NFL Offseason – McNabb trade makes NFL QB picture cloudy

Donovan McNabb was traded to Washington from Philadelphia for a second and fourth-round pick, and some thought that new coach Mike Shanahan would pick a quarterback to replace Jason Campbell, who to be fair, has been battered behind an awful offensive line. Now, the Redskins can take a lineman, likely Russell Okung from Oklahoma State. They also have some trade bait in Campbell, and there are a number of teams looking for a quarterback, like St. Louis. Many think the Rams will select Oklahoma’s Sam Bradford with the first overall pick in New York on April 22^nd, but his rival from Texas, Colt McCoy, also had a great pro day, and then there’s also Notre Dame’s Jimmy Clausen, considered by many to be the most pro-ready of the three. Sports betting odds figure it’s going to be a close race to see who will be picked first of the trio, or at least Bradford and Clausen.

So, what happens? St. Louis says that the release of Marc Bulger wasn’t a sign that they were going to draft a quarterback, but who are they going to turn the offense over to, Kyle Boller? A.J. Feeley? They would almost be better served to try and work out a trade for Campbell, who is an experienced quarterback, and they could go for their other needs, which is pretty much everything outside of running back with Steven Jackson. If they put a rookie quarterback behind that line, like Matt Stafford in Detroit, you could be leading a pivot into a dangerous situation, and we know how banged up Stafford was at the end of the year. They could trade Campbell to another team and get a pick from them (probably not a first-rounder, but a third at worst), but the lure of Okung may be too strong. The Redskins could also go for Tennessee defensive back Eric Berry as they’ve been disappointed by LaRon Landry, who too often goes for the big hit and is left out of position. There are also rumors of the Redskins making a play for Brandon Marshall, the talented yet trouble receiver who plays in Denver, and the Broncos have been looking to move him for a while now.  NFL players have been aware of Marshall’s problems since the Jay Cutler trade, which is why you shouldn’t be surprised by this, especially when you remember that Shanahan drafted Marshall in 2006 in Denver. If the Redskins can pull this off, their sportsbook odds will definitely improve over last year.