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Ramsey's Confidence Remains High
By Gary Fitzgerald
Redskins.com
April 26, 2005



Patrick Ramsey worried? When the Redskins selected quarterback Jason Campbell with the 25th pick in last weekend's NFL Draft, Ramsey was out playing golf. After a workout on Tuesday morning at Redskins Park, he was headed back to the golf course for another 18 holes.
Ramsey spoke to reporters Tuesday for the first time since the team drafted Campbell last Saturday. The fourth-year quarterback remains confident that he will lead the Redskins to a successful season in 2005.


Patrick Ramsy against the New York Giants last season.
"I don't think I have anything to be real apprehensive about," Ramsey said. "I feel confident in my ability to lead this team and I feel confident about this team. It's a situation where I know I have every opportunity to be successful and so I'm going to make the most of it."

Ramsey said he wasn't surprised that the team selected Campbell. He had conversations with head coach Joe Gibbs--one discussion last week before the draft and another on Tuesday--about Campbell, among other topics.

"I just asked coach his opinion on the matter, and he told me, 'You're in there, you're our starter and you're going to play.' Obviously I still have to earn it. I'm being given an opportunity to lead this football team to the playoffs and to win."

"The way I look at this season is this: I'm going to go out there to play well and lead this team. Hopefully it leads to me staying here. That's what I want to do. That's what I plan on doing. We'll see where it takes me."

When the Redskins selected Campbell last Saturday, questions swirled about how it would impact Ramsey. Gibbs dispelled any suggestion that Ramsey's status was uncertain.

"This does not effect Patrick in any way," Gibbs said last Saturday, shortly after the team selected Campbell. "Patrick is our starter. Patrick is the guy we're counting on taking us to the playoffs and championships here. We are trying to get every single thing around Patrick. I talked to him about our offensive line and our wide receivers. We're counting on Patrick."

Last season at this time, Ramsey was recovering from foot surgery and was set back in competing for the starting job. Veteran quarterback Mark Brunell won the 2004 starting job in training camp and played nine games.

Ramsey assumed the starting job in Week 10. In seven starts, he completed 65 percent of his passes--142-of-217 for 1,313 yards and eight touchdowns. He was particularly effective in the 31-7 win over the New York Giants. In that Week 12 game, he completed 19-of-22 passes for 174 yards and three touchdowns.

This offseason, offensive coaches may be hoping that Ramsey produces a performance similar to that of San Diego Chargers quarterback Drew Brees, a fifth-year quarterback.


Patrick Ramsey
After the Chargers drafted highly touted rookie quarterback Phillip Rivers in the 2004 NFL Draft, Brees' status was uncertain in San Diego. Brees went on to earn the starting job last season, ahead of Rivers, and led the Chargers to the playoffs. He completed 65 percent of his passes and threw for 3,159 yards and 27 touchdowns.

"My situation is similar to [Brees]," Ramsey said. "But it's also a little different for me because I've been told I have an opportunity to lead this team. I'm the starter here until I prove otherwise. I expect us to go to the playoffs and hopefully we'll go a little bit farther than Drew did."

As the designated starter, Ramsey, the Redskins' first-round pick (32nd overall) out of Tulane in 2002, said he is approaching this offseason differently than in years past.

"It's a lot different the way you approach things and the way you relate to your teammates," he said. "It's just as important to earn it. When you go out onto the field, you have to show you're deserving of it."

joebagadonuts wrote:the more i think about it, the more this pick makes sense. i see one of three scenarios;

first; ramsey is awesome as the unquestioned starter, and takes us to the playoffs, and hopefully a superbowl win. isn't a 'wasted' first round pick on a qb worth a ring? maybe we trade campbell away after the ramsey second straight superbowl mvp award...

second; ramsey falters, and it becoems clear that he's not the guy to take us all the way. campbell has had a year or two under his belt, and can take over sooner rather than later. if we didn't pick a qb this year, we'd have to do it next year in the draft, or the next year, and start all over again, or find a vet somewhere else (see: brunnell, mark). bottom line is, without having groomed campbell, there'd be unrest at qb once again, with no clear starter.

third; ramsey celebrates a touchdown by slamming his head into a concrete wall, essentially ending his career. campbell takes over, and is given strict instructions not to run out of bounds.

Ramsey spoke excitedly about next season, and said that he was already practicing taking shotgun snaps after new quarterbacks coach Bill Musgrave persuaded Gibbs to try the formation in offseason practices.

Fios wrote:I was both shocked and pleasanty surprised to read this:

Ramsey spoke excitedly about next season, and said that he was already practicing taking shotgun snaps after new quarterbacks coach Bill Musgrave persuaded Gibbs to try the formation in offseason practices.

I've been praying for this, a few shotguns here and there would be a tremendous help.

THE NEWS

Redskins' quarterback Patrick Ramsey said Tuesday that head coach Joe Gibbs gave him the heads up that the team might select a quarterback early in the draft. "Because I was aware of the situation, because I talked to coach Gibbs about it, I wasn't surprised," Ramsey told the Washington Post of the team's decision to select Jason Campbell with the No. 25 overall pick. "I'm focusing on going out there and playing well. And the truth is that if I do that, then everything takes care of itself." Ramsey passed for 1,665 yards, 10 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions during nine games last season.


OUR VIEW

Ramsey will enter training camp as the starting quarterback, and we know that Campbell will make the roster. It also appears that the team has no choice but to retain Mark Brunell for another season after signing him to a seven-year, $43.36 million contract last year. As such, last year's No. 3 quarterback Tim Hasselbeck appears to be the odd man out.

Redskins1974 wrote:HatsOFF - Gibbs will NEVER start a rookie QB. We will see Brunell if Ramsey gets hurt OR if Ramsey plays so badly that he has no choice.

Even if the fans are booing his every move, Gibbs will not put a rookie in there.