Are Washington Redskins Fans Willing To Wait To Win?

None of this is Donovan McNabb's fault you know. This is his 12th season. He didn't forget how to play quarterback on his way down I-95 South. The book is written on what type of player he is. The Redskins have seen him twice a year for a decade.

No, Donovan hasn't lost the ability to be a quarterback. He just isn't playing quarterback the way Mike Shanahan would like him to, and that's what is most important. From Albert Haynesworth to Derrick Dockery to Devin Thomas to Larry Johnson, the one thing the first-year Redskins coach has taught us is that it's his way or no way.

That being said, I'm curious. I'm curious just how down on McNabb the Redskins fan base is? How big of a blunder was his acquisition? Washington ended up not having much of a shot at Sam Bradford. However, Jimmy Clausen, Colt McCoy, Tim Tebow, John Skelton and Tony Pike were all available for the Redskins. Bleacher Report sums up where the Redskins are at field general:

I've long thought that, if the Redskins could've drafted Sam Bradford, Shanahan would've drafted him in a heartbeat. However, he couldn't wrestle that pick from the Rams and chose to go with McNabb instead. With McNabb unlikely to want to play for the 'Skins next season, and with Rex Grossman andJohn Beck only being doable for a placeholder, Shanahan has likely already locked himself in his film room, looking for his next Jay Cutler.

Before this season, the common thought was that McNabb would be able to hold down the starting job for a minimum of two to three years, and I think most Redskins fans knew a young quarterback would be needed eventually.

The problem with the Redskins this season is that they are built to compete now, yet are not competitive. We were sold on this team being a winner immediately. By not drafting a QB and going with Donovan McNabb, the Redskins have put their rebuild on hold for an entire season.

If the recent history of Redskins' head coaches is any indication, that will end up being one third of Mike Shanahan's tenure here in Washington. They are now without a fourth-round pick, without a quarterback for the future and arguably without a quarterback of the present. If it is WIDELY known that a 3-4 defense takes at least a season to be mastered, why did the Redskins suffer under the delusion that they could be Super Bowl contenders immediately? It would seem to me they would have been better suited giving their new offense and defense a year to gestate.

But instead, they chose to win now. We could see this coming way back in January, when Bruce Allen had this to say on whether or not a rebuild is necessary for the Redskins:

No, I don’t believe so. I believe that we have to do everything today, to get better for the future. What that gets us in number of wins this [coming] year, I can’t make that promise. I do know one thing – that the organization is going to do everything it can to be successful in the immediate future. The direction that the players understand right now, and that our coaches understand is that.

Was Allen just saying what he felt the Redskins fan base expected to hear? What it NEEDED to hear?

This is what I would ask my fellow Redskins supporters:

• What if they never brought McNabb here?
• Is our impatience blown out of proportion?
• Would we have been able to handle a season as Rex Grossman as the starter while Colt McCoy was being groomed for the future?
• Could we have suffered Marc Bulger for a season or two if Tony Pike was waiting in the wings?

I'd like to think so. I take call after call after call on my radio show where I am told that Redskins fans expect to win a Super Bowl every year. I don't think we are that naive.

The supporters of this franchise have been painted as spoiled, petulant children. I'm not sure just how accurate that painting is.