job to clean that up. First-round analysis, click here.

ASHBURN, Va. (AP) -- The Washington Redskins couldn't move up, so they moved down and waited -- and waited and waited -- before adding yet another inexperienced quarterback to Steve Spurrier's roster.

After trading down twice, the Redskins chose Tulane's Patrick Ramsey with the No. 32 overall pick about six hours into the draft, ending the longest first-round in NFL history.

"It took a while, but we finally got one," said Spurrier, experiencing his first NFL draft.

Ramsey joins Danny Wuerffel, Sage Rosenfels and Dameyune Craig as the Redskins' quarterbacks. Rosenfels and Craig have never started an NFL game, while Wuerffel hasn't taken a snap in an NFL game since 1999.

"That's why we've got five exhibition games," Spurrier said. "We've got to get experience in these players quickly."

Spurrier said any of the four could start opening day. He didn't rule out adding a veteran later, and a trade for Chicago backup Shane Matthews, who played for Spurrier at Florida, is still a possibility.

Owner Dan Snyder wanted to make a splash in the draft after a year of hands-off management. He had his eye on several high-profile players -- quarterback Joey Harrington, receiver Donte Stallworth and any of four premium defensive tackles -- but he was unable to work a trade to move up from the original No. 18 spot to take any of them.

"We tried to trade up," Spurrier said. "But it didn't work out."

After Albert Haynesworth, the last of the four defensive tackles, was taken by Tennessee at No. 15, there was no one left who would fit the Redskins needs who was also worth picking at No. 18, so the trade was made with Oakland to move down to No. 21.

Washington received the Raiders' third-round pick (No. 89 overall) in the deal. The Redskins previously didn't have a third-round pick, having given it to Kansas City as compensation for hiring head coach Marty Schottenheimer a year ago.

The dealing wasn't done, however. The Redskins then moved from No. 21 to No. 32 in a swap with the New England Patriots. The Redskins received the Patriots' selections in the third and seventh rounds.

The Redskins have a big hole in the middle of their offensive line, but they chose Ramsey instead of taking available guards Toniu Fonoti and Andre Gurode. Spurrier said the team would pick a guard later in the draft.

Ramsey has a strong arm and has shown the toughness Spurrier likes in a quarterback. Listed at 219 pounds, Ramsey probably needs to lose a few pounds to improve his mobility.

"He's trimmed down pretty well," Spurrier said. "He can take a hit."

During the draft -- but before Ramsey was picked -- Spurrier and defensive coordinator Marvin Lewis left Redskin Park on Snyder's helicopter so they could speak at a fan party thrown by the team at the Redskins stadium in Landover, Md. They were back within an hour, well before the Redskins were on the clock.

 

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