What The Shanahan - Part 4

Just when the decision making of Mike Shanahan cannot seem to get worse, he proves everyone wrong.

Last year, Shanahan looked at his roster, and thought to himself that he did not have a quarterback. As such, he went out and traded for Donovan McNabb, giving the Philadelphia Eagles a second round draft pick in 2010, and another draft choice in 2011. Well, the thought that McNabb was better than Rex Grossman or the immortal John Beck lasted for 13 weeks, before he was benched. On July 27, Shanahan traded him to Minnesota for a sixth round draft choice in 2012 and a conditional sixth round pick in 2013. Hell of a return on a second and a fourth.

Next, we come to Albert Haynesworth. Haynesworth, when motivated, is a stud defensive lineman. Yet, early on in his tenure with the Redskins (pretty much in the first hour), Shanahan went out of his way to alienate his best defensive lineman. Yes, Haynesworth ended up quitting on the Redskins (who can forget him laying down in the middle of the field during play?) but he never felt respected by the current regime. In the end, Haynesworth got his wish, and was traded to the New England Patriots for a fifth round pick in 2013. Seems that $100Million doesn’t get what it used to anymore.

Now, to further compound the idiocy that is the roster construction of the Washington Redskins, they did nothing to address their quarterback situation. Unless Shanahan sees something in John Beck that no one else does, or if Beck has compromising pictures of Shanahan and farm animals, there is no way that he should be starting for a CFL team, let alone in the NFL. They also neglected the offensive line until the seventh round, way too late for them to have a significant upgrade at any point in the near future.

While there were several picks that were steals in Leonard Hankerson and Roy Helu, they made moves in free agency that limited the logic of these selections. They signed Brandon Stokley and Donte Stallworth, and traded for Jabar Gaffney – moves that would have been exciting three years ago. At quarterback, they brought in another less than exciting option in Kellen Clemens. Yeah, these are moves that will lead the Redskins back to the promised land.

This year may be the final nail in the ‘Shanahan Is A Genius’ coffin. This team is now unquestionably molded in his image. Now we all get the joy of watching it blow apart.

What the Shanahan?

Continuing a season in which he has made a number of, and this is being charitable, questionable moves within the organization, Mike Shanahan has stated that Donovan McNabb is being benched for the rest of the season in favor of Rex Grossman. To further the questionable nature of this move, after this weekend's game, McNabb is going to be demoted down to the third string option in favor of John Beck. Who? Exactly.

Now, this is not to say that McNabb is an elite option at quarterback any longer. In fact, this season he quite the roller coaster under center, having thrown a career high 15 interceptions with a quarterback rating of 77.1. Yes, this has been a bad season for him. However, McNabb over his career has a rating of 85.7, which ranks 23rd all time, ahead of such players as Roger Staubach, Len Dawson, and Troy Aikman. He has 230 touchdowns over his career, as opposed to 115 interceptions. Meanwhile, Rex Grossman has a career rating of 69.6, which is tied for 152 all time, with Steve Grogan and Pat Haden. In fact, Grossman's best rating was in his rookie season when he played in three games and produced a rating of 74.8. His career touchdowns and interceptions? 33 and 36, respectively. John Beck is even worse, with a rating of 62. He hasn't even been on the field since 2007 for the Miami Dolphins, in the season where they went 1-15.

Yes, McNabb has been overrated through his career. However, he is leagues better than either Grossman or Beck. Also, McNabb was just signed to a contract extension this season. What is going on in Washington? Did Shanahan completely lose his mind since being fired by Denver? What is he trying to prove here?

This could be overlooked, perhaps, if this was the first time he benched McNabb. Yet, in their loss to Detroit in Week 8 of the season, stating that Rex Grossman had a better grasp of the two-minute offense, that McNabb did not have the 'cardiovascular endurance' to run the offense, and that Grossman was a better option. He has surrounded McNabb with a terrible offensive line and a supporting cast of aging and decrepit supporting cast at receiver and running back. And let us not forget the entire feud with Albert Haynesworth from the moment he was named head coach. It sort of makes one think if the issues were truly the fault of Haynesworth, or if Shanahan was more to blame that thought.

In the end, this is just another sideshow in the circus that the Washington Redskins have become since Dan Snyder purchased the team. McNabb will probably be released at the end of the year, and will be picked up by a team that could desperately use a quarterback (like, maybe Minnesota or Arizona?) He deserves better than the insult of being benched for a collection of never-were's.