Why The McNabb Benching Isn’t A Complete Mistake:

Steve O Speak

Now I’m sure I will have a lot to say on this topic later, but I wanted to give some of my quick thoughts:

First I want to say that Mike Shanahan has handled this situation horribly. The whole thing the other day about not wanting the Cowboys to know who to prepare for was a complete joke. Do you think the Cowboys are completely changing their gameplan now that Grossman is under center? I think Shanahan handled this unprofessionally and put the focus of this situation on him, his son and the organization, instead of where it should fall, Donovan McNabb. That being said I think there could be some positives to this move that have been lost in the way it was handled:

McNabb Isn’t Worthy of Being the Starting Quarterback:

Any way you cut it McNabb has been REALLY, REALLY bad this season. And while his supporters give a litany of excuses:  receivers, offensive line, injuries, running backs, new playbook etc., they fail to realize that those excuses weren’t good enough for Jason Campbell (who by the by is having a superior season for the Oakland Raiders). If you are going to give up two top draft picks for McNabb, pay him as one of the highest paid QB’s in the league and extend him, then I think you should get better results. Excuses like the ones McNabb has been given, are null and void if he is really a ‘Franchise’ quarterback. Now I’m not saying McNabb can’t be a starting quarterback, just that he can’t handle these issues like a true elite quarterback would. McNabb needs a very good team around him to be successful, and that simply wasn’t going to happen by next season in Washington.

The Redskins Can Evaluate Grossman and Beck:

Look I’m not a fan of either quarterback and don’t have a ton of faith in them as the stopgap answer in Washington for next season, but they at least deserve a look. It has been clear since the beginning of the season that McNabb wasn’t a ‘long term’ solution in Washington, and really wasn’t that great of a short term answer as well. There was a distinct reason why there was no future guaranteed money in McNabb’s extension, which would allow the Redskins to release him with the least amount of impact to the Salary Cap (no doubt it will be back).

Moving On From McNabb Frees Up Money: Speaking of the Salary Cap, now the Redskins will have an additional $12 million+ to play with next season. Yes people will say the ‘created a hole’ at quarterback, but the reality was that hole was already there. McNabb has been really bad this season, and honestly his numbers should be even worse. How many dropped interceptions have we seen (good to know that other teams have their own Carlos Rogers), many of which would have been returned for scores or big gains. Look at how many big gains Chris Cooley, Fred Davis and Keiland Williams have had off of short passes. McNabb’s numbers have been actually ‘inflated’ this season and when you think about it he has been worse than his numbers dictate. How many short fields has he been given from turnovers and special team’s returns, that have helped inflate his passing numbers. Also, remember one of McNabb’s scoring drives was set up by 30 yards of penalties in overtime in that Tennessee game. McNabb isn’t worth nearly that amount of money on a weak team like the Redskins. Now they can take that money and actually bring in some quality players.

I’ll have more in the coming days about this latest Redskins Debacle (The whole McNabb saga not just the past 24 hours). Until then let’s all take a deep breath and realize that we are no worse off with Grossman at the helm than McNabb (NOTE:  we aren’t better either).


Related Articles

Chicago Bears News: Six Undrafted Rookies Signed, Getsy On Team’s Receiver Room, Early 2022 Predictions

Bears Bring In Six Undrafted Rookies For Tryouts, Waive Six Six Players   The Chicago Bears are bringing…

Read More about Chicago Bears News: Six Undrafted Rookies Signed, Getsy On Team’s Receiver Room, Early 2022 Predictions

How NIL Rights Impact Canadian Players

It wasn’t all that long ago the NCAA announced that there would be changes coming to the NIL…

Read More about How NIL Rights Impact Canadian Players