A rival general manager and a talent evaluator know the Redskins well enough to know what they need – and what they don’t. They disagree on TCU QB Andy Dalton. We’ll step out of the way and let them tell you in their own words:
… GM: “The one thing about drafting a quarterback is that it creates hope. You can wait two years for him to develop, but you have to have a guy coming in where you feel the arrow is going up. I don’t who in free agency you could feel that good about. And if he’s looking at quarterbacks, like I know he is, then that tells you he has to take one.”
… GM: “They’ve got to look at their defense. That’s probably where their big holes are. Nose tackle is critical to that scheme and they’ve got to look there.”
… GM: “I really like [Mike Shanahan’s] offense; they don’t need five or six Pro Bowlers to make it go. He’s done a good job with second-tier players, even at receiver. But he also had an elite quarterback. Certainly he wants a receiver, but they’re not doing anything without a quarterback. You can’t get cute by taking receivers when you don’t have a quarterback. And when you don’t have the QB, you run the ball. They really have to come out of this with a quarterback.”
… GM: “You know who his kind of guy is? Andy Dalton. The reason I say that is I remember when he picked Brian Griese. He likes a high IQ guy with accuracy. Griese would have been a good QB for him if he had been a better leader and Dalton is very similar to Griese. Blaine Gabbert? Maybe. I just don’t see him having the accuracy.”
… GM: “Mike has always played with a bad line, but because of his scheme he could create a running game. When he got Jay Culter he said they had to do more in the pocket and that’s when he got Ryan Clady. Then he gave him more of a pure pocket offense. It made sense. He has Clady in Trent Williams. So I don’t see them going tackle unless they have a real value up there.
… GM: “Nothing changed with Jake Locker this year. He played a little better but he didn’t take the step people wanted him to take and his accuracy ratio wasn’t good. You want a QB in the low 60s and there were big games where he didn’t perform like they wanted. There’s enough to beat him up; but enough to like him too. None of these quarterbacks will be pristine. I don’t think it’s a good year for quarterbacks.”
… TE: “This is the toughest quarterback class to evaluate that I can remember. I’m not a Jake Locker fan; I’m concerned with his accuracy and decision making. Christian Ponder and Andy Dalton are two peas in a pod. They don’t have big arms, they’re smart and know where to go with the ball. I could see both guys playing because they’re smart and ultimately not being good enough. I’m not sure there’s a good answer.”
… TE: “They have to come out of here with two good players. Yes, they have to come out with a quarterback. But someone in that building has to say, ‘Here’s where we are as a team. We’re in fourth place; we’re still gonna be in fourth place in terms of talent. It will take time.’ “
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