Mike Shanahan doesn’t know yet which quarterback the Redskins will draft – if any. But he started doing his homework two months ago.
Shanahan said he already has looked at “10 or 15” college quarterbacks, starting from the midway point of the season. He doesn’t just scout the quarterbacks, but that is what he was asked about.
He said he spends a half our each morning watching tape.
“I’ll take a look at maybe 75, 80 plays of just a guy throwing the football in game situations and so that’s most of the passes,” Shanahan said, “or at least the good passes during the season just so I get a feel for the guy. I do a little bit of that every day. Everybody is a little bit different depending on what we’re doing.
“You’ve got names, but sometimes you can’t relate to how a guy’s playing because you hear a lot about it on TV, but a lot of it’s hype and not evaluation. So you like to go back and kind of put the play with the name.”
Meanwhile, his son, offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan, has a blueprint of what he wants – and Rex Grossman fits part of the description. To a point. Shanahan doesn’t just want a game manager, at least not from the standpoint of a guy who hands off and doesn’t try to lose games.
“My preference is a quarterback that is going to try to win the game and is smart enough to do that the right way,” he said. “If we’re playing with a lead – you bring up Alex Smith – I think they’ve had the lead in a lot of games [and] Frank Gore has done a real good job for them. When you have it there, don’t lose it. They’re winning a lot of games just not messing it up on offense. When it gets to that point, you hope your quarterback is smart enough to say ‘Hey, we’ve got this in the bag.’ “
That’s what Shanahan said he saw vs. the Giants. They grabbed a lead, had a defense that was dominating and they turned conservative.
“Rex was smarter with the ball in the second half and I think he’s capable of doing it,” Shanahan said. “Rex, when he feels like he needs to make a play to win the game, he’s going to try to and I do like that also.
“I don’t think Rex is ever going to be a guy that you want to put in there just to hand it off and to manage the game. Rex can make some plays. That is the one thing that I do like about Rex and it does happen. Rex has made a lot of plays for our offense. He’s in there, he takes some hits, he doesn’t flinch. He’s not scared to go down the field and that’s why we have been able to make some plays these last few weeks.”
Ah, but the turnovers: 24 turnovers in 12 starts and 32 in 16 games with Washington. That’s more than a trend; it’s a habit. And turnovers are the No. 1 thing both Kyle and his dad want to reduce in 2012. They feared Grossman’s turnovers before training camp; it didn’t change once the season started.
“I feel like he feels a little pressure to make a lot of those plays and get it going. When that happens, he does make some bad decisions when he should have pulled it back,” Kyle Shanahan said. “You hope we get a better supporting cast, you get some leads in some games and then you can start doing things different. He’s a smart guy. I think you can calm him down a little and make him feel like, ‘Hey, you don’t have to try to make all these plays to win the game. We’re in the game. We’ve got a lead. We can run the ball.’ Then, you don’t have to do as many risky decisions that he has done in the past.”
The assumption also has been that the Redskins need a quarterback familiar with the system. When they traded for Donovan McNabb they often said it would take three years to become proficient. But Kyle Shanahan said they can go with someone who is new to the system.
“You don’t need a guy that’s experienced with your system,” he said. “When [Matt] Schaub came into Houston in his first year, he played at a very high level. I don’t think it’s a system that takes a long time to learn. You can get better at it, but everyone in the league runs similar plays. You’re going to run what they’re good at and the better they are, the more you keep doing it. Everybody’s looking for a franchise quarterback. You want one of those guys that there’s no question about. There’s probably only about five or six of them in the league. Then, there’s a lot of guys who can play and a lot of guys who need to be replaced. You’re always trying to find that one and [we’re] still looking to do it.”
