Ramsey: All hail "The Golden Clipboard"!

[Atlanta Skins Fan]

At 10 am this morning I posted that the team might be better off not signing Ramsey at all. (See "Should Ramsey be signed at all?" ) Then at 10:11, it was posted that he signed. So much for that argument.

Here's my new theory. Ramsey is hereby annointed "The Golden Clipboard", a five-year, $5.7M tour of duty in D.C..

I think Ramsey is too costly to trade. By league rules, he can't be traded until next offseason; at that time, he would cause a cap hit of about $2.4M in 2003 if he were traded, while fetching probably only a #3 pick in return. I don't see the team doing that deal.

At the same time, it appears that Spurrier has no plans for Ramsey. On Tuesday, a conversation between Ramsey and Spurrier caused Ramsey to *request* a trade to Chicago. I think Spurrier is feeling great about starting Wuerffel, who's only 28, and who will be only 33 by the time Ramsey's contract runs out.

There's simply no place in Spurrier's plans for Ramsey, except as "The Golden Clipboard". Now, "The Golden Clipboard" is not unimportant. It can be vital to have a superb backup QB, and that will be Ramsey's role for the Redskins. He'll learn the system and run it crisply in practices and in future pre-seasons. He'll bide his time and relieve Wuerffel when Wuerffel is knocked out of games. He'll be a valuable insurance policy as this team becomes one of the NFL's elite teams. The only thing he won't be is a starter (except for injury).

So, welcome to the Redskins, Ramsey. All hail The Golden Clipboard!

[Posse81]

At the same time, it appears that Spurrier has no plans for Ramsey. On Tuesday, a conversation between Ramsey and Spurrier caused Ramsey to *request* a trade to Chicago. I think Spurrier is feeling great about starting Wuerffel, who's only 28, and who will be only 33 by the time Ramsey's contract runs out.

[/b]

I don't think this is really fair to say. First of all, we don't know what was said. Only SS and Ramsey and maybe a few others know that.

And of course we have all heard that Ramsey was Snyder's pick but I am willing to bet that SS at least gave his blessing. I cannot fathom the organization making that kind of a committment to a player they have no plans for, especially after SS gushed over Ramsey's arm strength.

[Cskin]

In that were true ASF, then why were we trying to move up in the draft and take Joey Harrington? Although Wuefrell played exceptionally well against SF last Sat. night, we still have along way to go before deciding whether he is capable to do that for a whole season, against starting defenses, for four quarters.

Additionally, at some point S2 may realize that his offense would be even more devastating if he had a QB with a cannon for an arm. Plus, there is no way of knowing whether Ramsey... or Sage for that matter, with the proper coaching and time under center, cannot execute the offense at a higher level than DW. Simply put, more talent always prevails.

[redman]

So what else do the tea leaves say?

[gbear]

How long is DW's contract for? Isn't Shane Mathew's contract only for 1 year? So if either of these guys comes in and lights it up, aren't they going to want huge contracts? At that point, won't we be happy with Ramsey sitting in the wings to give us another option if the salary demands are outragous?

Another way of looking at things: What did we give up for DW? If someone told you we could get a franchise QB for the 5th (is that what we got him for?) and the 1st that we spent on Ramsey, woudln't you pull the trigger on that deal? Alright, what if they threw in a backup QB too? Sounds like a steal to me.

[Atlanta Skins Fan]

Originally posted by Cskin

Simply put, more talent always prevails.

Actually, I'd argue that "winning" always prevails.

I'm not just being cute. Suppose for the sake of argument that Wuerffel leads the Redskins to a 10-6 or 11-5 record in 2002, with a playoff berth, and with a Wuerffel NFL QB rating of 85 or higher.

Come next offseason, Ramsey may look really good in practice. He can nail guys in stride at 40 yards on a rope, hit 20-yard outs with a defender all over the receiver, yada yada. Do you think Spurrier dumps Wuerffel? I don't.

So Wuerffel goes out and leads the team to 11-5 or 12-4 in 2003. Same good NFL QB rating, etc.

At what point in this scenario (successful team, good QB stats) does Spurrier dump his long-time Gator fave for some guy out of Purdue who happens to throw harder in practice?

Also, throwing hard isn't everything. Lots of receivers (and Gardner in particular) have trouble with hard-thrown passes. Throwing with the "appropriate" amount of velocity for any given pass is often better than having every pass rocketed. Wuerffel seems to have this quality.

[Brave]

Purdue?

Your hypothetical case means that we've paid for a good, young back-up who could take the reigns at any time ... a good thing to have. One thing I'll not stress about is what to do if Danny wins a lot and Ramsey looks real good behind him. Seems that would be a good problem to have.

[scottb]

Sorry ASF, but I find it hard to believe that SOS has no plans for Ramsey. He is not only the head coach, but he is also the QB coach. Surely he was consulted upon the merit of the pick and its implication to his plans. To do otherwise would seem foolish. SOS is no fool.

[Atlanta Skins Fan]

Originally posted by Brave

Purdue?

Purdue, Tulane . . . it's all one big middle out there between the coasts.

[Atlanta Skins Fan]

Originally posted by scottb

Sorry ASF, but I find it hard to believe that SOS has no plans for Ramsey. He is not only the head coach, but he is also the QB coach. Surely he was consulted upon the merit of the pick and its implication to his plans. To do otherwise would seem foolish. SOS is no fool.

Right, but SOS didn't make the pick.

Ask Danny how much input SOS had in the pick.

Did you know that Spurrier didn't even work out Ramsey prior to his selection by the team? How's that for interest and endorsement?

[Cskin]

Well, that's quite a nice dilemma to have ASF. I'd have to say that S2 would make a decision based on who moves the ball the best, scores the most touchdowns, and makes the best decisions. Additionally, he may have to weigh how much better his offense is.... or.. maybe more diverse, with a younger kid and a stronger arm.

More importantly, S2 will have proved his point to the experts by that time. Successive 10-6/11-5/12-4 seasons will have proved that Wueffrel could be a winning NFL QB. But, if S2's offense is more prolific with a kid who can wing it, and not float it or push it like DW, than I'd have to think he'd start the kid.

[Larry]

Oh, I think Ramsey's got a chance. His contract just about guarantees he'll be around at least 2-3 years. (He's cheaper to keep than to fire).

But, he's starting his career in a hole. He's earned some bad karma, and he's the fourth-string QB, with zero time in camp, four weeks before the season. He's at the bottom of the depth chart, and the coaches're gonna be too busy to help him move up anytime soon.

Note: he's not untradeable. Aparantly there's a league rule prohibiting trading him this year, but let's suppose, say, Chicago's QBs are as weak as we thought they'd be. Next year, they can draft one, but if they do, then they have to go through the hassle of signing him, etc. . . Whereas Ramsey will have had a year on the pine, and if Da Bears trade for him, then the cap hit from his bonus stays in DC, and Da Bears get him for minimum wage (and escelators), with four years to go. Don't recall ever seeing such a deal made, but if there's enough value in that scenario that he might look good to some cap-strapped team (say, Jacksonville).

[Cskin]

Spurrier didn't look at Ramsey, but Noah Brindise worked him out and loved him. If Noah liked him, than that was good enough for S2.

On a different subject, have we discussed might happen to our offense when S2 hangs it up with a couple of Lombardi trophies? Is it possible that Noah Brindise would become our offensive cordinator/guru? Steve Spurrer Jr. perhaps? Any thoughts?

[bulldog]

you're exactly right Larry. Ramsey will have a chance to use his talent to get on the field in future campaigns but he IS going to face a lot of scrutiny until he proves he was worth all the trouble

while he did get an extra $100K on his bonus to $3.1 million and got the escalator to $3 million a year IF he starts 2 years in a row, the question you have to ask is, is he really better off?

2002 could have been a season of participation for Ramsey and instead he is going to be largely ignored the balance of camp and into the season unless there are catastrophic injuries at the qb position.

[redman]

Originally posted by Atlanta Skins Fan

Come next offseason, Ramsey may look really good in practice. He can nail guys in stride at 40 yards on a rope, hit 20-yard outs with a defender all over the receiver, yada yada. Do you think Spurrier dumps Wuerffel? I don't.

Interestingly enough, Wuerffel himself replaced a QB in the UF lineup, Mike Dean if I recall correctly, who was putting up great numbers and who looked like a Heisman candidate.

Shane Matthews was the 6th QB on the depth chart from the preceding UF regime when Spurrier elevated him to starter.

Spurrier's free-wheeling style with handling QB's means that all of this with Ramsey and how he'll be handled is just pure speculation.

[Larry]

Oh, I think we can count on him getting a look next preseason. I just don't think he'll even be looked at before then.

And, for you folks who're feeling sorry for the way the big, bad, Redskins took a hard line with a kid, just remind yourselves: This year, the Skins will've paid about $3.5M to a kid who's virtually guaranteed not to have a chance for this year.