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With Brennan’s signing, Redskins are set at QB. Or, are they?

The Washington Redskins agreed to terms with rookie quarterback Colt Brennan, the team announced yesterday. He is the eighth of 10 rookie draftees to be signed on the eve of training camp which opens July 19.

Devin Thomas and Fred Davis are next on the list.

Brennan brings a gaudy record and a legion of fans from half  a world away to Redskins park.

Noted for his accuracy, Brennan completed 70.1 percent of his passes in college and JUCO, for 16,725 yards and 154 touchdowns against 46 interceptions. His Hawaii career QB rating is 115.

Scouting Report: Superb

Scouting reports on Brennan are full of superlatives. Some samplings from NFLDraftScout.com read “very mobile in the pocket;” “has the nimble feet to throw on the move and the arm strength to stretch defenses;” “good pre-snap decisions;” “quick decision-maker;” “throws on the move as well as he throws from the pocket;” “fires the ball out quickly….”

It goes on and on and on. DraftScouts compares Brennan to Alex Smith as a pro prospect.  

The knock on Brennan is his durability. An illness right before the Senior Bowl and multiple injuries to his right ankle raised red flags for scouts. I’ll never understand how he slipped past Da Bears to fall into Jim Zorn’s lap.

I suspect Zorn has bigger plans for this kid that we’ll see if they both survive the ‘08 and ‘09 season.   

For Campbell, change is the only certainty

By now, Jason Campbell should be good with changes, what with all the different offensive coordinators and schemes he’s seen since his Auburn days. That flexibility will stand him in good stead over the next two seasons. I think Jason Campbell is a marked man.

Campbell has the size, arm and middle distance accuracy to be a downfield pocket passer. He fit Joe Gibbs’ offensive concepts [no pun there]. He is likely, most probably, almost certainly the best fit for Danny VinZorn’s new passing concepts. The best fit, that is, among the current quarterbacks at this time.

To read the scouting reports and look at the film, Colt Brennan may be a better fit for the pro-style West Coast Offense after a year or two of seasoning.

Campbell has this season to prove that he is that guy to the new coach. He has WCO bona fides. He completed 69.6 percent of his passes at Auburn’s WCO in 2004, good for 20 TDs against 7 INTs and a 172.9 QB rating.

Zorn wants Campbell to “play smaller” and is changing his motion and stance so that he plays about an inch shorter than his 6-5 frame. Brennan, by the way is 6-3.

The West Coast Offense requires Campbell to release faster and to be accurate in passes under 10 yards. Campbell earned a 76 QB rating on passes under 10 yards in 2007. His rating for passes of 11-20 yards and of 21 to 30 yards was 85.3 and 88.7 respectively.

Brennan excels at the short game according to scouting reports.

See the pattern? Hear the footsteps?

Questions, questions

No one at Redskins Park will say that Jason Campbell is in jeopardy. Yet, Jim Zorn hasn’t given him a ringing endorsement either. Vinny and the Danny said that continuity is critical to Jason Campbell’s development. Then they blew up the offense he was drafted to run.

Colt Brennan isn’t assured of making the roster at No. 3 quarterback. But the Redskins cut Sam Hollenbach, the only player who might have challenged for that role, before Brennan played a down as a pro (disregarding Marshall’s Derick Devine for the moment).

While the Redskin quarterback situation is set for the moment, Jason Campbell must answer all questions this year, because next season is a question mark.

Next: How Brett Favre changes the game

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 16th, 2008 at 6:19 pm and is filed under Jim Zorn, Colt Brennan, Jason Campbell. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.