Smoot Lays the Smack Down (Redskins vs. Dolphins)

We give him one or two years, he bolts to Tennessee for sure since they gave him three. Not to mention we might have had to pay extra to pry him away from his the OC there, since he's had a relationship with his OC since he was a little kid.

Maybe that's the case, but I refuse to believe Grossman and Beck were the best we could have done. Add in the McNabb debacle and you really have to question the decision making that's been done with the QB position, especially for a QB "guru" like Mike Shanahan.

Maybe that's the case, but I refuse to believe Grossman and Beck were the best we could have done. Add in the McNabb debacle and you really have to question the decision making that's been done with the QB position, especially for a QB "guru" like Mike Shanahan.

It may not, but the alternatives were not that good. Maybe Garcia, Gradkowski, Bulger, Orton? There are too many to list, but the scrapheap QBs don't look that good. We might be sitting at 5-4 or 4-5 and be in the running for 8-8.

But you also have to consider that a FA QB this season would be very behind due to lockout. Unlike Carson Palmer, he probably would have not had any previous contact with Shanahan. Hence, the pickup might struggle in a manner similar to how Kerry Collins struggled.

Here's a fairly comprehensive list to look at: KFFL - 2010 NFL Free Agents (http://www.kffl.com/static/nfl/features/freeagents/fa.php?y=2010)

The larger point is that any quarterback would have struggled with this supporting cast.

And I don't know that Mike Shanahan's status as a quarterback guru was necessarily a given. Like everybody else in this league, he was right on some guys, wrong on others. I'd say Cutler has turned out to be as good as advertised. He created the environment for Elway to get over the hump, and perhaps made him a more complete QB.

With Beck, I just think you had to see what he could do. We saw it. He won't cut it. Does that mean Mike Shanahan has lost it? I don't think so. Maybe he knows that it's early in the rebuild process and for the first year or so he wanted to try some things out knowing that if they don't work, it won't matter much because this team was being dismantled from the top-down anyway.

Before all these injuries I'd argue this offense had some potential, and with a competent QB we could have been more competitive. Right now given all the injuries we'd probably be in a somewhat similar situation, but when I see Grossman throwing dumb pick after dumb pick or Beck dumping it off every play or getting sacked, I can't help but wonder.

In the end Shanahan is 0-3 on his QB choices here. Not good any way you look at it.

Before all these injuries I'd argue this offense had some potential, and with a competent QB we could have been more competitive. Right now given all the injuries we'd probably be in a somewhat similar situation, but when I see Grossman throwing dumb pick after dumb pick or Beck dumping it off every play or getting sacked, I can't help but wonder.

In the end Shanahan is 0-3 on his QB choices here. Not good any way you look at it.

Yes, with a more competent QB, the offense would have better.

But I think it's quite clear that their pickings were slim and would have been pretty big gambles in their own right, i.e AJ Feeley, Bulger, Leinart, TJax, Troy Smith. More likely than not, we'd be killing Shanahan if one of those guys were starting instead of Brecks.

But would this mystery QB that Shanahan didn't choose be the quarterback of the future for this team? Would it have been yet another short-term fix? Yeah, it might make us feel better in the here and now, get us a few more wins -- again, in an alternate reality that (1.) doesn't have the injury problem we have, (2.) has a magically transformed offensive line that Shanahan hasn't had the time to build, (3.) has dynamic wide receivers to throw to, and (4.) has an effective running game.

I maintain that under these exact circumstances any other quarterback taken over the past two offseasons couldn't possibly make the results any different, and that the franchise quarterback we're all hoping for is playing in college right now and wasn't available to Shanahan anyway.

Yes, with a more competent QB, the offense would have better.

But I think it's quite clear that their pickings were slim and would have been pretty big gambles in their own right, i.e AJ Feeley, Bulger, Leinart, TJax, Troy Smith. More likely than not, we'd be killing Shanahan if one of those guys were starting instead of Brecks.

Exactly right. It's not like there was a Pro Bowl quarterback sitting out there on the free agent scrapheap and Shanny wasn't able to spot him.

Exactly right. It's not like there was a Pro Bowl quarterback sitting out there on the free agent scrapheap and Shanny wasn't able to spot him.

Marc Bulger was a Pro Bowl quarterback :D.


Oh ohhhhhh you mean a recent Pro Bowl qb.

Maybe Shanahan feels that given his knowledge and experience with QBs he could save that for last while focusing on other areas that needed improvement first?

Marc Bulger was a Pro Bowl quarterback :D.


Oh ohhhhhh you mean a recent Pro Bowl qb.

I think Bulger would have this team 5-4 or 4-5 and having us smelling 8-8...if his last few years in St. Louis didn't give him happy feet and the like. But he had no upside. The best Bulger would give next year would either be the same or worse that he would have given this year.
I think Shanahan wanted to test out guys with some upside. He probably thought these guys had the best chance to turn into the second coming of Gannon...or at least something serviceable like Plummer. He probably deluded himself a bit, but I don't hold that too hard against him. It happens to everyone.