The Eagle Has Landed

If there was one news story that overshadowed the national championship and opening day of baseball, it was the acquisition of Donovan McNabb by the Washington Redskins. Since I’m into making public pronouncements these days, let me just say that I don’t like this move…I LOVE it!
For better or worse, the Redskins have had Jason Campbell as the full time starter for 2 or 3 seasons now. Unfortunately for Campbell, he hasn’t had much of an offensive line, and he hasn’t had much coaching. This has led to a lot of people feeling as though he did not get a fair shake in the nation’s capital. That might be true, but sometimes when a regime changes, everything has to change. Exit Zorn and Campbell, enter Shanahan and McNabb.

For the Redskins, this move gives the offense instant credibility…even with a banged up offensive line. All of the young WRs will get a numbers boost from having McNabb under center. Some people have said, “If they don’t fix that line, McNabb will be running for his life.” While true, McNabb will at least be running forward, something Campbell struggled with. Additionally, McNabb has far better instincts and will be able to escape the pocket when it collapses around him, giving the WRs and TEs time to get open, or to check down to one of his stable of Running Backs; Clinton Portis, Larry Johnson, or Willie Parker.

For the most part, I like the way the offseason is shaping up for the Redskins. It has been very difficult for the national pundits to keep the gloves up when discussing the Redskins because it has been easy to take shots at them in the past. To a man, (with the exception of a few) most of them like this move for the Redskins, though they don’t hesitate to throw in the line “Same old Redskins, winning the offseason again…” But the thing they fail to mention is that they’re doing it in a much more planned out and calculated way, and most of these moves aren’t costing them that much.

I believe that this is just the first domino to fall for the rest of the Redskins offseason. I can see a scenario where they move Jason Campbell, Andre Carter, Carlos Rogers, and Rocky McIntosh all for draft picks. None of these guys except for maybe Carter could demand anything other than a 4th or lower, but it’ll help add depth to a team that is in desperate need of it. And of course, I do believe they will address the offensive line.

Regardless, the Redskins always keep it interesting…