ASHBURN — The Washington Redskins were busy on the final day of the NFL draft Saturday, when they selected four players and acquired two 2017 picks. They added Temple defensive end Matt Ioannidis in the fifth round, Indiana quarterback Nate Sudfeld in the sixth, as well as Boston College linebacker Steven Daniels and Georgia running back Keith Marshall in the seventh.
Those four join TCU wide receiver Josh Doctson, USC outside linebacker and safety Su’a Cravens and Virginia Tech cornerback Kendall Fuller to round out the Redskins’ 2016 draft class.
“I’m very excited about these guys, really,” Redskins coach Jay Gruden said on Saturday. “I think the theme is we got some football players, man, some versatile guys that can do a lot of different things and tough guys that love the game of football. They all bring great attitude to this organization. They’re going to play hard.”
Washington had pick No. 120, a fourth-round selection, but traded it to the New Orleans Saints, who had the 152nd selection in the fifth round. The Redskins also acquired the Saints’ fifth-round pick in 2017. In the fifth round, Washington traded pick No. 158 to the New York Jets for a fourth-round pick in 2017.
In Thursday’s first round, Washington traded the 21st overall pick to the Houston Texans and moved down a spot to take Doctson, while acquiring a 2017 sixth-round pick in the process.
“I think [president] Bruce Allen and [general manager] Scot [McCloughan] both have a great vision for what this franchise needs and what’s good for it,” Gruden said. “And at the time they felt like giving up a pick maybe to get some better picks next year was good for us. And I think that speaks to the team that we have already in house. I think a couple of years ago we probably wouldn’t have been able to do that. But I think now as we start to grow our depth and the type of guys that we want in this building, we had that luxury this year and then I think it’ll be better for us, obviously, in the future.”
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Ioannidis, 6 foot 3 and 299 pounds, was selected in the fifth round with pick No. 152. Named to the American Athletic Conference’s first team in 2015, Ioannidis recorded 27 tackles, 3.5 sacks and five pass deflections in 14 games played. The Ringoes, New Jersey native has played at least 12 games since his sophomore season and was named a captain his junior year.
“If I could’ve seen my face, big smile slapped across it, I just remember turning to my mom and [being] so incredibly grateful,” Ioannidis said in a conference call.
Sudfeld, who is 6-6, 240 pounds, played in 37 games at Indiana and threw for 7,879 yards, 61 touchdowns and 20 interceptions. He had a 12-14 record as a starter and enjoyed a breakout season as a senior. Sudfeld led the Big Ten with 3,573 passing yards. He threw 27 touchdowns and seven interceptions — the best ratio in the conference — and led the Hoosiers to the New Era Pinstripe Bowl, which was only their second postseason appearance since 1993.
At the Big Ten kickoff luncheon, Sudfeld delivered the keynote speech, which Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins did in 2011 when he played for Michigan State. Sudfeld, who was taken 187th, said he studied Cousins’ career closely at the collegiate and pro level, on and off the field.
“I followed him a lot,” Sudfeld said. “He gave the speech at the Big Ten media day about four or five years ago and I gave it this last year. So I watched the film of his speech probably 100 times to make sure I could try to get mine as close to his. He did a great job on that one.”
At Boston College, Daniels lead the Eagles with 51 tackles, including 16 for a loss, along with six sacks and one interception. The 5-foot-11, 243-pound linebacker held a lot of responsibility as he relayed the play calls in BC’s stout defense, which ranked first in the FBS.
Gruden said he was surprised Daniels was still available when the Redskins selected him with the 232nd pick.
“He led the show [at BC],” Gruden said. “He’s tough, he can stop the run, and he didn’t run a great 40 time but he’s very good in pass coverage, man. He knows where to go, he’s great with his eyes, and when he thumps you, he thumps you. I think he’s going to be a great special teams player and he’s going to compete. I’m excited to get Steven.”
Marshall, the Redskins’ final pick of the draft at No. 242, tore his right ACL during his sophomore season in 2013 and only played five games. The 5-foot-11, 219-pound running back only played three games the following year as he struggled to rehab from his injury. As a senior, Marshall rushed 68 times for 350 yards and three touchdowns. Despite his injury history, he ran the fastest 40-yard dash time among running backs at the NFL scouting combine, clocking a time of 4.31 seconds.
“There’s no substitute for speed and he’s fast,” Gruden said. “We’re excited about that. We’re going to take a good, long look at him. That’s an element in the backfield that we don’t have. Very explosive. Unfortunately he’s had some injuries in his career. But still, he overcame the injury, ran a very fast time at the combine. [Running backs coach] Randy Jordan knows him extremely well, and we decided to take a shot on him and I think it’s going to be a great pick.”
• Anthony Gulizia can be reached at agulizia@washingtontimes.com.
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