I am not a big "conspiracy theory" guy. I think the main reason is because by the time said 'theory' makes itelf known to me, it has long since ceased being in the conspiracy stages. Also, I lack the appropriate paranoia, poor hygiene and awful wardrobe of your average conspiracy theorist...uhhhh...crap--well, I am definitely not paranoid.
I know what you're saying...the Redskins can't announce to the world that they will be selecting Andrew Luck in the 2012 draft. And yet, to those with an eye for the absurd (finally...all those years of watching Vinny Cerrato have trained me for something) that is PRECISELY what they have done. And I LOVE it.
Let's start with not addressing the offensive line in the draft (no offense to Maurice Hurt, who could easily find a role on this team.) To be clear, I am not at all unhappy with the draft. I love the players we picked up, but there was something missing, right? Not many teams could have 12 picks and still fail to address all the needs on the roster, and yet here we are. But we had more holes to fill than a Jenna Jameson feature film. As it stands, we did great. I applaud Bruce Allen and Mike Shanahan for their work. However, the lack of a top-shelf offensive lineman in this draft is rather conspicuous, wouldn't you say? Especially given the seemingly obvious deficiencies on such a crucial unit.
I need to once again stress how much I really did enjoy our draft. I have zero qualms with the way we have set out to rebuild this roster. But Ryan Kerrigan, Jarvis Jenkins and Leonard Hankerson can't play Right Tackle. Hmmmm...
Let's move on to the even more shocking announcement that Mike Shanahan is madly in love with John Beck. Hey, I get it. An attractive young quarterback that Shanny had the hots for out of college but could never get his hands on because he was in Denver and Beck was bound by BYU's Code of Conduct. When he finally made his move for Beck last year, you could just see the "Not even Chris Hansen can stop this from happening" look in Shanahan's eyes. By all accounts, John Beck did a fine job running the scout team last year, yet when it was time to throw some garbage time around at the end of the season, we got Rexy and not Beck. Since then, we have been led to believe that John Beck could possibly be the man in 2011. Hmmmm...
So we're going to throw an inexperienced quarterback behind an offensive line that wouldn't be qualified to bounce at an Assisted Living Gala event? Any other year I would be leading the call to file criminal charges against any man who did such a thing. Today I am prepared to call that GENIUS!
For quite some time, we have been trotting out one-year plan after one-year plan. The notion that a Super Bowl could be won with such antics is...well...unproven. However, THIS one-year plan has some real promise. Let's just say the Super Bowl trophy engraver isn't practicing how to write "Washington Redskins" this summer. Disney ain't lining up John Beck's agent to get him ready to say, "I'm going to Disney World!" THIS one-year plan is our most ambitious to date, and wouldn't you know it--it is just crazy enough to work.
With every snap John Beck takes in 2011, the prospect of Andrew Luck in 2012 becomes more real. With every missed block by our patchwork offensive line in 2011, we take one step closer to the "Andrew Luck Era" that would hopefully also include a high second round offensive tackle selection.
For years, the Redskins organization has been afraid to let organic, necessary losing happen the way God intended. Through the trading away of draft picks for aging veterans and the signing of free agents that kept us from seeing what we had in young players at just about every position on the field, we as a fanbase were shielded from the insanely bad year that most teams must go through to truly get better. Instead, we were just driven insane by how bad things kept getting.
Redskins fans can and will accept a down year if they believe that there is truly something to be gained from the experience. From Bruce Allen's most recent draft strategy, to the willingness to sacrifice John Beck's life in 2011, I think we can all agree there is some real growth going on inside those walls at Redskins Park.
So feel free to join me in calling this the least secret conspiracy theory of all time. After all, it is right there in black and white for the world to see. Will I be there rooting my butt off for John Beck this season? You bet I will. Will I get carried away if and when we win a game or two in September that causes people to think we could be "a year early" in our progress? You all know that I will. But if we take our lumps in 2011 the way Mother Nature (and Mike Shanahan) intended, we could be set to add the last couple pieces in the 2012 draft that just may catapult the Redskins into a Golden Age.