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Offensive line is where the Washington Redskins' focus needs to be at this point, and with the sixth pick in the fifth round of the draft (No. 141 overall), they just took Iowa guard Adam Gettis, who fits in very nicely with what they look for on the offensive line.

Gettis' issue (i.e., the thing that drops him into the fifth round) is size. He's 6-foot-2 and 293 pounds, and he played at around 280 in 2010 at Iowa before bulking up last year and prior to the combine. But he's extremely quick, fast and athletic, with the kind of nimble feet and sound on-the-move blocking technique the Redskins need for their zone-blocking run scheme.

If Kory Lichtensteiger isn't fully recovered from last year's injury, and if Gettis picks up the offense and its terminology quickly, there's a chance he could emerge as a challenger for a starting guard spot in 2012. If not, he could pick up playing time as the year goes on and certainly beyond this year as a blocker for new quarterback Robert Griffin III. The Redskins' ideal offensive guard would be a guy who's exactly like Gettis but a little bit bigger.

The one thing I'll say is I thought the Dallas Cowboys had to make this just about a defense-only draft, and so far they have. They have made four picks, all have been defensive players, and they just wrapped up the fourth round by taking strong safety Matt Johnson from Eastern Washington. I'd love to tell you something interesting about Johnson, but I just don't have anything. Our Scouts Inc. rating service ranked him the No. 72 safety available in this year's draft, and his scouting report page on our site is blank. I found him on Draft Scout, which ranked him the No. 16 strong safety in this draft and says he's been rising on boards this spring. Kid ran a 4.53 in the 40-yard dash at his pro day, which I'm sure opened some eyes. He's 6-foot-1, 212 and made the Big Sky's preseason all-conference team. He was a very productive college player, with 17 interceptions in his career.

So I don't know. The Cowboys have scouts and they have coaches and those guys know what kinds of players they like and look for. There's no reason to take a guy in the fifth round that everybody else likes if you find something you like about a guy much further down the list. Perhaps Rob Ryan sees something in Johnson that he believes will ultimately make an impact.

My issue is that the Cowboys have drafted three straight head-scratchers. Tyrone Crawford, Kyle Wilber and now Johnson are all guys who appear to be long-range projects if not (in Johnson's case) outright fliers. And they used their first-round and second-round picks on one player, albeit the best defensive player in the draft in cornerback Morris Claiborne. For a team that had as many needs at as many positions as the Cowboys did going into the draft, I'm just not sure they've done anything since early Thursday night to make their 2012 team better. We may look a few years down the road here and say they built a monster championship defense with their quirky picks in this year's draft, but in the instant-analysis period, it's hard to understand what they're up to.

Our man Matt Williamson tells me that Brandon Mosley, whom the New York Giants just picked with the 131st overall pick in the draft (36th in the fourth round), is a right tackle prospect, not a left tackle prospect. That's certainly fine in the short term, as the Giants' most pressing need on the offensive line is at right tackle. It remains to be seen whether Mosley becomes a candidate to start at that spot, or if they'd prefer to use veteran David Diehl there while Mosley develops. But Mosley is known as a tough player who doesn't mind doing the dirty work on the offensive line, and if he's a backup at both tackle positions then the Giants could use that as well.

Mosley's history is a bit checkered, as academic issues forced him to stop at military school and junior college in between high school and his ultimate arrival at Auburn. But once he got the grades in order, he became a valuable starter on Cam Newton's national championship team and earned a reputation as a hard worker.

The New York Giants drafting for need? Quick, somebody check and make sure death and taxes are still OK.

The Giants love to take the best player available, stressing value and using the draft as a means of building and maintaining a deep roster rather than drafting to fill immediate needs. But they've made four picks now, and each of the four appears to have at least something to do with filling a current roster hole.

The latest was the 32nd pick in the fourth round, which the Giants used to take tight end Adrien Robinson from Cincinnati. Yes, they already signed Martellus Bennett in free agency, but remember, they lost two tight ends to torn ACLs in the Super Bowl, so there was room for another. After using their first three picks on a running back, a wide receiver and a cornerback -- all positions from which they lost 2011 contributors to free agency -- they used their fourth to help fill a hole created by injury.

It's not strictly a need pick, though. Since it's the Giants, it's still a smart value pick. Remember, there was talk during mock-draft season of the Giants taking a tight end such as Coby Fleener or Dwayne Allen in the first or second rounds. But the Giants didn't think taking a tight end that early would have maximized the value of those early-round picks, and it's possible they had their eye on Robinson as a mid-round value pick all along. Robinson has great athletic ability, great speed and great size (6-4, 267) for the tight end position. He may be a project tight end, but the Giants love their tight ends coach and they love the track record their coaching staff and veteran players have of developing draft picks into contributors to championship teams.

The Philadelphia Eagles love those dynamic athletes, and they found one late in the fourth round of the NFL draft on Saturday. With the 28th pick in the fourth round -- a pick they got from Green Bay as part of their second-round deal with the Packers -- the Eagles selected Georgia cornerback Brandon Boykin.

Boykin had been rated much higher than this early in the draft process but fell due to concerns over his size (5-9, 182) and his durability (history of concussions, broke a bone in his leg at the Senior Bowl). He's not a great zone corner, but scouts like his ball skills and his speed and recovery ability as a cover man.

The Eagles likely view Boykin as a potential slot cornerback -- perhaps someone who could take that job away from Joselio Hanson in training camp -- and a kick and/or punt returner, since that's a role he filled in college and he has the speed and instincts as a runner to pull it off.

The Washington Redskins had an extra fourth-round draft pick this year, No. 109 overall, as a result of the Jason Campbell trade with Oakland two years ago. When that pick came around, they traded it to the Steelers for the No. 119 overall pick and what appears to be a sixth-rounder (No. 193 overall). And when the 119th pick came around, the Redskins used it to select Texas linebacker Keenan Robinson.

I still think the Redskins need to be doing more on the offensive line here, but they do look for specific types of linemen for their zone-blocking schemes, and it's possible they have their eyes on some guys they can get in the later rounds. Meantime, they did need some depth in the linebacking corps, and Robinson offers that.

The knock on Robinson is that he's too much of a finesse player and not aggressive or physical enough. But he does have good speed, athleticism and tackling instincts when he gets there, so I guess if they can find a way to make him a little meaner they could have a player on their hands. And as with any linebacker the Redskins bring in, exposure to people like London Fletcher and Brian Orakpo can only help a guy develop his game as a professional.

Me, I thought they'd go quarterback again. Kellen Moore was still on the board, after all, and they've only drafted two so far. ...

The theme for the Dallas Cowboys in this draft is defense, and specifically -- other then their first-round trade-up for cornerback Morris Claiborne -- it appears to be about talented athletes who project as possible pass-rush help down the road. With the 18th pick in the fourth round (113th overall), the Cowboys selected Wake Forest outside linebacker Kyle Wilber.

Wilber was at his best in college as a pass-rusher, so clearly the Cowboys have their eye on developing him in that role. Anthony Spencer is playing on a one-year deal at the starting outside linebacker spot opposite superstar DeMarcus Ware, and if Spencer has another lackluster year rushing the passer and someone like Wilber can develop quickly, it's possible Wilber could be a replacement for Spencer down the road. He doesn't have great speed, but the scouting reports say he has good pass-rushing moves and instincts. We'll find out the degree to which he gets the opportunity to showcase those in training camp and during his rookie season. It could depend on how eager and willing he is to make an impact on special teams.

This is the third pick of this draft for the Cowboys, and all three have been defensive players. They took another long-armed upside athlete, Tyrone Crawford, in the third round and hope he can develop into a starting 3-4 defensive end. It seems that, after dealing up for the best defensive player in the draft in Claiborne, they're looking at a specific sort of guy they believe can help them on defense in the long-term.

So, this is interesting.

The Washington Redskins have made only three picks so far in this year's NFL draft, and two of them are quarterbacks. With the seventh pick in the fourth round Saturday, the Redskins selected Michigan State quarterback Kirk Cousins. Two nights ago, with the second pick in the entire draft, they picked Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin III.

I guess the first thing you say here is that quarterback was a pretty extreme weakness for the Redskins last year. And as we all know, it's very important to be deep at the position. If the Redskins believed Cousins represented good value at pick 102 (as he probably does), then you can sort of understand their thinking. They have a guy they can develop in a backup role and maybe use as a chip down the road, and in the meantime they have a talented guy who may be able to step in if Griffin gets hurt and has to miss time.

But I don't love it, because when you break this down, it means the Redskins have used a total of five draft picks on two quarterbacks. They had to trade this year's first-rounder, this year's second-rounder and their first-rounders in each of the next two years to trade up to No. 2 and select Griffin. And now they've used one of this year's fourth-rounders on Cousins.

It's not as though the Redskins don't have other needs they could be addressing here. They need to beef up on the offensive line, and they still could use help on defense in the secondary. They have another pick coming up here in a few minutes, No. 14 in the fourth round, and I imagine they'll use it on some other position. But in the meantime, I just don't think, given their needs, that backup quarterback was the way to go with their first pick in the fourth round.

Also, it will be important for Mike Shanahan and the Redskins' coaching staff to establish a clear set of roles here. The fans of the Redskins have been used to finding fault with their team's quarterback play for quite a while now, and if Griffin struggles and starts throwing interceptions, as excited as everyone is about him now, you know there will be calls right away to see what Cousins can do. That's not a recipe for total comfort for the rookie quarterback you spent four high draft picks to get, and it becomes Shanahan's job to make sure that Griffin, Cousins and everybody else who's asking knows what the pecking order is -- that Griffin is the starter and Cousins is the backup. If he doesn't, then this pick has created a problem that didn't need to exist, and done so even before the Redskins have introduced their exciting new starting quarterback to their fans.

It's finally here. Join our ESPN.com NFL experts as they break down the 2012 NFL draft, round-by-round. We'll have input from blog nation, Scouts Inc., Stats & Information and fantasy perspectives.

Thursday night we'll kick off Round 1 at 7 p.m. ET. For Friday night's Rounds 2 and 3, we'll be here at 6:30 p.m. ET. And we'll be back Saturday morning at noon ET to finish things off.

Contribute your thoughts and questions on all things NFL draft below. We'll see you there.

When you watch the NFL draft, what impresses you is a team that appears to be in control of the process. You see some teams flapping around, reacting to other teams, doing crazy things like taking Brandon Weeden in the first round and selling their hair to a wig shop. (Don't sell your hair to a wig shop.) And you see other teams that appear to be biding their time, sticking to the smart plans and decisions they made in the sober months and weeks prior to the draft and making picks that clearly make sense for them.

The Philadelphia Eagles, during this 2012 draft, have fit into that latter category. The Eagles are not carrying themselves like a team that went 8-8 and has all kinds of holes to fill before next season rolls around. They have drafted with the cool confidence of a team on top -- a team that doesn't have to reach and flail to fill needs or amass as many picks as possible so it can rebuild.

That's the way the Eagles have been carrying themselves since the end of their disappointing 2011 season. Rather than mope and wonder and second-guess the complex plan they put together last summer to change so much about their coaching staff, their defense and their blocking schemes, the Eagles have insisted -- to themselves and to the outside world -- that the plan was a good one all along. They believe that they were done in by a poor start that featured very close losses and an absurd number of turnovers, and that if they can correct those aspects of their 2011 failures they have a good enough roster to contend for a playoff spot and make a run at the Super Bowl. They may be right and they may be wrong, but the Eagles made a plan in 2011 and they continue to believe in it.

This draft is the latest manifestation of that. Yes, first-round pick Fletcher Cox addresses a 2011 weakness. The Eagles were one of the worst defenses in the league against runs up the middle, and Cox adds size and meanness to their rotation at the interior defensive line spots. But he also fits that new defensive scheme they installed last summer -- the one that relies on the front four to pressure the quarterback and assigns unique gap responsibilities to the defensive tackles because of how wide they like to line up their ends. They believe Cox is a perfect fit for that scheme, and they'd likely have taken him, if available, even if they'd been coming off a successful season.

Yes, they needed help at linebacker, even after the DeMeco Ryans trade, and second-rounder Mychal Kendricks is a linebacker. But he's also an Andy Reid kind of linebacker -- fantastic speed and the ability to fly to the ball from wherever he's lined up on the field. Reid told Philadelphia reporters Friday that they'd use Kendricks on the strong side to start but that he can play any of the Eagles' three linebacker positions and is versatile enough to fill whatever role they need. The Eagles like versatile linebackers. Yes, it so happens they need them too, but they took one they might have taken in any other season, based on the way they like to build their defense.

Their second pick in the second round was a defensive end, Vinny Curry, and that's the kind of pick a very good team makes -- a luxury pick. The Eagles are strong at defensive end with starters Trent Cole and Jason Babin having helped tie for the league lead in sacks last year, and they have Darryl Tapp and 2010 first-round pick Brandon Graham as backups there. But Curry was a good value pick at No. 59, and pass-rushers are not a commodity of which you can have too much in 2012's NFL. The Eagles made one of their strengths stronger, which is something good teams do.

With their third-round pick they took a quarterback, Arizona's Nick Foles, which may have been the most Andy Reid pick of the draft so far. No, they don't need to add a rookie quarterback to their mix. But Reid believes strongly in the value of depth at that position, and if the worst-case scenario is that they eventually develop the guy and trade him away for something good, then so much the better.

This draft is going just about exactly the way the Eagles would have wanted it to go before it started, and they continue to carry themselves through a so-far-successful offseason with the confidence of a team that finished much better than 8-8 last year. That's because they believe they were better than their record, and they are eager to get to the regular season so they can prove it. The way they've performed so far in the draft will only help them follow through.

Three picks for the New York Giants so far in the 2012 NFL draft, and two of them played at Virginia Tech. One night after ending the first round by taking running back David Wilson, the Giants used their third-round pick (No. 94 overall) to take Virginia Tech cornerback Jayron Hosley.

You could argue that each of the Giants' first three picks -- Wilson, wide receiver Rueben Randle and Hosley -- fill holes left by free agency. The Giants lost cornerback Aaron Ross in free agency to the Jaguars, just as they lost running back Brandon Jacobs and wide receiver Mario Manningham to the 49ers. So they were down a cornerback. But the return from injury of Terrell Thomas and the assumed second-year development of 2011 first-round pick Prince Amukamara should have had them covered at corner, so the wise presumption here is that this is a player the Giants like at a position where they don't believe it's possible to be too deep.

Hosley was a great player two years ago, coming up with nine interceptions as a sophomore. He wasn't as productive in his junior year, but the Giants surely believe he showed something in 201o that reflects what he can become as a pro. He's not very big, but the scouting reports say he has good ball skills and good zone coverage instincts.

As always with Giants picks, it's also possible they see Hosley as a player who can help on special teams or in the return game while he develops in the defense. With Mississippi tackle Bobby Massie inexplicably still on the board, it seemed as though this might be where the Giants addressed their need at tackle. But the Giants are fond of saying they don't draft for need, and this is one of those picks that backs up that assertion.

No, relax, this does not mean Michael Vick is in trouble. The Philadelphia Eagles are committed to Vick as their quarterback for 2012, and their hope is that he and the team play well enough that they can comfortably remain committed to him for 2013 and beyond. But Vick is turning 32 in June. And he does have a habit of missing games with injuries. And his current backups are Mike Kafka and Trent Edwards.

Fundamentally, though, this is a pick about Eagles coach Andy Reid and the way he feels about the quarterback position. Reid does not believe there's such a thing as being too deep at that position. He also believes that he and offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg can develop quarterbacks and get the best out of them. So here comes Nick Foles, who may someday be Vick's replacement or may be a better 2012 backup than either of those other two guys or may someday be a guy they can trade for something of value because quarterback is so important a position in the NFL.

Foles is a 6-foot-5, 243-pound monster with the physical tools to develop into a very good NFL quarterback. He's also a polished thrower with a strong arm who has a reputation for handling pressure well. It's entirely possible that, after a full offseason program and training camp, Foles will be a more appealing backup quarterback option than Kafka, even though Kafka has been in the Eagles' program for a number of years now.

Again, it's a hedge on the future and the present, an infusion of depth at the most important position on the roster. The Eagles used their first three picks of this draft to improve their defense, and while quarterback wasn't a crying-need pick for them, they are run by a coach who believes you can never have enough at that position. So to no one's surprise, they used one of their Day 2 picks on a quarterback.

They sat out the second round after trading up to take cornerback Morris Claiborne in the first, and when the Dallas Cowboys came back on the clock they were still thinking defense. With the 19th pick of the third round of the draft (81st overall), the Cowboys picked Boise State defensive end Tyrone Crawford.

Crawford is a project pick. Most of the scouting reports had 4-3 defensive end as his best fit, with potential to develop into a good 3-4 end. He's not an impact pass-rusher, at least not right away, and is better against the run. But he's got long arms and a big frame and potential to grow into a better pro player as time goes along and he's coached by Rob Ryan and the rest of the Dallas defensive staff.

I don't see this as a move that would allow them to part with Kenyon Coleman or Marcus Spears for salary cap relief, but assuming it's a player in whom they see big potential, the Cowboys are wise to be stocking up on depth in their defensive front. There are decisions and potential changes looming on the defensive line in Dallas in the coming years, and this is a player who could be major asset if he takes the next step he needs to take as a pro.

It was my opinion that the Cowboys needed to find three defensive starters in the first three rounds. After they made the deal to move up to get Claiborne, the best they could do was two. Crawford may not be a starter right away, but he's certainly got a chance to be down the road. Good depth move.

As for that second round, the obvious pick the Cowboys could have made had they not traded up and kept pick No. 45 was not a defensive player but rather Wisconsin's Peter Konz, the draft's best center, who lasted until Atlanta at No. 55. Konz would have solidified the Dallas offensive line at their biggest position of need there, but to stay in position to take him they would have had to sit tight at 14 in the first round and be content with a defensive lineman such as Michael Brockers. I still contend that this would have been a wiser way to go, but the Cowboys believe Claiborne is an elite talent, and if he turns out to be, they'll be happy with the deal they made.

The Washington Redskins had to wait a long time between their first and second picks of this year's draft. They had the No. 6 pick of the third round and traded it to Buffalo for the No. 8 pick of the third round (71 overall) and a seventh-round pick (No. 217 overall), and than with that No. 71 pick they drafted SMU guard Josh LeRibeus.

Not among the highest-ranked guards on the Scouts Inc. draft list, LeRibeus appears to be a pick the Redskins took for scheme-specific reasons rather than because of particularly good measurables. He's had some issues with his weight and has had to lose dozens of pounds to get down to his current 312. And he didn't great out especially well as a blocker. But the Redskins look for specific characteristics in their offensive linemen because their running game relies on a zone-blocking scheme. And LeRibeus' strengths, according to the scouting reports, are his initial quickness, his awareness of what's going on around him and his ability to pick up and direct scheme changes. He was a team captain at SMU and, given the right amount of time to develop in and learn the scheme, could be the kind of guy who's a leader on the offensive line.

Would Redskins fans have rather seen a tackle such as Bobby Massie here? Probably. But the Redskins need to add depth on the offensive line. Their free-agency efforts this year have been focused on wide receiver and the defensive secondary, which means the first few picks after they took Robert Griffin III in the first round needed to be focused on building some protection in front of their rookie quarterback. They obviously like the guy and believe they can coach and use him, and he plays the position to which the Redskins need to be paying attention at this point.

This one's a value pick, though. The New York Giants were considering LSU wide receiver Rueben Randle with their first-round pick Thursday night. They took running back David Wilson instead, and admitted it was a bit of a need pick after Brandon Jacobs left for San Francisco via free agency. But with Randle still there at the end of the second round Friday night, and with Mario Manningham also having left for San Francisco via free agency, the Giants couldn't pass up the chance to take a guy they'd considered a whole round earlier.

Randle goes into the mix for the No. 3 wide receiver spot in New York behind Hakeem Nicks and Victor Cruz, and with Ramses Barden and Jerel Jernigan as his top competition, he'll have a chance to win it. He didn't have a great scouting combine and he didn't have big-time numbers in college, but LSU didn't have a real quarterback this year, and Giants quarterback Eli Manning has a pretty good record of helping develop and get the best out of his receivers.

So, I say it's a nice move for Randle, who could flourish in three-receiver sets in New York, and not a bad pick for the Giants if they had the guy rated as a first-round talent and they got him in the second. I still don't know what they're going to do about offensive line, but we say this every year with the Giants and they seem to figure it out. They will pick again later tonight, when they have the 32nd pick in the third round.