Last night I had the great privilige of being a guest on SportsWeek with Arrington and Dukes, a weekly TV show filmed at bar in Fairfax. Naturally, our conversation led to the draft, where Chad Dukes mentioned the need to draft a QB, a beef I've gotten into with the Junkies as well. We all know Ken and I get paid in peanuts to write for this website. We both thoroughly enjoy it, love the access we get, and genuinely appreciate the people we've met along the way including the players, front office, and beat writers. For me, however, spending 40+ hours a week on the Redskins when they're spinning their wheels with mediocrity takes its toll on me. I would love for this to be my full-time job, but there's a better chance Carlos Mencia wins the Mark Twain Prize for Humor than that happens. Like anyone, I can think of 13,000 better things to do with my free time than waste spend hours breaking down embarrassing Redskins losses and trying to make sense of the soap opera that is Redskins Park. The 2011 draft will be a big fork in the road for me. We all know the Redskins are rebuilding, here's why drafting a QB makes zero sense.
- There are no elite QBs in this draft. Every GM is saying this and it's obvious to numbnuts like me. The Redskins have a defense that can't get off the field and an offense line that is missing legit starters from Left Guard through Right Tackle. How does adding a flawed QB really help this team? (see next point)
- We already have not one, but TWO average QBs. What's really the difference between Chris Ponder, Jake Locker, Andy Dalton, Rex Grossman, and John Beck? Nothing. They're all the same size with mobility, so what's the point of burning a quality pick on another QB? Grossman is 30 and knows the offense. Are any of these college QBs going to outplay Grossman the next 3 years? NO. Build the team where we need starters and fill the QB when a legit prospect rolls through.
- Starting talent is deep in the draft. Parks Smith and I just did a live mock draft on Twitter where trades were allowed. We had several offers to move back at #10, which we did. The Redskins will have that opportunity and there were still quality players on the board in the 2nd and 3rd rounds.
- Redskins need starters. This is huge. With two average QBs on the bench, why add a 3rd when the Redskins have so many holes? Grossman can hold this ship for multiple years until we get a line that can protect him and some skilled players to bail him out. The Redskins are a bad team all around, so adding a QB that will ride the pine is criminal when that 2nd round pick is more likely than not to net a starter for several years to come.
Note: This isn't meant to be a "Bring back the Hogs" post. It's simply a fact our OLine is atrocious. It's a shame we didn't have free agency to help things out pre-draft, but perhaps it's a blessing in disguise in that it forces the front office to build our team through the draft.