Redskins coach Mike Shanahan needs a new young quarterback to mold. And he’s not going to shy away from grabbing one in the draft just because a work stoppage may delay any rookie’s progress.
“No, that doesn’t bother me,” Shanahan said Tuesday via Mike Jones of the Washington Post. “I think everybody’s in the same situation, bringing in a rookie quarterback or even a veteran quarterback. I don’t care what it is, if someone’s not familiar with your system, it’s going to take some time.”
If anything, we think the lockout will help rookie quarterbacks get selected even higher than they should. Teams like the Redskins aren’t likely to have the chance to solidify their depth chart before the draft. That will make guys like Shanahan more antsy to find a rookie. The tricky part for Washington is they could be in a no man’s land with the No. 10 pick.
Unless they trade up, we suspect the Redskins won’t get a chance to acquire Blaine Gabbert or Cam Newton. Taking Jake Locker, Ryan Mallett, or Christian Ponder that high looks like a stretch.
There is a good group of second tier prospects including Ponder, Colin Kaepernick, and Andy Dalton, but the Redskins are short two mid-round picks this season so they have to use their picks wisely. One of those mid-round picks was used in the Donovan McNabb trade last year.
They overpaid for McNabb and we suspect Shanahan may overpay for a rookie quarterback this year to make up for it.