Washington Redskins: 2 Quarterbacks Washington Should Consider Drafting

Evaluating college quarterbacks and predicting whether their skills will translate to the pro level is not my strength as a writer.

I am comfortable passing judgment on professional players that I've seen compete in actual NFL games, but I don't pretend to know how to predict which college players will be stars and which will be busts.

I don't, however, feel that badly about this shortcoming, because to be quite honest, the analysts and pundits who do this every year aren't very good at making those types of predictions, either.

Last season, a significant number of draft boards listed Blaine Gabbert as the best quarterback prospect of the 2011 draft.

Today, Gabbert is already being labeled as a potential bust, while Cam Newton looks like he will rule the NFL for years to come, and Andy Dalton has shown he has the chops to be a solid long-term starter.

Anyone who tells you that they know without a doubt which college quarterbacks will find success in the NFL is delusional. It is one of professional sports' most inexact sciences.

Last week, I wrote that the Redskins should consider trading for Joe Webb, a mobile quarterback who has displayed significant talent against pro defenses.

I still believe trading for a quarterback may be Washington's best move. If not Webb, then perhaps Matt Flynn, as more than one of my readers suggested.

One takeaway from the 2011 NFL season is that B-list quarterbacks like Matt Moore can succeed when they play behind a solid offensive line and have decent skill-position players around them.

If the Redskins continue to upgrade their offensive line and receiving corps and trade for a quarterback who is competent and won't turn the ball over twice a game, there is no reason the team cannot win 10 games while playing a fourth-place schedule.

But if Shanahan drafts a quarterback who turns out to be a bust and the team goes 6-10, I imagine Dan Snyder would not invite him back for a fourth season.

Still, it seems quite clear that most fans remain convinced that drafting a quarterback is the only way to move forward, and if I were a betting man, I would wager that Shanahan and Bruce Allen end up going in that direction.

Here are two quarterbacks the Redskins should consider drafting.

Andrew Luck

If all the hype surrounding Andrew Luck is warranted (BIG IF, but go with me for a second), and he is destined to become a quarterback on par with John Elway, Peyton Manning et al., then it would be wise for the Redskins to trade up for the No. 1 pick.

No asking price would be too high.

Having a great quarterback—and by great I mean someone in the class of Brady, Rodgers and Brees—makes your team a contender every season.

When you have a great quarterback under center, other positions become interchangeable—the pro sports version of plug-and-play.

I'm not sure if Luck is this caliber of player, and the fact that he wears a huge knee brace makes me question his durability—players who show injury tendencies in college tend to also get injured in the pros.

But if the Redskins decide that Luck is the chosen one and they give away the kitchen sink to get him—a package that I imagine would have to include multiple draft picks and several players (Orakpo, Kerrigan, Trent Williams and Helu are all possibilities)—I would at least respect them for making such a bold move.

A move like that would have to be preceded by careful evaluation of Luck's talents, but he is obviously one quarterback worth considering.

Robert Griffin III

There are a lot of things to like about Robert Griffin—his mobility, his impressive statistics and his academic initiative—but the thing I like the most about him is his name.

All great NFL quarterbacks have simple yet commanding names: Joe Montana, Tom Brady, Otto Graham.

Cam Newton and Blaine Gabbert are the latest players to prove the a-good-name-is-critical-for-an-NFL-quarterback theory—the former sounds like a rock star, the latter like a second-grade art teacher.

Robert Griffin III takes an all-American first name and puts it in front of the word for the legendary mythical creature that is part lion and part eagle.

That is more than apropos, considering Robert Griffin III is part quarterback and part running back.

As I've written many times before, Mike Shanahan prefers mobile quarterbacks over non-mobile ones. I think the most likely scenario for the 2012 draft involves the Redskins trading up to ensure they can draft Griffin.

This may not be a bad move, but ample scouting is required to ensure Griffin does not turn out to be the next Vince Young or Akili Smith.