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Why Mark Sanchez Won’t Work in Washington

Published: April 24, 2009

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Dan Snyder is up to his antics again, and there’s now talk that the Redskins could trade up once again to take quarterback Mark Sanchez. 

The guy he would replace, Jason Campbell, was also a trade-up first round pick back in 2005, after the Skins traded away their third and fourth round picks and their first round pick in 2006 to Denver to get him. 

And Campbell was drafted at a time when the Redskins’ previous 1st round QB pick, Patrick Ramsey in 2002, was just getting a chance to play.

So, if the Skins somehow get Sanchez in this draft, that would make three quarterbacks with first round picks in eight years.  And thus far, it would appear that the first two have not worked out.  And I can tell you with pretty good confidence that Sanchez will not work out either.  Why?

Quarterbacks need a proper match with a team and stability to succeed.

If a player is drafted onto a bad team (i.e. David Carr in Houston or Joey Harrington in Detroit), there’s not much chance he’s going to succeed.  A player is only as good as the guys around him, and while a quarterback can make players around him better, there’s limits to what can be achieved.  Sorry Matthew Stafford.

Along those same lines, if a quarterback and his coach are not a good match, there’s not as much likelihood for success either.  (i.e. Alex Smith)  That’s why you’re seeing that a lot of new coaches are trying to bring in “their guy” to play quarterback. 

The success that first year coaches and rookie QBs had in Atlanta and Baltimore this year supports that theory, and the McDaniel-Cutler drama is just another example.

But the Redskins aren’t a “bad” team and Sanchez would be “their guy.”  Why won’t it work?

Because Daniel Snyder is the exact opposite of stability.

Marty Schottenheimer, Steve Spurrier, Joe Gibbs, Jim Zorn.

Brad Johnson, Jeff George, Tony Banks, Shane Matthews, Patrick Ramsey, Danny Weurfel, Tim Hasselbeck, Mark Brunell, Todd Collins and Jason Campbell.

As Jim Zorn goes, so does Mark Sanchez’s success as a Redskin.  And knowing Daniel Snyder, Jim Zorn will go…in two years, at best.