Quarterback Dilemma for Redskins May Not Be a Major Problem

So is it really that big a deal who starts the season at quarterback for the Redskins? Do the they need an MVP season from Doug Williams, Mark Rypien, Stan Humphries or Bill Kenney to make another run at the Super Bowl? The answer to both questions is no.

The Redskins got 33 touchdown passes from Williams and Rypien last year and where did it get them? The Joe Gibbs Redskins are not an air-it-out, score 30-a-game kind of team. The Washington offense is fullback oriented, absolutely.

Want an explanation of how a fullback can help the Redskins defense improve on its 24-points-per-game average of last year? With the acquisition of Gerald Riggs, the Redskins should go back to what they do best: run the ball, control the clock, keep the defense where it belongs--on the sideline, watching.

Last year the Redskins threw more than 40 passes in a game nine times and lost six of them. This is not the wimpy AFC. If you can’t run the ball in the NFC you don’t win, which is why Gibbs was willing to do almost anything to get a durable, big-time fullback. Now that they have one who is capable of denting a steel-door pickup, you can bet the summer-vacation-in-Europe money that the most important thing a Redskins quarterback can do this season -- no matter which one of them is in the game -- is turn and hand off. If you want, keep calling it the Riggo drill.

And all this stuff about the Hogs being washed up is Hogwash. Pass blocking never was the Hogs forte, and now they’ll go back to doing what made them one of the best lines in the league.

Now that we’ve established that the fullback is the superstar of the Redskins offense, let’s get back to the quarterback situation.

Before we get too carried away, counting Doug Williams out for ever and ever, let’s remember that no player needs training camp less than a veteran quarterback. But any time you’re dealing with a back injury, it’s better to be safe than sorry, and the safe bet is Williams will be put on the physically unable to perform list, which means he’ll be out six weeks.

That leaves Rypien, Humphries and Kenney, presuming that the Redskins put rookie Jeff Graham on the new developmental squad.

Gibbs reiterated Monday after the game that Rypien is still No. 1. Monday night, he was the worst of the three. Nobody should ever put too much stock in preseason football, even if the No. 1 does complete only three of 14 passes for 46 yards. The fact is, none of the three who played looked impressive, largely because the non-first teamers couldn’t block worth beans.

Humphries completed four of 12 passes, threw an interception and blew two sure-fire touchdown passes. But this was his first start, and what else are preseason games for if not to let young players get rid of the jitters?

The rap on Rypien is that after a good start last season (12 touchdowns, four interceptions) he tried too often to make the big play and goofed. But with a load-carrying fullback and a year of experience, Rypien doesn’t have to make the big play and should cut down on all those interceptions.

And there’s Kenney, 34, cut by the Kansas City Chiefs who decided to make Ron Jaworski their No. 2. (Now, you know why the Chiefs finish where they do every year).

If you think all this is leading up to a vote for Kenney, you’re sort of right. Just from a common-sense standpoint, Kenney is a logical choice (not to mention an astute pickup by Charlie Casserly.)

What the Redskins need at quarterback -- at least until Williams gets back -- is somebody who doesn’t screw up, somebody who’s not going to throw a stupid interception or get sacked on third down to take the team out of field-goal position. They need an efficient, unspectacular player who can use three outstanding receivers (Monk, Sanders and Clark), hit the third-down backs (Earnest Byner and Kelvin Bryant). That’s Kenney.

In seven of his nine seasons playing for some frighteningly bad Chiefs teams, Kenney threw more touchdowns than interceptions. In six consecutive seasons -- the meat of his career -- he threw 91 touchdowns and 63 interceptions. In those six years he never completed less than 52.3 percent of his passes. And his career quarterback rating of 77.1 is better than respectable.

Kenney, who had to run for his life with the second-team offensive line, still completed six of 10 with no interceptions. He didn’t screw up even though, as Gibbs said, the Vikings’ pass rush was “stormin’ the castle.” “We couldn’t muster up any protection. It’s hard to look good at quarterback when you’re getting knocked around.”

Of course, suggesting a quarterback cut by the Chiefs should start for a team with Super Bowl aspirations is a bit out of the ordinary. OK, way out of the ordinary. But if Williams can’t start the season, whom do you trust the most? Only one man would have a track record. And remember, who in the world thought in 1986, when Williams threw exactly one pass, that he’d ever be the No. 1 or a Super Bowl MVP?

Asked if having Riggs in the backfield will take pressure off whoever is taking the snaps in the regular season, Gibbs said: “It depends on what kind of team we’re going to be. If we can run the ball effectively and be balanced, I think it will take the pressure off.”

Gibbs didn’t spend the offseason bugging the departed Bobby Beathard and owner Jack Kent Cooke for a power-back so he could have a pass-happy offense. The Redskins know how to employ a fullback, and whoever winds up calling the signals will be most thankful.