Campbell and an offensive tackle is the smart play
By: Turner Sports Desk
Jim Turner
Turnersportsdesk.com
March 15, 2010
According to most mock drafts the Redskins are either
drafting a QB or an offensive lineman. Noted Draft
Guru, Mel Kiper remains high on Clausen but the equally noted draft guru, Todd
McShay rates him as a second round talent but that’s not even the scary part.
McShay has stated on several occasions that Clausen has both intelligence and
maturity issues.
Wait a minute! Whenever you draft a QB in the top 10 that
guy instantly becomes the face of your franchise. I do not know Jimmy Clausen
personally but if I were GM or Coach of the Redskins and someone was saying
anything remotely close to that I’d take that as a red flag. The other issue is
this alleged immature kid would be coming into a situation where the
expectations are always sky high. If they draft him that high he is starting no
matter what the coach says about bringing him along slowly. So now you have an
immature and intelligence challenged QB behind a patchwork offensive line. How
do you spell Chernobyl meltdown C-L-A-U-S-E-N.? I have nothing against this kid
but if he is drafted at four that is a recipe for failure for both the player
and the Redskins.
Can you imagine the press conferences with a young, immature Clausen versus Washington’s media hounds especially if the team is not doing well? We
could be looking at Ryan Leaf meltdowns if this kid can’t handle all comes with
being the starting QB of the Washington Redskins. Jason Campbell to his credit
represents himself and this franchise well even in the face of adversity.
The
Job of starting QB for an NFL franchise is much bigger than throwing tight
spirals and reading defenses. It is also about leading men under the most dire
of circumstances on occasion. On that note, when Campbell was getting murdered
he never lost his composure and he earned the respect of that locker room
through adversity. The Redskins brass
(or at least Dan Snyder) seems to be enamored with cocky QBs (see Sanchez,
Cutler, Quinn and Clausen) but I’ve seen plenty of cocky QBs fail
spectacularly. Quiet confidence is a much more desirable attribute (see Joe
Montana, Peyton Manning and Drew Brees). None of these QBs career’s started out
great but they all got better as the teams around them got better.
The common sense factor says that the truth is somewhere
between both experts which puts the realistic Clausen draft value range from
the lower portion of the first round to the top 10 of the 2nd round.
The Redskins would be much better off
drafting an offensive tackle to better protect whoever the QB is and taking
Clausen or Texas QB, Colt McCoy early in the second round. At least they are addressing
the offensive line issue and saving a TON of money by not picking a QB in the
top five of the draft. Not to mention picking the QB in the 2nd
round takes the pressure off Clausen or McCoy to produce immediately.
If someone takes Clausen the Skins are just as well off or better with Colt McCoy considering no one questions McCoy's leadership or intelligence. The smart play is the guy you
already have [Campbell] while you allow whoever you draft to challenge for the job when
they are ready both mentally and physically to lead the team. Aaron Rodgers is a good example of allowing a young QB to learn how to be a pro first.