Does The Redskins Murky Quarterback Postion Have A Future?

For more than a decade, the media has a tendency to overly promote and overrate the most overrated position in the NFL. The quarterback of today is more robotic than legendary, relying on a coach to tell him exactly what to do every play through means of telecommunications.

With rules pandering to them at every action possible, a quarterback no longer has to use his brains and show hid football IQ.No longer do they call their own plays, for the most part. Few are allowed to actually play football anymore, relying on what they were taught and have leaned.

Still, the media pushes them on the public with hopes of adoration so the public will buy the accessories sold at concession stands to keep the dream alive. This has led to banner headlines for a few who have failed to deliver the promise yet. This list of underachievers include Brett Favre, Matt Schaub, Matthew Stafford, Alex Smith, Jay Cutler, Jake Delhomme, and more.

Donovan McNabb may head the list of some who expected more from him so far. Expecting a backlash of an embarrassing trade from a team he carried over a decade to a long time divisional rival, McNabb has been let down more than he has disappointed.

From below mediocre play from his offensive line, to battered offensive tackles and running backs, to deceitful and dishonest coaches, it appears likely McNabb will be looking for another team next season after the impending players lock out is resolved. Though he says he plans to be a Redskin next year, McNabb still is without a contract or even an offer to play in Washington beyond 2010.

But no one knows what the back up plan is for the Redskins if McNabb leaves even with a contract offer due to the disrespect he has incurred by coaches who supposedly wanted him as the signal caller just a few months ago.

Rex Grossman is listed as the second stringer, but he is not an NFL caliber quarterback. Grossman needs a great defense and running game to look almost decent, like he did in Chicago for just one season in 2006. A year that saw him benched at one point due to sub par play.

In his first play of 2010, Grossman stayed true to his previous form by promptly fumbling the ball and watching it returned for a touchdown. The third stringer is journeyman John Beck, who is on his third team since 2007. Neither of these quarterbacks are building blocks of the future for even a UFL, CFL, or Arena team.

Added to the fact Washington has no quarterbacks on the practice squad developing, the future at this position is as bright as a mud puddle and it is very foreseeable none of the 2010 quarterbacks will be on the team next year.

Washington should consider getting one young quarterback to develop in case this happens, and there is one buried on a taxi squad right now. Nate Davis, of the San Francisco 49ers, was drafted last season and has had a few promising moments in preseason.

He came out after his junior season, but fell to the fifth round because teams were concerned about his dyslexia. Standing six foot two inches and weighing 225 lbs, Davis has had a few moments that showed why he was considered a second round prospect by some by displaying good arm strength and intangibles conducive to winning.

Taking a player off another teams practice squad would not cost the Redskins a player nor draft pick. Since Beck serves no real purpose rotting on the bench, taking a flier on a young quarterback to see if he can have a future to develop the last eight weeks of the season is a situation where no one loses.

If he shows promise, then Washington can at least have a little more reason to relax if none of the quarterbacks on this years roster returns. The Redskins will not be in a good enough draft position to draft a top college quarterback next year, unless they gamble by trading away too much in order to move up.

If Davis shows no promise, then they basically have the same dead weight that Grossman and Beck currently carry. Risking no future to develop while spitting in the face of the starter who becomes a free agent in a few months is a crazy gamble that no one in their right mind would plan out. Washington may now end up trying to overpay McNabb even more to bring him back, and there are no guarantees he will.

There are also no guarantees the Redskins will draft or sign a free agent next year capable of starting with success. They already have hinted at their desperation to this situation by asking JaMarcus Russell to work out for them last week. Russell is a lazy, uninterested flop the Oakland Raiders unfortunately wasted the first pick of the 2007 draft on before finally parting ways with him a couple of months back.

Redskins fans nervously await to see what their team has planned for 2011 at quarterback, because the team has shown no indication of a thought towards the matter yet. Confusion has taken over with head coach Mike Shanahan lying to the media, while his son continues to call poor plays that offer McNabb no real help.

When the Shanahan's tried to claim McNabb didn't know the playbook, that spoke more on them than him. It showed poor coaching, because no respectable coach would allow a player to start at any position unprepared. It also shows a lack of work ethic by the coaches. Last years head coach, Jim Zorn, may have been overmatched, but he had his players knowing what plays were being called.

Now is the time to act, instead of meander like the present pace. Either get a quarterback to develop or throw some trust in McNabb. If things stay the way they are now until seasons end, Mike Shanahan will have shown little improvement over Zorn whatever the teams record ends up as.. Something owner Dan Snyder did not pay $15 million for.