My favorite football team is the Washington Redskins. I have been following them since 1990, and have been a full fledged fan over the rough years since their Super Bowl run. Although I have been getting a lot of flack from friends for supporting the team, as they had been pretty bad lately, I'm still rooting for them and hoping for the best year in and year out. I have not agreed with many of their choices since Dan Snyder took over, and most of his decisions have turned out to hurt the team rather than help it. Which brings me to today, and this weekend's draft.
The Redskins have the number 13 pick in the draft, and are in real need of Offensive/Defensive linemen, and LB's. There are a few good choices for those positions, even at the 13th pick, and they would probably be good additions to the team. The good thing about picking a lineman or LB is that they don't have to be impact players in their first few seasons, they can take the time to learn the system and develope their talents. Other key positions, like WR, RB, and specially QB's are expected to make an impact in their second year, if not their first, specially if they were picked in the first round. Also, the price for linemen and linebackers is far less than QB's and WR's, so it won't be a huge cost if the player turns out to be a bust. So by those standards, the Reskins picking a lineman or linebacker would be a good decision, and even if it doesn't help the team, it won't hurt it that much.
However, if the rumors are true, and in these situations they tend to be, Dan Snyder has his eyes set on the QB out of USC, Mark Sanchez, and often enough, when Dan has his eyes set on someone, he gets them, i.e. Albert Haynesworth. The main problem here is that Sanchez will not be around until the 13th pick, so in order for the Redskins to get him, they will have to make a trade to move up the draft, most likely to the 4th spot, where Seattle is at, or the 8th, and trade of Jacksonville. Neither of those two will do an outright trade, and will want something else from the Redksins. The trouble is that they don't have much to offer, as they only have a few picks. But then again, they got into this position by trading their picks this year for players, so it won't be too much of a shock for them to trade some of their picks in later years to move up.
Another issue is that, well simply put, they already have QB's, and don't need another added to the mix. They currently have Jason Cambell, Todd Collins, and Colt Brennan, with Jason being the started, and Colt being drafted last year. It does not make sense to draft another QB, when you did so last year, and thought the guy was good enough to keep. And you really don't want to replace a veteran for a rookie, because that would make Jason your veteran, and he only has a couple of years under his belt. So the only situation that makes sense is if Sanchez would be Jason's replacement. Nothing against Sanchez, and many think that he is going to be a great QB, but I for one don't want him, and I know many of the other Redskins fans don't want him either. Yes, there is a chance that he can become the next Peyton Manning or John Elway, but then there is also the chance that he can be the next Heath Shuller or Tim Couch. If you already have a good QB, there is no reason why you should pay a lot to draft another one, as the chances for him being a bust are a lot higher than him being great. Jason himself was a first rounder, and although he is good, he isn't an elite QB, at least not yet.
Let us look at their situation as it stands. This will be the second year Jason is in the same offense, which he has not been in since he came out of Colledge. He showed last year that he can be a pretty good QB, and he does have an arm. Given another year with the same system and players only will improve his talents. The problem last year was the Offensive line, due to injuries Jason was not getting good enough protection to be an effective QB. The first part of the season, when they went 6-2, he was not sacked that much, and had a lot of time to make decisions on where to place the ball. Granted, their problems in the second half of the season cannot be placed only on the lack of protection Jason was getting, but that did play a big part in it. If he had the same protection in the second half that he receive in the first, the Redskins would not have finished the year 8-8, they would have been 10-6 at the very least. Give the guy some time, and he can make some spectacular throws, both mid range and long bombs. He is not that much of a mobile QB, so he does depend on the protection more than some of the others. But that is not unusual, specially for the Redskins. In their last Suber Bowl victory, their QB, Mark Rypen, was one of the least mobile QB's ever, and they were able to protect him enough for him to make deep bomb throws to the likes of Art Monk and Gary Clarck. So the notion of having a QB that needs protection is not new to the Redskins, and yet they seem to have some trouble with it.
But let us just assume that it is all Jason's fault, and he just isn't a good QB. So they go ahead and trade up, possibly trading Jason to either Seattle or Jacksonville, and draft Sanchez. So now you have a rookie QB, who only started 16 games in Colledge, and you putting him against defenses like that of Dallas and the Eagles, who are known for going after the QB and making it very difficult for him to read their D, and you are doing so with an O-line that is getting old, and gets injured a lot. What possibly do you think will happen? Sanchez is going to get hit, and get hit hard and often, which will most likely put a huge dent in his confidence, as has happened before, even here in Washington with Patrick Ramsey. So it would not be a good idea to put him in as a rookie, unless you bolster the O-line, which does not look to be happening, if the Redskins are going to use their picks for getting Sanchez. That means then you will have to start Collins, and let Sanchez get up to speed before putting him in. Although I do like Collins, I don't think he is a starting QB, so most likely the Redskins are not going to start the year strong, which only makes it worse once you put Sanchez in and he stumbles a bit. So to prevent that situation, they can keep Jason and trade either of the other two QB's or something else, and that might work. Well, it would have, except today I read that Jason has basically told the Redskins that if they draft a QB, he is going to demand a trade. So if they do draft Sanchez, they won't be keeping Jason, even for next year, and there goes the season.
Also, along the same line, this is really the first time that you are going into a 2nd season of an offensive scheme, with the majority of the players from the previous year. You would want to keep things as close to the same as possible, and drafted and placing a new QB into the mix completely shatters the notion of continuity, which an offense needs to be productive.
So it really does not make sense for the Redskins to draft Sanchez, or any other QB, but then again, when it comes to Dan Snyder, it does not have to make sense for it to happen, even if everyone knows it is a bad move.
Simply put, if Dan wants it, it will happen, regardless of anything else.
Z
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