Quote:
Originally Posted by Oakland Red
I'm confident that Jason Campbell was a great draft choice and will be an excellent starter for the Redskins at some point. That point should start when he is the player who gives the Redskins the best chance to win at the qb position. Players should advance in rank according to that reality and not an arbitrary decision to want to play a younger guy, or out of fear that he will leave once his contract is up, or to appease fans, etc.
If players know that the coaches will support them as long as they are being evaluated on their actual ability to perform and their overall effect on the team's performance, then players are motivated to perform better. If players know that they are going to be pulled because there is an agenda to play someone who you have a lot invested in, then that is anti-motivational.
Case in point - TJ Duckett. Gibbs answer to why he isn't playing? "Clinton Portis and Ladell Betts." Thank you! Whatever the investment in Duckett, if he is the third most ready to contribute running back, then he will be in the third string role.
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I really didn't want to push this thread back up the board, but there's one point I would like to make, and one question I'd like to ask relevant to your "Case In Point".
If Gibbs's answer to TJ Duckett not playing is because of Clinton Portis and Ladell Betts, plus Rock Cartwright, personally, I see no reason why we could not have relied on the two backup's to share the load until Portis's injury situation was no longer a concern. If Gibbs had so much confidence in his backup's, then why the panic because Portis was unable to play?
What other GM in the league do you think would trade a 3rd round DP for a player in the last year of his contract (about to become a FA) to be a 3rd string RB whom you obviously have no intention of playing? A 3rd round pick, depending on the player and his position could be a potential starter on many teams, so I'm just wondering if this really makes sense to you?