Once again the Washington Redskins are back asking the same question they were this time last year – who will be the starting quarterback?
For 2011, that question was left unanswered for most of the season with Rex Grossman and John Beck both receiving opportunities to take the starting job. The lack of offense led to a 5-11 season that has some fans beginning to question whether the combination of Mike and Kyle Shanahan can deliver on their promise of bringing the Redskins back to the glory days of old.
In many ways, this offseason is make or break for the Shanahans. Fans and pundits alike expect the so-called QB guru Mike Shanahan to find his franchise quarterback and finally bring stability to the position that has been lacking for nearly 20 years.
This leads to one of the most tantalising storylines of the 2012 NFL Draft coming up in April – who will draft Robert Griffin III?
The Redskins are said by many to be one of the leading candidates to land the Heisman Trophy winner, but to do so they will have to trade up in the draft. At their current position of sixth, the chances of Griffin dropping to them are virtually non-existent with the Cleveland Browns certain to draft him at four should he fall to them.
The only option for the Redskins would be to trade up over the Browns and deal with either St Louis (second) or Minnesota (third). In order to do so, the expected price would likely be (in addition to the swapping of first round picks) the surrender of their second and third round picks and possibly a conditional third round pick in the 2013 draft.
With the cost to trade up being so high, the Redskins may look to free agency for the starting quarterback. Matt Flynn has emerged as the most sought after quarterback of this free agency class after breaking numerous Green Bay records in a memorable six touchdown performance against the Lions in week 17.
So who do the Redskins take – Griffin or Flynn?
To look ahead, first we need to look back to the 2011 draft. The Redskins showed us that they weren’t going to be rushed into taking someone they didn’t want. Many last year expected the Redskins to try and move up from tenth to get either Cam Newton or Blaine Gabbert. Instead, they surprised everyone by trading from tenth to sixteenth in order to stockpile picks. At ten, Gabbert was still available and he was taken with that pick by the Jaguars.
The Redskins philosophy to this point has been to take a “steady as she goes” mentality. We have constantly heard Mike Shanahan say that the process of rebuilding the team could take anywhere from three to five years in order for it to be done right. In 2011 it seemed to work as the trading down resulted in the Redskins obtaining Ryan Kerrigan, Roy Helu and Jarvis Jenkins who will all be starters for the team in 2012.
This begs the question – will the Redskins be content to pass up on quarterbacks again in this draft? Now we all know that Mike Shanahan is as unpredictable as they come but logic suggests that giving up a number of picks for one player isn’t the way this team does things anymore. Washington have a number of other needs they need to address – wide receiver, guard and right tackle being chief amongst those.
With this year’s offensive line class being one of the strongest in years, it would make far more sense for the Redskins to draft a lineman in the first round and then look at quarterback later. Tannehill, Foles and Cousins appear to be the top contenders after the elite two are gone and the Redskins will have the opportunity to draft any of the three later in the draft.
Also, I wouldn’t count out Oklahoma State quarterback Brandon Weeden from the mix either. He’ll be a 29 year old rookie but would certainly appeal to Shanahan who likes molding older quarterbacks.
This appears to give the win in this debate by default to Matt Flynn but of that I wouldn’t be so sure. There have been reports out of Washington that Redskins management isn’t particularly interested in Flynn and while erroneous reports like this have been wrong in the past there are other options out there who won’t require as much commitment as Flynn would.
If the Redskins are concerned about Flynn’s lack of NFL experience (Kevin Kolb anyone?) then they may look to other free agent options who will cost less but still allow them to evaluate and train their young team. Jason Campbell and Alex Smith are two players that spring to mind who played well in 2011 without being spectacular and who have both had a good amount of NFL experience.
So what will the Redskins do – RG3, Flynn… or someone else? Don’t forget the whispers of Peyton Manning to the ‘Skins that have been making the rounds.
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