The Jags may have taken a punter in Round 3, but the Skins took two QBs with their first three picks.  (Getty Images)

Two of the most controversial selections in the 2012 NFL Draft didn't involve Janoris Jenkins or Mike Adams or Orson Charles or Alfonzo Dennard -- all players with enough off-field concerns to scare off a lot of teams. Nope, the two most controversial selections in the 2012 NFL Draft were two law-abiding citizens: Cal punter Bryan Anger and Michigan State quarterback Kirk Cousins.

The former was taken by the Jaguars in the third round (70th overall), a team with countless needs. The latter was a fourth-round selection (102nd overall) of the Redskins, an outfit that had taken their franchise quarterback, Robert Griffin III, exactly 100 picks earlier.

We get that the Jaguars featured one of the league's worst offenses in 2011. Typically, such developments prompt an organization to bolster the offense, which is what Jacksonville did when it traded up for the draft's best wide receiver, Justin Blackmon. But then something happened, although we're still not sure what. Our theory: maybe the draft cards got mixed up.

Jaguars general manager Gene Smith insists that the selecting Anger 70th was very much intentional.

"I think what you have to do is trust your grades," Smith said of taking Anger. "We felt like this guy had starter ability."


After the Jaguars pick of punter Bryan Anger, Pete Prisco gives his take on drafting punters and kickers in the NFL Draft.

No one doubts that Anger has starter ability. The problem: the Jags lost 11 times last season and it wasn't because they didn't have a top-flight punter. And this isn't the first time in recent draft history that Jacksonville drafted a punter. In 2007, they selected Adam Podlesh in the fourth round, and thought so much of him that they let him walk after the 2010 season. He signed with the Bears and played well in 2011. The lesson: a team with myriad roster needs shouldn't be preoccupied with landing the "best" punter when starters can regularly be found after the draft.

CBSSports.com's Pete Prisco went so far as to call it the "worst move of the draft -- by any team."

For us, that distinction was reserved for the Redskins and their Vinny Cerrato-inspired selection of two quarterbacks with two of their first three picks.

Cousins admitted that he was shocked Washington drafted him, and Washington Post columnist Thomas Boswell called the move "utterly moronic." NFL.com's Gregg Rosenthal pointed out that Cousins fell out of the top 100 because he's a backup, adding: "The Redskins reportedly had him rated as their third quarterback in the draft, so they took him for value. Maybe they will be able to trade him someday and maybe they won’t. But to insinuate Cousins could somehow make Griffin’s life more difficult is moronic."

We talked about it on the most recent Pick-6 Podcast, but here's the thing: the Redskins signed Rex Grossman to a one-year deal to be RG3's backup. Washington won five games last year. Presumably, they have bigger needs than using a fourth-round pick on a guy who may never, ever see the field. And if Mike Shanahan's master plan includes grooming a backup and duping another team into giving up a second-rounder for him, well, we got some news for you: that's Andy Reid's shtick and he's got it down cold. (A fact made all the more embarrassing by Reid dumping Donovan McNabb on Shanahan for -- you guessed it -- a second-round pick.)

Put differently: for as bad as the Bryan Anger pick was, at least he'll contribute for the Jaguars next season. (Likely a lot, too. And if your argument is some form of: "See, you admit that Anger will play and he'll have the important role of changing field position. it's not a bad pick!" We'd like to mention another means of changing field position: draft players that help the offense get first downs.)

Cousins will be seated next to Grossman on game days and possibly remain there long after Grossman's career is over.

This isn't the first time the Washington has taken two quarterbacks in a draft class. In 1994, the Redskins selected Heath Shuler third overall and then drafted Gus Frerotte in the seventh round. By the time it was all said and done, Frerotte had beaten Shuler out for the job. No need to worry, though; Cousins knows that he's not in competition with RG3.

“I think it’s very important that Robert, myself, the Redskins as a whole, that we handle this thing the right way,” Cousins told Dan Patrick. “And I was involved in a couple of quarterback competitions in college, so this isn’t my first time being around a situation like this. But I think the important thing to note is that we’re not competing against one another, we’re competing with one another, and we’re competing with one another to help the Redskins win football games. And who we’re really competing against are the Giants, and the Eagles and the Cowboys and the rest of the NFL. And that’s where our focus should be as far as competing.”

We're not sure how Cousins helps the Redskins win football games from the bench, especially when some of the players taken after Cousins in Round 4 -- Joe Adams, Robert Turbin, Bobbie Massie, Orson Charles -- seem better suited to actually help Washington on the field. But, hey, points for team spirit!

For more NFL news, rumors and analysis, follow @EyeOnNFL on Twitter, and subscribe to our Pick-6 Podcast and NFL newsletter. You can follow Ryan Wilson on Twitter here: @ryanwilson_07.