There’s No Bledsoe in This Year’s NFL Draft

The Washington Redskins are sure they’ll get their “quarterback of the future” in either Tennessee’s Heath Shuler or Fresno State’s Trent Dilfer in the first round of the NFL draft Sunday.

But they cautioned that neither of them is in the same class as New England’s Drew Bledsoe, last year’s top pick in the draft, or Troy Aikman, the Cowboys’ quarterback who Norv Turner left behind to become coach of the Redskins.

“Bledsoe is unique; he’s in Aikman’s class,” Washington general manager Charley Casserly said Wednesday. And Turner acknowledged that Bledsoe has better “physical skills” than either of the soon-to-be rookie quarterbacks who’ll be in charge of his coaching future.

Even so, Casserly and Turner said they agreed more than a month ago to use the Redskins’ first pick, the third pick overall, to grab Shuler or Dilfer.

Which one they prefer, they refused to say Wednesday. Either would fit into the two-back, three-wideout offense Turner brought from Dallas.

“I think we would be a little different, depending on which one ended up here,” Turner said. “Trent Dilfer’s very quick with the ball; he’s very, very accurate. He’s not going to be as mobile as Heath Shuler.

“With Heath, there’s going to be some things you do a little differently. But both are capable of playing real good in our offense. Good players fit any system,” he said.

With the third choice Sunday behind Cincinnati and Indianapolis based on a 4-12 record, the Redskins are going into the draft with their highest pick since 1964. With the third pick that year, they got future Hall of Famer Charley Taylor.

The last time the Redskins picked a quarterback was in 1961, when they got Norm Snead out of Wake Forest. Three years later, they traded Snead to Philadelphia for future Hall of Famer Sonny Jurgensen.

However, the Redskins also used a first-round pick in 1974 for a quarterback, trading it to Miami for Joe Theismann, who took them to their first Super Bowl eight years later.

For nearly three months, Washington had been content to get either Dilfer or Shuler, assuming that Cincinnati or Indianapolis would get one of them before the Redskins’ turn.

Washington waived Mark Rypien and his $3 million salary last week. As insurance, they signed free agent quarterback John Friez, formerly with San Diego, to a one-year contract for $900,000.

If Cincinnati follows expectations and goes for Ohio State defensive lineman Dan Wilkinson and Indianapolis picks San Diego State running back Marshall Faulk, the Redskins could end up picking between Shuler and Dilfer.

Casserly dismissed the possibility that, through trades, both could be grabbed by other teams before Washington can make a pick.