Well after hearing former QB Donovan McNabb sound off on his former coach Mike Shannahan I had to write. Now McNabb may have reason to be mad because of the lack of talent he had in Washington, but not to the coach nor his scheme.
To really understand what McNabb is mad about you must first understand that he came from a system made specifically for him. Yes it is the West Coast offense always used by Andy Reid but because of McNabb's talents it was tweaked a bit. In Philadelphia he was asked to play action and roll out but not with the frequency asked of you in Shannahans system. In Philadelphia they rarely ran conventional run plays. More screens and slip passes out of the backfield than anything. Si much that a RB like Brian Westbrook would consistently be around the team leader in receptions if not leading every year. Couple this with an offensive line that was built over the first couple years Donovan was there.
Now enter the Redskins. A team that's extremely young on the offensive line. There best lineman is Trent Williams who was a rookie the year McNabb was acquired. Without a offensive line that's already schooled in zone blocking it's impossible to run the Shannahan offense. It's predicated on running one way and cutting back up field after the defensive line is flowing along with the offensive line. Same on the playaction roll outs. Fake the run watch the defense flow with the line and RB and go the other way. This takes a lot of things put of your QB. Given McNabb while in Washington had some gas left in the tank. But as a whole the offense was just learning. And now a year down the road its easy to see that. As usual a slew of running back's had success this year under Shannahan. The defense that was practically nonexistent when McNabb was there is now becoming a tough young unit. If London Fletcher returns next year as there emotional leader watch as they strive to get him to glory.
The real problem with it is that though McNabb knew coming into the Washington situation that he was playing with youngsters. He didn't expect to lose the way he did there though. In the division he once owned for years. And he thought it damaged his legacy. It didn't. What does is blaming problems team wide on a coach that has shown on numerous occasions to be great. If McNabb wants proof this is true look at Houston. Gary Kubiak runs the exact same offense and it took 4 years to get the line to do it correctly. But now in year 6 they have the best rushing attack in football and arguably the best RB duo. Along with that it took Matt Schaub about 2 years to run the offense as comfortably as he does. Now in Houston Kubiak has the line in tact so it was easy for a rookie like TJ Yates to look decent all season and into the playoffs.
What McNabb needed really was patience. The coaches had it in him but because he's not comfortable throwing on the run he was demoted. Same reason in Minnesota. Ponder was a better athlete at this stage of there careers.
A player like RG3 will most definitely thrive in this system. Like Yates he'll have a pretty good line to protect him and a defense that's stingy. And unlike McNabb he'll have a running game believable enough that defenses will bite on playactions. Which will give him a whole lot of options. I can't wait.
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