Colt Brennan takes the 1st Step

I’ll be honest, the rookie surprised me.

Going into Sunday’s Hall of Fame game lots of Redskins fans had their doubts about sixth round pick Colt Brennan. He looked the part of one of many highly successful college quarterbacks who just couldn’t cut it as a pro – gaudy college stats, played in a pass heavy/spread offense, questionable size and arm strength, and low scouting grades. In addition Redskins message boards and blogs were inundated with Hawaii fans telling us how great Brennan was and how he was destined to succeed (the Colt Brennan effect has been mentioned on a few blogs now, mention his name and traffic goes through the roof), it was a scene reminiscent of the Gator-skins days when Florida fans told us how lucky we were as Redskins fans to land the great Steve Spurrier. We all remember how that turned out, so needless to say we were all a little weary.

When Brennan came out to start the 3^rd quarter, expectations were low. We’ve witnessed a bunch of late round project QBs in Washington over the past few years and without fail, they all flopped: Jordan Palmer didn’t even make it to a regular season game; Gilbran Hamden barely saw the field for the team.  Even during this year’s training camp there wasn’t much talk about Brennan, Derek Devine, a guy brought over from Seattle, had looked more impressive.

But Brennan delivered. His 1^st throw drew a ‘whoa’ from me in the live blog. He floated a pass over the shoulder of receiver Billy McMullen who didn’t have to break stride en-route to a 34-yard gain. When Brennan followed that pass up with another perfect toss to Maurice Mann for a touchdown, you had to think that we may just have an NFL quarterback here.

For some fans, Brennan immediately became a contender for the starting job but those expectations should be kept in check. He was facing 3^rd and 4^th string players who for the most part won’t play in the NFL this season and the Colts were playing a completely passive, vanilla defense. Jim Zorn, in his post-game press conference, was effusive in his praise for Brennan but also mentioned that he has no chance of passing Todd Collins or Jason Campbell on the depth chart.

Brennan is still a long-term project. He’s likely looking at a couple of seasons as a 3^rd string QB, moving up to a back-up role after Todd Collins retires or leaves town in a year or two. He’s very lucky to be working with Jim Zorn, who has successful transformed Matt Hasselbeck into a top-notch NFL quarterback and perhaps more impressively turned Seneca Wallace into a reliable back-up

There’s no need to rush Brennan. Campbell is set as the starter and last year Collins proved himself to be a top of the line back-up. Brennan’s impressive debut gives hope that down the road he may be able to battle with Campbell or step-in if injuries occur or, perhaps more likely, be able to land the Redskins a strong return if he’s dealt. He can work with Zorn for a few years, improving his footwork and  awkward throwing motion, while preparing to be an NFL starter. Brennan’s not ready yet, but when and if the time comes its nice to know the Redskins have a QB dripping with potential waiting in the wings.

Photo by dbking under Creative Commons license