Survivor I - Patrick Ramsey Commentary

NOTE: this draft was completed on 7/24

Recent Stats

YR	CMP	ATT	PYD	PTD	INT	RSH	RSHYD	RSHTD	FPT	RANK
2002	117	227	1539	9	8	13	-1	1	110.8	31
2003	179	337	2166	14	9	15	62	1	167.5	23
2004	169	272	1665	10	11	10	19	0	114.2	31

Positives - Ramsey is still a young QB, only entering his 4th season. He took over midway through last season and is the projected starter this year. Ramsey should be more comfortable in his second year running Joe Gibbs’ offense. He also realizes that this may be his last opportunity to have a legitimate shot to run an NFL offense and should be motivated to have a good season. Ramsey tossed 8 touchdowns against 5 interceptions in the final 6 games of last season showing improvement which will hopefully continue into this year. Ramsey has the potential to make significant improvement similar to Drew Brees last season.

Negatives - Ramsey is likely to be on a short leash as there’s pressure for Joe Gibbs and the Redskins to win now. Veteran Mark Brunell is still on the roster and 1st round pick Jason Campbell may be given a chance should the team fallout out of contention later in the season. Ramsey will be throwing to a whole new cast of receivers as Coles and Gardner have been replaced by Santana Moss and David Patten. Not only does Ramsey need to quickly develop chemistry with these new receivers, there are many who think this may be a downgrade in talent as well. Ramsey has yet to perform at the level expected when he was a 1st round pick several years ago, and the current situation he finds himself in may not be one any QB could succeed in.

Draft Strategy - Having missed the initial run on backup QBs, I had to grab the best remaining QB here or risk not having a backup at all. If Ramsey can hold onto the starting job, he should post stats good enough to help cover Trent Green’s bye week or cover for Green should he miss a week or two. Should Green miss significant time, I’m in trouble at this position. Looking over the past few rounds, I probably should have selected a higher quality backup QB rather than take a defense in the 11th round knowing that defenses would still be available after the starting QBs dried up. I just felt that the value of the Pittsburgh defense was too great to pass up and got caught on the wrong side of a run at the position.