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NFL Draft 2012: Teams That Must Upgrade at the Quarterback Position
January 2, 2012
The NFL is a quarterback driven league. The last five Super Bowl winners all have a quarterback that their team is built around. These teams that are listed below will never win a Super Bowl with their current quarterback situation.
It’s why they have to make a huge upgrade now before its to late.
Washington Redskins
The Redskins finished another year ranking in the bottom half of the NFL in passing touchdowns. It should not come as a surprise that ranking in the bottom half of the NFL in touchdowns has led to another year where the Redskins miss out on the playoffs.
In the last five seasons the Redskins have missed the playoffs, finished in fourth place in the NFC East and have seen three different quarterbacks open their last three regular seasons.
Who They Should Draft
The Redskins own the No. 6 draft pick in this year’s NFL draft. If the Indianapolis Colts select Andrew Luck with the No. 1 pick, it would leave Robert Griffin III available for Washington.
Griffin III has those intangibles that would make him an excellent NFL quarterback. He has the big arm to make the deep throws to break open games while having the speed to allude pass rushers when the protection around him breaks down.
Selecting Griffin III to play with rookie standout running back Roy Helu would give the Redskins two young offensive weapons that will bring them out of the NFC East cellar.
Jacksonville Jaguars
The Jaguars did draft Blane Gabbert last year in the first round. However, in one year, he has proven to be a complete bust.
Gabbert was only able to lead the Jaguars to five victories while having the worst passing offense in the NFL. If it wasn’t for running back Maurice Jones-Drew winning the rushing title Jacksonville may have only won two games.
Gabbert posted an abysmal 2,214 yards with 12 touchdowns and 11 interceptions with a quarterback rating of 65.4. All of those numbers, with the exception of interceptions, ranked last in the NFL among quarterbacks with at least 200 passing attempts.
Who They Should Draft
If Landry Jones decides to leave Oklahoma for the NFL draft, the Jaguars have to select him with their first pick.
At Oklahoma this year, Jones had another season where he threw for over 4,500 yards and completed over 350 passes. He led the Sooners to another 10 win season with six games where he threw three or more touchdown passes.
Picking Jones would give them that accurate passer that could shred defenses apart with his quick release.
Miami Dolphins
The Dolphins came alive late in the season with Matt Moore as their quarterback. However, at the age of 27 he is not the longterm answer for a franchise that hasn’t had a franchise quarterback since Dan Marino.
Who They Should Draft
With the Dolphins at No. 9 in the draft they could be left to select the fourth best quarterback in this draft class with Texas A&M’s Ryan Tannehill. However, despite being the fourth best quarterback in the draft he still is the best person on the Dolphins board.
Tannehill had a huge senior season. His 327 completions, 3,744 passing yards and 29 touchdowns were good enough to land him in the top five of the Big 12. Plus his 6’4, 220 lbs. size makes him the same size as Marino who was 6’4 218 lbs.
At the age of 23, Tannehill can be brought into the Dolphins organization with the chance, but not the expectation, to start from day one.
Seattle Seahawks
The Seahawks were awful at the quarterback position this year. They only had 15 touchdowns and 14 interceptions with a passer rating of 77.6 between quarterbacks Tarvaris Jackson and Charlie Whitehurst.
The team needs a young quarterback that can lead this team to victories with huge throws in big spots, while not turning the ball over.
Who They Should Draft
The Seahawks shouldn’t make a quarterback selection in the first or second round, but in the third round they have to select Boise State’s Kellen Moore.
Moore may not be the prototype quarterback but his ability to win huge games at Boise State has set him apart from the other quarterbacks in this draft.
In Moore’s last three years at Boise he’s thrown for 35 or more touchdowns and was intercepted no more than nine times while throwing for over 3,500 yards and a passer rating of over 160.
Moore would bring a winning presence to Seattle and a surgical passing style that is comparable to Drew Brees of the New Orleans Saints.
These four teams are in dire straights right now. They do not need a quick fix at the quarterback position, they need a longterm option. These four quarterbacks give them that longterm option to take them to the Super Bowl.