Constant Redskins QB talk misses mark

Perhaps I am the kind that gets easily befuddled, but indeed I am continually perplexed by the number of people who are soooo concerned about who will play quarterback for the Washington Redskins next season.

Anybody outside of John Beck’s immediate family would of course suggest that there is long-term concern, but next year…so what? Have you looked at the roster? Folks, even Peyton Manning at his ad-libbing best could not take this evolving group to the postseason. It appears that Redskins coach Mike Shanahan knows this to be true. And that’s a good thing.

To me, such talk comes from those who can’t stomach the notion that their precious team will suffer through another losing season or even worse, seemingly can’t even admit that it’s going to happen.

When the buzz began about the underwhelming Beck being the current-day favorite to be the opening day signal caller, that was indeed the unwritten message being sent by Shanahan.

Guess what folks: after years of the franchise mistakenly believing they were oh so-close to contending, that’s exactly what you want to hear out of Redskins Park.

The reality is nothing is going to change or have I been sleeping through several years of winning, playoff football?

Fans want to celebrate their team reaching the top, but not deal with the pain of getting there. Years of management pretending to make winning moves – in fairness they did, for the bottom line that is – gave the faithful false hope and left the team stranded in the no-man’s land of mediocrity.

In the world of American pro sports, you don’t want to be in stuck in the middle of the pack. Ever. That’s why in some cases, you have to drop to the bottom to then reach the top.

For some that kind of talk implies “tanking”, the notion that a team is purposely designing a losing situation, like the nefarious fictional owner of the Cleveland Indians in Major League. No true competitor would ever go this route, but the same result can occur subtly when a team pulls the rip cord on worrying about short term wins for long haul results.

Last season in his zeal to drink from the cup of glory once again, Shanahan foolishly engineered a trade for the aging Donovan McNabb despite a dearth of offensive weapons and the plan to switch the entire defensive scheme. We’ll be kind and simply say that didn’t work out.

Maybe he was saved by the lack of free agency due to the ongoing labor issues or seemingly came to grips with the waif-like makeup of the depth chart, but instead of doubling down in the recent draft, Shanahan went for a quality over quantity.

It’s unlikely that all 12 rookies drafted will make the roster, but if you include undrafted free agents, it would not be surprising to see a dozen or more first-year players survive the final cuts. That’s nearly a quarter of the roster and rarely would such a significant youth movement lead to immediate proven results.

By passing on a passer in the NFL draft, Shanahan also chose to establish a baseline core instead of taking a signal caller.

Santana Moss is a free agent and iffy at best to return. The oft-injured Ryan Torain is the top returning running back and he’ll be challenged by two mid-to-late round picks. The offensive line has one true building block (Trent Williams) and he's just entering his second season. And the defense, well, let's just say that for all the hang-ups over Albert Haynesworth's attitude, this unit statistically was better with him, and next-to-last overall regardless

Does that sound like a great environment for a young passer to thrive in?

Using that same logic, why bother adding a veteran like Matt Hasselbeck or Marc Bulger? Not only are the likely free agent possibilities a rather homely mix of aging and retread options, but the desire to bring them into the fold seems to be as much about fans wanted to prove how truly supportive they are.

(By the way, are we 100 percent convinced Beck can't play? Hasn't taken a snap in a regular season game since 2007 when he was a rookie. Maybe he's a joke and maybe he's apparent ascendancy to the starting gig is simple misdirection, but he was once a touted prospect and at 30 years his maturity for the job shouldn't be an issue.)

By likely taking a haircut on the 2011 record, the Redskins will also potentially put themselves in a position to draft Stanford’s heralded quarterback Andrew Luck or another young gun. By then they will have moved one step closer toward getting their house in order.

Nobody wants to admit they are rooting for a deficient bunch, but the true losing approach is not seeing the difference between the small and big picture outlook. Plus I’ll take young guys giving effort over veteran players laying down on the job (and you know who I mean).

Unless Shanahan decides to dramatically open up Dan Snyder’s wallet whenever some incarnation of free agency begins, the Redskins are finally not thinking they are one player away from being a postseason challenger.

That tune has me saying Hail to the Redskins. How about you?