Washington Redskins: 15 best draft day steals of all-time

The franchise quarterback is perhaps a relic of olden times, in an NFL era where quarterback contracts are increasingly impactful toward team success. But even in the past NFL era, it wasn’t for everyone.

The Redskins of the 1980s and 1990s, helmed by the famed Joe Gibbs, are considered to be one of the few great NFL dynasties to have existed. Over the course of 10 years, Gibbs’ Redskins won three Super Bowls. And all of them with different quarterbacks. All three were exceptional in their own ways, but the third and final quarterback was perhaps the most exciting.

Drafted in the sixth round of the 1986 NFL Draft, Mark Rypien was brought into the Redskins quarterback room in a time of turmoil. Jay Schroeder was the incumbent starter, but it would not be long before Doug Williams took his place. Soon after Williams usurped the starting job and won the Redskins their second Super Bowl, he too would slowly fade away.

When Williams faded, it was Rypien’s time to ascend into the spotlight, and he did so with quickness. After sitting out his first two seasons in the NFL, Rypien played in nine games in 1988, amassing 1,730 yards and 18 touchdowns.

His explosive start would be compounded by a four-season stretch in which Rypien threw for 11,132 yards, 84 touchdowns and 47 interceptions, a ratio that was simply unheard of at the time.

Rypien cemented a legacy as one of the best deep-ball specialists to play the game at quarterback. While his prime was short, he maximized The Posse, and directed one of the NFL’s most explosive offenses in Washington’s golden age. Not bad for a sixth-round pick out of Washington State.