By Rich Tandler
The East-West Shrine Game does not get the attention that the Senior Bowl gets and for good reason. The Senior Bowl gets all of the top prospects while the Shrine has to take the leftovers. And nothing screams second-rate game like the Shrine game’s coaching matchup of Bobby Ross and Brad Childress.
But there are still some good players in the East-West game and many of them get drafted. Two players the Redskins took, Evan Royster and Aldrick Robinson, played in it last year. And there is one this year on whom the Redskins might have their eye.
Quarterback B. J. Coleman of Tennessee-Chattanooga (pictured above as a Tennessee Vol prior to transferring) is 6-4 and, per my man Wes Bunting, he has the arm to make all of the throws. Coleman was sharp in the game on Saturday, completing 10 of 15 passes for 170 yards and a touchdown.
The major issues with Coleman seem to be coachable. Per Bunting:
He is raw with his footwork, his initial step from the gun is with his left foot too often (he's a right handed quarterback) and he wastes a lot of motion stutter-stepping in order to balance himself to get away from the pocket. He doesn't get away from center quickly, and he will struggle with his balance trying to get rid of the football in the three and five-step game. Coleman almost seems to fall off throws and will throw off his back foot without collecting himself, causing his accuracy to suffer because of it.
It seems that whether the Redskins get a new quarterback via either free agency or early in the draft, a developmental quarterback certainly could be somewhere on their needs list for the third day of the draft. Someone like Coleman, who has the tools but is in need of lots of polish, just could fill the bill.
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