FanPost

There's never too many cooks?

Coach-speak is a difficult language to process, particularly because it is usually coded and frequently presented in sound bites that lack context and do inadequate justice to the nuances involved. While I recognize the danger of taking at face value what a Coach says about a complicated web of quarterback transactions, extending over months, and subject to circumstances that are unknown and unknowable, Coach says a possible future world involves a Redskins quarterback trio of:

1. Donovan McNabb

2. Jason Campbell

3. Sam Bradford/Colt McCoy

4. Presumably, Rex Grossman

Coach Shanahan brought us McNabb. Shanahan also assured Jason Campbell the opportunity to seek a trade elsewhere, so that he may start, somewhere. But if nothing materializes, Coach at least pays lip service to keeping Campbell around. And even in the event that McNabb and Campbell stick around, we're still open to drafting a QB in the 1st round?

[Kelli] Johnson noted that the team was still hosting top QB prospects like Sam Bradford and Colt McCoy, and Shanahan suggested that there was nothing odd there.

"I think if you take a look at Philip Rivers, when did he start? His third year," the coach said. "You take a look at Aaron Rodgers? His third year.... I think a perfect scenario would be a young quarterback coming in here and backing up. You never know what's gonna happen on draft day."

If we have McNabb and Jason Campbell on the roster come draft day, and considering our switch from a 4-3 to a 3-4 defense, I think we're better off not drafting a QB or trading down for additional picks. I suspect that Jason Campbell is probably not going to be here next year -- that's too bad, I've always liked Jason and, full disclosure, have been lobbying on his behalf since at least November of 2006 -- but if he is still here, why the need for a Colt McCoy/Sam Bradford? Do we really need to go out and get a Phillip Rivers three-years-down-the-way?

I'm giving Campbell too much credit here, and the circumstances weren't right, but would San Diego have been better off with Drew Brees instead of Phillip Rivers?

I see where Coach is coming from. Having three quarterbacks on the roster, two of whom are proven NFL quality starters, and one talented potential future-star, is a great problem to have. But we have a lot of needs and a valuable first round pick, and maybe having two proven starters (maybe three, depending on one's feelings towards Grossman?) on the roster this year is enough, and we can worry about getting that star quarterback down the road. I guess my position is, when the kitchen is dirty with a broken oven and new management, maybe resources are better spent fixing the appliances and cleaning the floors, rather than hiring the three best cooks in town.

Is Rex Grossman not a serviceable 3rd-string QB? What of Colt Brennan? I want the team to protect itself from the horrors of starting the wrong quarterback, but let's not overdo it when the rest of the team has needs too.