Do Redskins win now or plan long term?

The biggest question going in to the off-season for the Redskins is with the quarterback position with five main alternatives being proposed. They are:

1. Do whatever it takes to draft RG3.
2. If the Colts cut Peyton Manning, sign him assuming he is fit to play. Draft a lower ranked QB to sit behind and learn from Manning for a couple of years or so.
3. Sign FA QB Matt Flynn.
4. Draft BPA at #6 and take a QB in the second round.
5. Trade down to gain picks and draft a second tier QB.

The key to how the Redskins plan for 2013 is whether they are looking short or long term, win now or build a program to be competitive over a long period of time.

It has been a long time since we had a true franchise QB, probably none since the Lombardi last resided in DC (is it really 20 years?!).

Let’s take each scenario one at a time.

1. Draft RG3. There are no guarantees that the Baylor junior will succeed in the NFL and assuming we have to trade up to #2 or #3 to get him, is it worth the price it will cost and the risk of trusting the future of the Redskins to him. Drafting a QB high in the first round is a long term commitment and who do you ask to hold the fort until he is ready, although, after the success of Cam Newton, Andy Dalton and others, he may be asked to start week 1 of the 2012 season.

2. Assuming he is healthy, Manning could put the Redskins in a position to win right from the start. The Redskins don’t appear to be far from being a winning team – after all, which team beat the Super Bowl contender New York Giants twice this past year? After several surgeries though, you have to question how long he has left playing at the highest level, so you need to bring in a younger QB with potential to groom to being the starter when Manning is finished. And is he suited to our offense or would a more mobile QB be a better fit?

3. Sign free agent QB Matt Flynn. This guy has looked great whenever he has played in relief of Aaron Rogers, but is this because he has a great team alongside him, or is he that good. He broke several Packers records when given the start in week 17 but is the team making him look good or is he making them look good, just likeRogersdoes? Interesting question, what comes first, the offense or the QB. Without seeing him in a few other games, Flynn must also be considered a gamble. Who remembers Scott Mitchell? Flynn was a seventh round pick meaning all NFL coaches didn’t rate him that highly coming out of college. He couldn’t beat out JaMarcus Russell at LSU for two years which could explain why he fell to the seventh, so the question is, has he improved that much since making the Packers’ roster?

Having said that, Flynn is still young and is likely to be relatively cheap compared to Manning, but is he really that good?

4. Assuming RG3 has gone by the time we pick at six, we should pick the best player available. We still have a lot of holes to fill so selecting one of the top six players in the country, a certain starter, would fill one of them. With a high second round pick also, we could still get a second tier QB, but would this guy be a potential long term starter or another Brady Quinn or Colt McCoy? Could this guy start right away or do we need someone else under center for a year or two? Who would that guy be? Grossman?

5. Similar to option four above, we take a second tier QB in the second round, either with our own pick at #38 or maybe with someone else’s that we have acquired by trading down from #6. This could give us three picks in the first two rounds and possibly three starters. But again, do we want to take the risk of not filling the QB need with a second or third round pick.

Whatever we do there will be an element of risk. But what we should do, is give ourselves the best chance of having that, long term, franchise QB that can take us deep into the playoffs, and not take the risk that we may lose a position to get one.