By Nick Shook
Around The NFL writer
Read full post on NFL.com

If Brandon Scherff was unsure of how his employers felt about him, that’s likely no longer the case.

The Washington Redskins picked up Scherff’s fifth-year option on Monday, the team announced, more than a year before he’ll play his fifth professional season. The deadline to pick up such options on players selected in Scherff’s draft class (2015) is May 2.

In a sport that seems to discard first-round linemen as often as it praises them, Scherff has done nothing but proven Washington correct in selecting him fifth overall in 2015. The guard has earned back-to-back Pro Bowl selections in 2016 and 2017 and was also named to the Pro Football Writers of America All-Rookie Team in 2015.

The Iowa All-American and 2014 Outland Trophy winner has carried on the Big Ten Conference’s predominantly sterling reputation for producing top-flight linemen. Scherff has appeared in 46 regular-season games in three years in the NFL and stands a chance to become Washington’s new-millennium version of Russ Grimm, should he maintain his success over the course of his career. He’s definitely off to a good start.