By Rich Tandler
We’re starting to get some talk about Rex Grossman being a viable option to be the Redskins starting quarterback in 2012. My producer Jen X. posted an article on it earlier today as did my friends Rick Snider and Mike Wise. And after a decent showing by Grossman in a loss to the Patriots, more are sure to follow.
Stop it. Just stop it.
At most, Grossman should be a backup in 2012. Even that is a shaky proposition.
I know that the NFL is a “what have you done for me lately” business and Grossman had a good game a couple of days ago. But a solid performance against a Patriots defense that is on pace to give up over 4,900 passing yards for the season—which would be the most given up in NFL history by almost 400 yards—shouldn’t create a total blackout concerning the rest of the season.
Look at that again. The Patriots’ pass defense is not just bad, it’s historically bad. And not just historically bad, but historically bad by a wide margin. In fact, by passing for just 252 yards, Grossman had a worse day than did the average NFL quarterback who has faced the Patriots. On average, opposing quarterbacks have throw for 323 yards per game.
Even if you want to say that was a good game for Grossman, let’s go way back in history, all the way back to the week before the New England game. Against a Jets defense ranked in the middle of the league, Rex completed 19 of 46 passes for 221 yards with no touchdowns and one interception. That’s an awful 47.5 QB rating and a putrid 4.8 yards per pass attempt. And he lost a fumble to set up the Jets’ clinching touchdown.
Do you want to look at his body of work for the year? His QB rating is 71.8, 28th in the NFL, worse than that of some quarterbacks that certain fan bases can’t wait to get rid of like Tavaris Jackson, Matt Cassel, and Colt McCoy. He has completed 58 percent of his passes (21st) and he has an average of 7.0 yards per pass attempt (18th). Only two quarterbacks, Phillip Rivers and Josh Freeman, have thrown more interceptions than Grossman’s 16 and both of them have started all 13 of their teams’ games. Rex was benched for three games primarily due to the interceptions.
What there screams out that Rex should be given the ball in 2012?
The Redskins simply must get a young quarterback to starting in 2012. The strong preference is to draft one who will be capable of starting from the moment of his first minicamp. If they wind up too high in the draft order to get such a quarterback, they need to trade up. Or deal picks for a young backup who is capable of starting, or sign a backup such as the Packers’ Matt Flynn as a free agent. Or talk Joe Theismann out of retirement or have Kyle Shanahan take the snaps.
In other words, anyone but Rex.
What we are seeing this season is exactly the problem with Grossman. He’s just good enough to lose with. He might play well enough to keep his job, but he’s not good enough to take a team on a deep playoff run (that 2006 season with the Bears is well in the past by now). We will continue to see games like we saw last Sunday, when Rex puts up some decent numbers but when it comes down to crunch time he falls short.
We all know the saying about what happens when you do the same thing over and over while hoping for a different result. It would be insane to go into the 2012 season with Grossman on the team as anything other than an emergency option.
I'll take Rex Grossman over John Beck.
But yeah, they need to upgrade at QB this off-season.
The Shanahan's are most certainly 0 for 2 (or is it 0 for 3?) when it comes to selecting a starting QB.
Posted by: JimBobv2 | Tuesday, December 13, 2011 at 01:50 PM