Since Matt Barkley announced yesterday that he was heading back to USC and their are reports the Robert Griffin III and possibly Landry Jones could be leaning towards heading back to their respective schools there has been a lot of concern over the future of the Redskins at the quarterback position. One thing that has become clear during this season is that the Redskins do not have their future quarterback on the roster. Rex Grossman still turns the ball over too much, and John Beck looked more than a little confused when he got his chance to start.
If Andrew Luck does end up being the only big time quarterback to enter the draft this year then the Redskins possibly not having a top ten pick shouldn’t be that big of a deal. It shouldn’t have been in the first place as people should be rooting for the Redskins to win and then to find a talent later on in the draft like the Baltimore Ravens did with Joe Flacco.
The Redskins have been on a seemingly endless search for their next franchise quarterback since a time most have forgotten. In 2010 the Redskins tried to trade for a veteran who had been good for most of his career but Donovan McNabb was not good for the Redskins. The Redskins were then able to trade him off to the Vikings, but there will be no exciting rematch as he has spent most of the season on the bench.
The Vikings are a team that has started to take on a bit of a Redskins like identity. Choosing not to rebuild but instead to try and stick aging quarterbacks into their system in the hopes of winning it all. They have some good players, but Adrain Peterson and Jared Allen aren’t enough to prevent the Vikings from having just two wins this season, and now Adrain Peterson is hurt. The Vikings running game doesn’t suffer that much with Peterson out as Toby Gerhart is a good running back and averages only 0.5 a yard less a carry than Adrain Peterson.
The offensive problem with the Vikings this season is a passing attack that averages only 184.8 yards a game and ranks 28th in the NFL. Their run game does rank 4th with 142.7 yards a game, but it is a lot easier to gameplan for a team that is one dimensional on offense. The Vikings defense has also been bad this season allowing 406 points which is the most in the NFL.
The only thing the Redskins don’t do better than the Vikings is run the ball and limit turnovers. This is a game the Redskins should win, and that is something that is rare to hear. The Vikings can’t pass and can’t stop the other team from scoring. Running the ball all the way down field takes longer than throwing it down field and if the Vikings defense is constently putting them in holes it is no way to win.
Those hoping for the Redskins to lose these last two games and get a better draft pick might be disapointed as the Redskins are looking like a team starting to figure some things out. This should be a Redskins victory and with so many quarter backs going back to school hopefully people can stop worring about draft order and simply enjoy the game. It would also be nice if the Redskins scouts were good enough to identify talent later on in the draft and then the pressure to have a top ten pick would not be so great.
