Though not quite as terrible (barely), the Redskins are at least sticking to their roots from the majority of the past decade and a half.
The last time a Redskins team gave up 30+ turnovers was the abyssmal 3-13 1994 season under Norv Turner (40). The 1994 draft was a promising one with the Redskins drafting the "Quarterback of the future", Heath Shuler (now U.S. Representative Heath Shuler D-NC). Shuler spent his college days at Tennessee, holding nearly all of the SEC's passer records until being eclipsed by Peyton Manning. In his senior year, Shuler was second in the vote for the Heisman trophy.
Washington took Shuler 3rd overall in April of 1994. Norv and the Redskins' front office had high hopes for Shuler, however, his poor play led to a QB controversy with fellow 1994 draft pick Gus Ferrote (7th round, 197th ovr.). ESPN voted Shuler the '17th Biggest Sports Flop' of the past 25 years (2004)
More after the Jump..
Ferotte is best known for his self-inflicted neck injury during a touchdown celebration. I don't even want to go there. Just watch the YouTube video Here. He was also voted to the pro-bowl in 1997, but the neck injury far overshadows that.
The most memorable moment in the 1994 season was the all-too-familiar Redskins' ultimate football giveaway game. Basically it's the game where the Redskins invite the other team to a luncheon and hand out free footballs during gametime. Shuler threw 5 interceptions against the Arizona Cardinals (Then part of the NFC East) during week 7. Shuler went 11-for-32 for 158 yards, one TD, and 5 INT's.
Three different quarterbacks would start for the Redskins over the 16-game spread. Shuler with 8 and John Friesz/Gus Ferotte with 4 apeice. A breakdown of the passing stats:
| No. | Age | Pos | G | GS | QBrec | Cmp | Att | Yds | TD | Int | Lng | Sk | Yds | 4QC | GWD | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | Heath Shuler | 23 | QB | 11 | 8 | 1-7-0 | 120 | 265 | 45.3 | 1658 | 10 | 3.8 | 12 | 4.5 | 81 | 6.3 | 5.0 | 13.8 | 150.7 | 59.6 | 12 | 83 | 5.7 | 4.5 | 4.3 | ||
| 17 | John Friesz | 27 | qb | 16 | 4 | 1-3-0 | 105 | 180 | 58.3 | 1266 | 10 | 5.6 | 9 | 5.0 | 73 | 7.0 | 5.9 | 12.1 | 79.1 | 77.7 | 6 | 45 | 6.6 | 5.5 | 3.2 | ||
| 12 | Gus Frerotte | 23 | 4 | 4 | 1-3-0 | 46 | 100 | 46.0 | 600 | 5 | 5.0 | 5 | 5.0 | 51 | 6.0 | 4.8 | 13.0 | 150.0 | 61.2 | 3 | 18 | 5.7 | 4.4 | 2.9 | |||
| 30 | Brian Mitchell | 26 | PR/KR/fb | 16 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 1 | 100.0 | 0 | 0.0 | -45.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | -45.0 | 0.0 | ||||
| Team Total | 27.1 | 16 | 3-13-0 | 271 | 546 | 49.6 | 3524 | 25 | 4.6 | 27 | 4.9 | 81 | 6.5 | 5.1 | 13.0 | 220.3 | 65.0 | 21 | 146 | 6.0 | 4.7 | 3.7 |
(Via: Pro Football Reference)
The numbers above clearly don't match the absolutely absurd 20 interceptions thrown by Rex Grossman in 2011. Maybe that should prove the absolute need for a QB in April 2012. Though there are major differences in these two teams, the main problem persists, and has persisted since the glory days of Mark Rypien, Joe Theisman, and Sonny Jurgensen. A franchise QB.
Hail.