Updated: Discuss our Backup QB Situation (formerly Byron Leftwich)

[SC Skins Fan]

Originally Posted by BigHairedAristocrat

I read on PFT that approximately 1/3rd of the league would be interested in Leftwich as a starter... but i havent heard anything about him wanting to play here. I think some people assume that because he grew up in DC, but i havent seen it anywhere.

I dont think Campbell is the answer at QB here if we keep Zorns West Coast Offense, but Leftwich would not really be that much of an upgrade. One of the reasons the Jags got rid of him was that he wasnt doing well in Musgraves WCO... what makes you think he would do well in our offense here?

The only way id bring in Leftwich is if we, realizing Campbell is an ill-fit for the WCO, had already traded Campbell to someone for draft picks and we needed a stop-gap starter for 1-2 years while Zorn grooms Brennan. In that scenario, Leftwich would come cheaper than any of the other QBs with WCO experience on the market. I certainly wouldnt hand the job over to him though. Id make him compete with Collins for the job and it wouldnt surprise me one bit if Collins won. And thats not because i beleive in Collins - it shows my complete lack of confidence in Leftwich. That said, i'm 100% behind any plan where our FO trades Campbell for a 2nd round pick.

Are you sure that wasn't 1/33rd?

[Ruhskins]

Originally Posted by BigHairedAristocrat

Trading Campbell now isnt indicative of full-blown rebuilding in my opinion (even though rebuilding is what we need to do). I dont think Campbell will ever succeed in the WCO (see my sig). Keeping Campbell does nothing more than nullify our ability to receive compensation when he leaves. The Redskins wont be successful in 2009. Its just not going to happen. I would rather get draft picks and have something to help us in 2010 and beyond than hold on to campbell another year.

That said, youre right - its not going to happen. As long as Danny and Vinny are making the decisions, this team will never achieve any real success, as they are both unwilling to look beyond "next season."

So who would we get at QB if we were to trade Campbell? Do we throw Brennan into the fire? If so then we better make sure our offensive line is better this upcoming season. I do agree that we need to go into full blown rebuilding mode. The problem is that the team won't take chances in playing rookie players. I think if our defense was an elite defense, we could afford going with a new QB (also a better offensive line). I think the mistakes done by Vinny, Snyder, and Gibbs are keeping this team from looking beyond next season. Also, I think our fan base (and ownership) lacks patience to go through a year or two of flat out losing seasons as we rebuild.

[BigHairedAristocrat]

Originally Posted by SC Skins Fan

Are you sure that wasn't 1/33rd?

ProFootballTalk.com - LEFTWICH IN DEMAND?

Per Chris Mortensen, Leftwich’s spot duty with the Steelers might have resurrected his career.

Mort speculates that up to a third of the league will be interested in talking to Leftwich about becoming or competing for the starting job...

That said, the one-time first-rounder of the Jaguars still has a catapult-slow delivery, and he has compensated for it of late by making lightning-fast decisions regarding where the ball will go.

That said, there are plenty of bad quarterbacks in the league. So there should be plenty of teams interested in bringing Leftwich aboard.

[Trample the Elderly]

I'm fine with rebuilding. If we lose all but two games (Dallas) next year and get a high draft pick then I could stomach the pain.

[Ruhskins]

Originally Posted by Trample the Elderly

I'm fine with rebuilding. If we lose all but two games (Dallas) next year and get a high draft pick then I could stomach the pain.

Unfortunately, life in the Warpath would be miserable with the pissed off threads and the VC/Snyder hate posts would quadruple.

[Slingin Sammy 33]

Originally Posted by BigHairedAristocrat

Trading Campbell now isnt indicative of full-blown rebuilding in my opinion (even though rebuilding is what we need to do). I dont think Campbell will ever succeed in the WCO (see my sig). Keeping Campbell does nothing more than nullify our ability to receive compensation when he leaves. The Redskins wont be successful in 2009. Its just not going to happen. I would rather get draft picks and have something to help us in 2010 and beyond than hold on to campbell another year.

Trading Campbell without a better solution at QB in-house would set the franchise back 3-4 years. Not only would it hurt us at QB it would hurt the development of Thomas and Kelly. Not so sure why some folks are so down on Campbell. He increased his QB rating by over 7 points from last year with a far inferior OL, he only threw 6 picks and saved many plays from being disasters.

[BigHairedAristocrat]

Originally Posted by Ruhskins

So who would we get at QB if we were to trade Campbell? Do we throw Brennan into the fire? If so then we better make sure our offensive line is better this upcoming season. I do agree that we need to go into full blown rebuilding mode. The problem is that the team won't take chances in playing rookie players. I think if our defense was an elite defense, we could afford going with a new QB (also a better offensive line). I think the mistakes done by Vinny, Snyder, and Gibbs are keeping this team from looking beyond next season. Also, I think our fan base (and ownership) lacks patience to go through a year or two of flat out losing seasons as we rebuild.

Originally Posted by Slingin Sammy 33

Trading Campbell without a better solution at QB in-house would set the franchise back 3-4 years.

Youre assuming that Campbells replacement is not already in-house... Brennan is going to be a baller someday.

However, under no circumstances would I want to throw Brennan in the fire (unless he just lit it up in training camp/pre-season). Brennan is a project-QB, but a good one. I think he could be ready to start in 2010 or 2011, assuming we address the offensive line.

In the context of this post, Leftwich is a viable option to replace Campbell for a year or two. he will be one of the cheapest free agents on the market (which is important, not only because of our cap situation, but also because rumor has it snyder is going to be stingy this off-season), he has some familiarity to the WCO (even though he wasnt that great in it), and he wants to be here. If he really has this lightning fast decision making that Florio speaks of, he's an upgrade over Campbell by default. One of the many reasons Campbell is a horrible fit here is he can't make decisions quickly enough. He also lconsistently locks on to his receivers and is cripplingly (is that a word?) to take a chance - Leftwich would be an upgrade in those areas as well.

leftwich wouldnt be my first choice to replace Campbell (that would be Jeff Garcia), but if we really think Brennan can be a baller down the road, theres no reason to invest big dollars in Garcia. I'd also look at Chris Simms, but i think he might only be an RFA.

Please understand, I don't hate Campbell, but hes a horrible fit for the WCO. I think Campbell is hard-working enough to try his best to adapt to the offense, and he may do an "ok" job, but he'll never reach his potential here and our offense will never reach its potential with him calling the shots. Its just a bad match. Campbell would thrive anywhere that relies on a power running game and Coryell-esque passing game. I mentioned the Bears, Titans, and Vikings becuase they all run that type of system and they all need a long-term answer at quarterback. If the CBA expires as expected, Campbells new team would have him under contract for 2 years at a reasonable price, and another year or two where they could tag him (assuming a new CBA is signed with similar rules) - plenty of time to know for sure if they wanted to sign him to a long term deal or not. IMO, this is the ideal time to trade Campbell.

I know almost no one will agree with me, so i'll get off my now.

[sandtrapjack]

Originally Posted by Trample the Elderly

I'm fine with rebuilding. If we lose all but two games (Dallas) next year and get a high draft pick then I could stomach the pain.

[Trample the Elderly]

Originally Posted by sandtrapjack

You're right. We know how to beat Dallass at least half of the time and Filth-a-delphia most of the time. I'd like to beat the NJ Giants.

[BigHairedAristocrat]

Originally Posted by Trample the Elderly

I'm fine with rebuilding. If we lose all but two games (Dallas) next year and get a high draft pick then I could stomach the pain.

Actually, if there were ever a year to be bad, its 2009. Since 2010 will be the last year of the CBA, certain rules go into effect. One of them is that the best 8 teams in the NFL (teams that dont make the playoffs or who are eliminated from the playoffs wild-card weekend) are forbidden from signing free agents until the lose an equal number of their own. For example, if we wanted to sign in 2 free agents, we would have to release two of our own first... and its not like we could just sign them back later on... other than the draft, we'd be extremely limited in what we were able to do to upgrade our team.

Also, Ive also read conflicting reports about whether there will be a draft in 2011... if theres not, i can see an increased number of juniors entering the draft in 2010 to avoid the uncertainty in whatever would happen in 2011. So by playing poorly in 2009, we would be in a much better position to acquire talent in 2010 - the last year with a draft. It would put us in a much better position long-term.

Just to clarify, i'm in no way advocating that we deliberatly tank the 2009 season. I just think the dynamics of the expiring CBA may make this the best time to focus on the future, instead of constantly trying to patch this team together with aging vets, like we've done for the past decade.

On a side note, If theres not a draft in 2011, perhaps we can trade some of our 2011 picks to a team that hasnt done their research

[mvb2328]

Originally Posted by SC Skins Fan

Are you sure that wasn't 1/33rd?

lets count the teams whos starting qbs aren't as good as byron leftwich:
chicago
minnesota
detroit
kansas city
tampa bay
the jets(if favre isn't coming back)
carolina(maybe)
buffalo(maybe)

ok so that makes only 1/4 of teams but that is still a good amount!

[Dirtbag59]

Originally Posted by Ruhskins

Unfortunately, life in the Warpath would be miserable with the pissed off threads and the VC/Snyder hate posts would quadruple.

The worse part is Snyder would claim that Vinny is still "learning" even after a 2-14 season and he see's nothing but UPSIDE in his defacto GM.

[mvb2328]

Originally Posted by Dirtbag359

The worse part is Snyder would claim that Vinny is still "learning" even after a 2-14 season and he see's nothing but UPSIDE in his defacto GM.

vinny sucks!!! what ever happened to the bruce allen rumor???

[BigHairedAristocrat]

Originally Posted by mvb2328

vinny sucks!!! what ever happened to the bruce allen rumor???

I was wondering the same thing... there must not have been anything to it.

[Slingin Sammy 33]

Originally Posted by BigHairedAristocrat

Youre assuming that Campbells replacement is not already in-house... Brennan is going to be a baller someday.

Colt Brennan = Timmy Chang, what have you seen to make you believe CB will be successful as an NFL starter?

If he really has this lightning fast decision making that Florio speaks of, he's an upgrade over Campbell by default. One of the many reasons Campbell is a horrible fit here is he can't make decisions quickly enough. He also lconsistently locks on to his receivers and is cripplingly (is that a word?) to take a chance - Leftwich would be an upgrade in those areas as well.

Leftwich is not an upgrade over Campbell. I don't accept the premise that Campbell "can't make decisions quickly" or "locks on" moreso than any other QB in his situation. These are very general statements that aren't quantified or backed up by any evidence.

Campbell would thrive anywhere that relies on a power running game and Coryell-esque passing game.

Gibbs ran that system and JC's QB rating was much less. He's not particularly accurate downfield.