Where can the Redskins get one of those? That was surely the reaction of many fans Sunday as they watched Cam Newton carve up the Washington defense, which entered Sunday ranked third in the NFL in points allowed.
The Redskins were no match for the arm or legs of the Carolina quarterback, especially since they couldn’t coax any turnovers out of the former Heisman Trophy winner. The Panthers are 2-0 when Newton doesn’t throw an interception, 0-5 when he does.
Even on a day when John Beck showed promise in his debut as the Redskins’ starter, the difference was quarterback play. It was disheartening for Washington fans to see how important a quarterback can be.
After coaching John Elway, Redskins coach Mike Shanahan knows the value of a quarterback with transcendent talent.
“We were No.?1 in third-down [defense] for a reason,” Shanahan told ESPN 980. “We’ve been doing a great job getting people off the field. He kind of took it into his own hands and made some third downs on his own, made some great throws and great runs.”
No quarterback on the Redskins’ roster can perform such feats. The encouraging aspect of Newton’s efficient performance, however, is that it was achieved by a rookie.
The notion that quarterbacks need a few years before they can be expected to produce no longer applies. Look at Newton. He was supposed to be behind the curve because he was a spread offense quarterback in college and had little offseason training thanks to the NFL lockout. But Newton is doing just fine, as is Andy Dalton at Cincinnati (4-2).
With next year’s draft potentially stocked with quarterbacks, the Redskins could be well-positioned to pluck Landry Jones (Oklahoma), Matt Barkley (Southern Cal) or Ryan Tannehill (Texas A&M), assuming that the only quarterback with Newton-like talent — Stanford’s Andrew Luck — is long gone.
With Sunday’s lengthy injury list (Santana Moss, Tim Hightower and London Fletcher), the Redskins could be on their way to another 6-10 season or worse. Or maybe that should read “better” if it allows Washington to grab a franchise quarterback.
– Kevin Dunleavy
