After moving up to pick quarterback Robert Griffin III in 2012, the Washington Redskins went two years without selecting a player in the first round of the NFL draft. They returned to the draft’s opening round Thursday, selecting Iowa offensive lineman Brandon Scherff with the fifth overall pick.
Redskins coach Jay Gruden said Scherff will enter the 2015 season as a right tackle, though he has the ability to play multiple positions along the offensive line. Here’s a little bit more about the 23-year-old, a native Iowan whom Washington hopes will become a stalwart in the trenches for years to come.
• Scherff grew up in Denison, Iowa, a small town two hours west of Des Moines with a population of roughly 8,000. He played a whopping five sports at one point or another during his days at Denison High School, including football, basketball, baseball, tennis and track. He earned a varsity letter in tennis as a freshman, when he weighed 250 pounds.
“People thought I was a power guy, then you come in a finesse them a little bit and catch them off guard,” Scherff said in a conference call with reporters Thursday night. “But you’ve got to have both of those in your game.”
In the spring of his freshman year, he said he would travel from track practice, where he threw the shot put and discus, to tennis practice and eventually baseball practice. He was a letterman in all three sports. He also played basketball in the winter, though he was never recruited to play beyond high school.
“No,” he said with a laugh, “I had post moves, yeah, but I’d rather play football.”
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• Scherff actually spent his sophomore season as a quarterback at Denison High, throwing for 1,200 yards before literally outgrowing the position. He spent the next two years playing on both the offensive and defensive lines, earning all-state honors on offense as a senior.
• According to a profile on Sports Illustrated’s MMQB.com, Scherff also played trombone in the school band and spent some of his winters working on a Christmas tree farm.
• Scherff is an avid outdoorsman. His interests are pretty simple. “I just love to hunt and fish,” he said. “That’s pretty much it.” He would’ve preferred to be fishing Thursday but went to Chicago for the draft at his agent’s request. He even conducted an interview with the Des Moines Register while fishing, in which he was asked to identify his favorite activity: fishing or football? “Um, football during the fall. Fishing during the summer. I guess I love doing them both,” he said.
• Scherff spent the majority of his collegiate career at left tackle, a spot occupied in Washington by Pro Bowler Trent Williams. Many believe Scherff best profiles as a guard in the NFL, but Gruden said he will play tackle for now. The team has no concerns about his ability to make that transition, and was comfortable using an early pick on a position that is often overlooked or undervalued.
“It’s important to have the big guys up front, especially when you want to run the football,” Gruden said. “They’re tough to find, especially athletic ones. You know, there’s big bodies you can throw in there that are pretty successful and can get by, but when you have a guy that can be dominant, those guys you have to take. Those guys can play on your football team for 10, 12, 13 years at one position.”
• Though he probably could have left school early, Scherff decided to stay at Iowa and complete his degree in sports studies. He also has a track record of leadership throughout his time with the Hawkeyes, being named a permanent team captain and serving as a member of the team’s “leadership group” for four consecutive seasons. Gruden said those things did make a difference in the selection process.
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“If you have a lot of guys that are ranked pretty closely, then you have a guy that is that type of leader, that type of character, it might set him apart,” Gruden said. “It takes him to the top of the class. That just plays into it. He’s a great kid, he’s a leader, he’s tough and he loves the game.”
• Tom Schad can be reached at tschad@washingtontimes.com.
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