Redskins draft UK's Jarmon

Herald-Leader Staff Report

The Washington Redskins chose University of Kentucky defensive end Jeremy Jarmon with their third-round pick in the NFL Supplemental Draft on Thursday.

Jarmon entered the supplemental draft for "special case" players after testing positive for a substance banned by the NCAA and being suspended for his senior season.

Vinny Cerrato, Washington's executive vice president of football operations, was among a group of scouts who came to Lexington last week to watch Jarmon work out.

After drafting Jarmon on Thursday, Cerrato told Redskins.com that the 6-foot-3, 278-pounder was a bargain.

"He was a guy that the scouts really liked," Cerrato said. "We graded him as a second-round pick.

"He's a great kid. He'll fit well in the locker room. He runs well. He's making tremendous strides."

Cerrato said he thinks Jarmon would have been a second-round pick in next year's draft had he been able to stay at Kentucky and play his senior year.

"He's basically a year ahead of where he would be if he'd come out next year," Cerrato said.

"He can develop at his pace. He's very athletic, but he needs strength. He benched 19 times. He needs to be doing that 30 times."

As a result of Thursday's supplemental pick, the Redskins will lose their third-round pick in the regular 2010 draft.

Redskins players report for training camp on July 29, and the first practices are the next day.

"I feel like I'm a pretty smart guy," said Jarmon, the only player selected Thursday. He added that he wants to get his hands on a play book as soon as possible.

"I need to jump into it and get to learning the plays and learning the formations and sitting down in the film room and putting plays through the video to see what they look like, to see how guys play in certain packages and try to go into camp with an idea of what I'm supposed to do on each and every play," Jarmon said.

The Redskins finished 8-8 last season.

Kentucky Coach Rich Brooks said he was "very excited" for Jarmon.