NFL Draft Is Finally Here

Well draft day is finally here. All of us Redskins fans are excited to see what the Redskins will do in the draft with the league-low of 4 draft picks. All I know is with so few picks, they better make them count. We cannot go back and retrieve our draft picks that we traded away. We are stuck with 4 so we have to look to the future and do the best with what we have. There has been all kinds of speculation about who the Skins may draft, from quarterbacks to offensive lineman to defensive lineman. My personal preference is an offensive lineman. Russell Okung and Trent Williams are both solid options. Until we build stability on our offensive line, we will never again have a potent offense like we did with the Hogs in the Joe Gibbs era.

There has been a lot of talk about maybe taking either Sam Bradford or Jimmy Clausen in the draft. Drafting a quarterback would be a mistake with this team. McNabb will not be around forever, but we already have more than enough quarterbacks. It is time to solidify another position. Let's get some young talent on this team and build our way to a Super Bowl. I think that next year a quarterback could be a good idea because he can learn from McNabb. This year, no way. We need to keep McNabb upright and, more importantly, healthy. If we draft another quarterback, we will just have another year with a bad offensive line and a beat up quarterback, ultimately leading to another weak offense. I wonder if George Allen and Mike Shanahan agree with me and a large portion of the Redskins nation.

Mike Wise believes they will draft an offensive lineman:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/21/AR2010042104786.html?hpid=artslot&sid=ST2010042106112

Is he right?

Well our suspense with the #4 pick finally ends tonight. I just hope it is the right pick.

Campbell Staying as McNabb's Backup?

The Redskins Insider on the Washington Post released an article this morning saying that Jason Campbell may be staying with the Redskins. You can see the post here:

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/redskinsinsider/jason-campbell/jason-campbell-may-take-more-t.html

I have to say that the idea of keeping Jason Campbell kinda confuses me. Yes, I understand he is a solid backup to Donovan McNabb and probably a better choice than Rex Grossman.  I also understand that McNabb is injury prone. But if the Redskins signed McNabb thinking he would be injured, then they should not have signed him at all.  I think that if the Redskins can get a draft pick or 2 or a young talent for Jason Campbell, they should do so, especially if this talent is an offensive lineman. The Redskins have made it clear that Campbell is not the quarterback of the future for the Redskins so why not ship him out? Unfortunately, the market value for Campbell seems to be low. Either way, keeping Campbell and Grossman is a waste. We need to figure out what we can do with Campbell besides letting him sit on the bench.

I'm glad that it seems the Redskins have been allowing Campbell to look for better situations for himself. He has been treated badly for the last few years in Washington and has never been given the best chance to succeed.  The Redskins have never had a good offense for him to work with. There has also been tons of talk that Campbell is not the quarterback for the future and the Redskins have been consistently looking for a replacement. That talk may be warranted, and personally I'm not sure Campbell has what it takes either.  It is unfortunate the Redskins had to trade up to get Campbell and then he ends up doing nothing with us. I do think that if he had a good offense he would have been a mediocre quarterback that was able to take the team into the playoffs. Perhaps a quarterback like Mark Rypien?  But anyway, those days are done and it is time to move away from Jason Campbell. We are obviously going to have to find a new quarterback to replace McNabb in a few years. Let's get what we can for Campbell to help improve this team for the future.

McNabb, the Face of the Eagles, Now Wears Burgundy and Gold

I never thought I would see the day when Donovan McNabb wore Burgundy and Gold.  The franchise Eagles quarterback, the main face of the Eagles team, is now a Washington Redskin.  I am still trying to get used to this idea.  It is difficult for me to picture McNabb in the Redskins uniform. I am so used to seeing him in green and playing against us.  I can already hear the boos coming from Philadelphia fans when we play the Eagles this year.

I guess I should never be surprised by anything with Dan Snyder as the owner.  If there is a high-profile, veteran free agent player on the market, you know Dan Snyder will check him out and be willing to “show him the money.”  Well Snyder, Mike Shanahan, and company bring in another old high-profile player to the Redskins.  Let us hope that McNabb will play better for us than the likes of Mark Brunell, Shane Matthews, Dana Stubblefield, Bruce Smith, etc.

I have many scattered and mixed feelings on McNabb joining our team.  So I figure the easiest way to explain without going off on random tangents would be to list out the pros and cons on my mind:

PROS
-    First off, the Redskins now have a proven NFL quarterback. While questions about Jason Campbell came up every year, and many QB options were considered, these same questions will not come up with McNabb. He knows how to play the game and will be a good quarterback.
-    The quarterback controversies are over now.  I am hoping this includes the idea that the Redskins may draft a quarterback.  Now they can focus this year’s draft on the team’s biggest problem, its offensive line. This starts with Russell Okung, the offensive tackle from Oklahoma State.
-    This is a nice addition to the Redskins/Eagles rivalry. Won’t it be fun to watch McNabb return to play against, and hopefully beat, the team he built his career with?  And as I mentioned before, it will be great to give the Eagles fans something else to boo about.  
-    Doesn’t it get us Redskins fans a little excited knowing we have a quarterback who knows how to win?  Think about all the games we have watched McNabb light up some poor team. 

CONS
-    I am still trying to determine if McNabb is worth the price we paid.  Giving up a second rounder this year, and a third or fourth in 2011, could be a costly loss for the Redskins.  We need the picks to build up our offensive line and whatever other positions we will need to address in the upcoming seasons.
-    McNabb is getting old.  I do not think he has more than 3 seasons left in him.  After all, how many Brett Favres are out there? The two draft picks could hurt when we need to rebuild the team again in a couple years.
-    McNabb can play, but he will need some type of offensive line to do so.  And we have no offensive line!  Stacking a bunch of old players (McNabb, backup Rex Grossman, Clinton Portis, Larry Johnson, Willie Parker) behind a poor offensive line will get us nowhere.  None of those players have the ability to run like they used to.  They will need a solid offensive line and I am not convinced the Redskins will have one in 2010.
-    McNabb is prone to injuries lately.  With the weak offensive line, I do not think he will be able to stay healthy all year.

On another note, I wish Jason Campbell only the best.  I hope he can play well for another team in this league. He has had a raw deal in Washington from the beginning.  First, they played Mark Brunell instead of him.  Since then, there have been so many rumors about different quarterbacks who may take his place including Mark Sanchez, Jay Cutler, Sam Bradford, and Tim Tebow.  Campbell did not even find out about this trade from the team, but from a reporter.  Well Jason, I hope you can move on to greener pastures where if you do not start, you are at least treated fairly.  What we do now know is that the Redskins have finally settled on McNabb as a replacement. As a diehard Skins fan, I just hope it was the right choice.