What If: Rex Grossman Edition

What if Rex Grossman leads this team to the playoffs?


      It is in my opinion that Quarterback would drop from the top need on this team, and thus open up a world of possibilities in the 2012 draft.  I began taking a look at this with some followers on Twitter (@RexSkins) and decided it would be a great topic to give my thoughts on in a full post.
     So I decided to take a look at this as if the Redskins have made the playoffs in the Wildcard spot and earned the #18 pick.  So now that I know where the team is picking, the first thing to address is positions of need.  The top 3 positions the Redskins will need help with in 2012 will be: Interior O-Line, Inside Linebacker, and QB.  The Quarterback position still warrants finding a young prospect to learn behind Rex for a year or two even if he does lead this team to a playoff berth this season.
     Beginning with the Interior O-Line, at #18 there are few prospects that warrant this pick.  The only 2 that step out this early in the season are David DeCastro from Stanford and Michael Brewster from Ohio State. I do believe in Monty and Lichtensteiger as serviceable starters, and great backups but this team needs to protect the quarterback a lot better than they currently do up the middle.  I see this as the most important position to address if indeed Grossman proves he can win.
     Inside Linebacker needs a young star to come in because London Fletcher will not be around forever, although some Redskins' fans seem to believe the opposite.  Rocky McIntosh is also clearly out of his element in this defense. He'd be a decent backup, and strong special teamer, but there is a strong need here.  The unfortunate side to this is that there are only 2 prospects with Round 1 grades. The top 2 are Luke Kuechly from Boston College and Vontaze Burfict from Arizona State.  I don't think there's any chance Burfict is available at 18, but depending on other team needs Kuechly could be there.
     Finally, the moment you've all been waiting for... QUARTERBACK!  My preference would be to wait until round 2 to get the future franchise QB for the skins, but let's take a look at both round 1 and 2 options for this position.  Before anyone even breathes the names Luck, Barkley or Jones they simply won't be available at 18, so unless the Shanahans want to trade up Washington doesn't have a viable option in the first round.  This is why, if Grossman does well this year and gets the team to the playoffs, I see the team waiting until round 2 where there are two promising signal callers ripe for the picking in Ryan Tannehill from Texas A&M and Nick Foles from Arizona.  I like Tannehill a little more for this offense as he is more mobile than Foles (4.65 40-yard dash as compared to 4.96).
     It's been one game, and it was against a depleted Giants defense, but I honestly believe that this team is on the right track and if a few chips fall in a favorable manner then the Redskins are going to the playoffs.