The Washington Redskins would seem to be at a crossroads with Robert Griffin III. The team has invested a lot in him, both in terms of what they gave up to acquire him and how long they have spent trying to let him develop. While he is the starter heading into 2015 for now, that may not be the case when the season arrives.
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There have been rumors that the team may draft a quarterback with the fifth overall pick, and general manager Scot McLoughan did not back down from that stance during an interview earlier this week. According to ESPN, McLoughan said that Washington intends to draft the best player available with their first-rounder, and if that means taking a quarterback like Marcus Mariota, then that is what they will do.
While there is no guarantee that Mariota will be available (the Tennessee Titans are rumored to be interested in drafting him, and multiple teams have been linked to trading up), McLoughan made it clear that he has no intention of giving roster spots and starting roles to people who have not earned them.
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"No one will be handed a job from my standpoint," McCloughan said. "You have to earn it. That's what the NFL is about. I don't have any ties with any of the players. I didn't draft them. So I'm coming in -- prove it to me. Prove to me you deserve to be on the field. That's the way it should be in the NFL."
McLoughan also intends to build toward success by stockpiling talent throughout the roster regardless of team need, much the way some of the more successful teams have been doing in recent years.
"I'm walking in from the outside saying, 'OK, I've been around a world championship team,'" said McCloughan, an executive with Seattle when the Seahawks won the Super Bowl. "I've helped build another one that made it there. I have a feeling what it's supposed to look like.
"What we did in San Francisco and Seattle, we understand we're not a real deep roster. So let's not focus on a certain position, let's focus on the best player."
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