The Redskins need more out of the QB position in 2011.  34-year old Donovan McNabb is likely only to spend one season in Washington.  He played in 13 games for the Redskins last season and he completed 275 of 472 passes (58.3%) for 3,377 yards with 14 TD passes and 15 INTs (77.1 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 29 times for 151 yards (5.2 ypc) for the Redskins last season.  McNabb has now played in 161 games in his NFL career and he has completed 3,076 of 5,218 (58.9%) passes for 36,250 yards with 230 TD passes and 115 INTs (85.7 QB Rating).  He also has carried the ball 602 times for 3,400 yards (5.6 ypc) with 28 TD runs in his career.  I don’t see McNabb playing with the Skins next season even after they signed him to a contract extension during the year.

30-year old Rex Grossman made a decent enough showing at the end of last season for the Skins that they would likely want to bring him back as the backup QB in 2011.  Grossman played in 4 games for the Redskins last season and he completed 74 of 133 passes (55.6%) for 884 yards with 7 TD passes and 4 INTs (81.2 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 3 times for 6 yards (2.0 ypc) last season.  Grossman has now played in 41 games in his NFL career and he has completed 598 of 1,104 passes (54.2%) for 7,081 yards with 40 TD passes and 40 INTs (70.9 QB Rating).  Grossman has also carried the ball 61 times for 95 yards (1.6 ypc) with 3 TD runs in his career so far.

VERDICT:  I see the Redskins dealing McNabb on or around draft day.  The Redskins will likely either draft a QB in the first round or they will try to bring in another veteran QB to start in 2011.

The Washington Redskins are turning to 30-year old Rex Grossman at QB starting this Sunday in Dallas.  Grossman has played in 1 game for the Redskins so far this year and he has completed 4 of 7 passes (57.1%) for 44 yards with 0 TD passes and 0 INTs (75.9 QB Rating).  Grossman has now played in 38 games in his NFL career and he has completed 528 of 978 passes (54%) for 6,241 yards with 33 TD passes and 36 INTs (69.6 QB Rating).  Grossman also has carried the ball 58 times for 89 yards (1.5 ypc) with 3 TD runs in his career.  The Redskins will likely be more vertical in the passing game as Grossman is more of a gunslinger type than McNabb is.

The Redskins have not only benched 34-year old QB Donovan McNabb, but they have demoted him all the way to the #3 spot behind both Rex Grossman and John Beck.  McNabb has played in 13 games for the Redskins so far this year and he has completed 275 of 442 passes (58.3%) for 3,377 yards with 14 TD passes and 15 INTs (77.1 QB Rating).  McNabb also has carried the ball 29 times for 151 yards (5.2 ypc) so far this year.  McNabb has likely worn out his welcome in Washington as his stay looks like it will be for only 1 year despite the big extension he signed just weeks ago.

UPDATE:  The Redskins will have to send a 4th round pick in 2011 to complete the Donovan McNabb deal with the Eagles.  That is because he isn’t going to make the Pro Bowl and the Redskins aren’t going to win at least 9 games with him playing 70% of the team’s offfensive snaps.  This really hurts the Redskins because the Eagles used the 2nd round pick they got from the Skins in 2010 on safety Nate Allen who has been a starter since Day #1 for the Eagles.

34-year old QB Donovan McNabb looks like he’s toast this season.  He has only had a QB rating over 81.8 in one game this year for the Redskins!  McNabb has played in 12 games for the Redskins this season and he has completed 253 of 437 passes (57.9%) for 3,149 yards with 12 TD passes and 15 INTs (75.2 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 29 times for 151 yards (5.2 ypc) so far this year.  I don’t see any way that McNabb is the QB of the Redskins in 2011 unless he finishes this season with a bang the last four weeks.

The running game is all up to undrafted rookie RB Keiland Williams.  With Clinton Portis out for the year and Ryan Torain banged up, Williams could he the main the rest of the season.  Williams has played in 9 games for the Redskins so far this season and he has carried the ball 49 times for 195 yards (4.0 ypc) with 3 TD runs.  He has also caught 24 passes for 162 yards (6.8 avg) with 2 TD grabs this year.  With teams preparing to defend Williams the yards are going to start to get harder to earn but the Redskins hope he gives the offense some balance going forward.

The Redskins are in a tailspin right now.  They have lost two games in a row by a combined score of 96-53!  The Redskins have a horrid defense this year as they are giving up 415.3 yards and 25.4 points per game this year.  It’s hard to win that way.  Especially when you’re down to your third string RB and you only have two decent receivers (Santana Moss and TE Chris Cooley).  Shanahan has actually done a good job when you consider all of those facts.  But it’s going to be his job to fire up his team the rest of the year because they could be overmatched in a lot of games the rest of the way.

33-year old QB Donovan McNabb is going to have to step up if he wants to keep his starting job with the Redskins.  McNabb has started all 8 games for the Redskins so far this year and he has completed 159 of 277 passes (57.4%) for 1,971 yards with 7 TD passes and 8 INTs (76.0 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 23 times for 135 yards (5.9 ypc) so far this year.  McNabb just hasn’t looked like his old self this season and he was even yanked in the 4th quarter last weekend against the Lions.  30-year old Rex Grossman is the competition for McNabb.  Grossman has played in 1 game for the Redskins this year and he has completed 4 of 7 passes (57.1%) for 44 yards with 0 TD passes and 0 INTs (75.9 QB Rating).  I don’t think Grossman would be much of an improvement on McNabb so I don’t think they should bench him right now.

TE Chris Cooley and WR Santana Moss have combined to catch 38 passes for 524 yards (13.8 avg) with 3 TD grabs so far this year.  These two guys have caught 54.2% of McNabb’s completing, have 41.5% of the Redskins receiving yards and they have all 3 of Donovan McNabb’s TD catches.  Defenses are going to start catching up to this and the Eagles did last week as Santana Moss didn’t catch any passes.  If Anthony Armstrong (4 rec, 104 yards) and Joey Galloway (4 rec, 93 yards) don’t start to step up the Redskins will have to give Devin Thomas another chance or go outside the organization and either trade for a WR or sign a free agent.

The Redskins will be without starting RB Clinton Portis for at least the next 4-6 weeks due to a 3rd degree separation of his groin.  Portis has played in 4 games for the Redskins this year and he has 49 carries for 195 yards (4.0 ypc) with 2 TD runs.  He has also caught 4 passes for 41 yards (10.3 avg) this year.  24-year old Ryan Torain will get the first shot to replace Portis as the Redskins’ featured back.  Torain has played in 2 games for the Redskins so far this year and he has carried the ball 25 times for 116 yards (4.6 ypc) with 1 TD run.  He is a favorite of head coach Mike Shanahan who drafted him in Denver.

The Redskins are only averaging 18.7 points per game so far this year so they need Donovan McNabb to step up.  I know he can’t do it all on his own as the Redskins are only averaging 74.3 yards rushing and 3.9 yards per carry this year which puts a lot of added pressure on McNabb.  McNabb has completed 62 of 102 passes (60.8%) for 833 yards with 2 TD passes and 1 INT (89.2 QB Rating) in the Redskins’ first three games this year.  He has also carried the ball 3 times for 42 yards (14.0 ypc) so far this year.  McNabb might have to take his game up another notch to make the Redskins a winning team this year.