I've already said we're not taking JeMarcus Russell despite rumors to the contrary based on the team meeting with the young LSU QB, though if you needed additional reasons to convince yourself against that move look no farther than the Akron Beacon Journal which reflects on the 1999 quarterback class:
The 1999 draft was supposed to be the great quarterback draft.
And of course we're talking about Tim Couch, Akili Smith, Cade McNown, Daunte Culpepper, and Donovan McNabb. 1 of 5 was a resounding success and, although he might be cut soon, Culpepper had some good PT in Minnesota. Still, three of five as total busts despite previous evidence to the contrary is good enough to scare me away from QBs when we've got Jason Campbell primed in this offense and ready to take over the NFL using just his Mustache. Smart money in 1999 would have been to bet against QBs in the first round. Like any position you simply cannot be certain that a player will succeed in the NFL because they did so in College. Coach agrees:
Five guys, all supposedly can't-miss prospects, were first-round worthy. The '99 draft was compared with the great quarterback draft of 1983, which featured six picked in Round 1, including John Elway, Jim Kelly and Dan Marino.
``I think it's one of the harder positions to really project,'' Washington Redskins coach Joe Gibbs said.
Does that sound like a ringing endorsement of JeMarcus Russell, to you? Evidence that the Redskins will absotively posilutely move up to get Russell? Doesn't look that way.