Strange how a franchise’s success can obscure its following failures. The Washington Redskins have not won a Super Bowl since January of 1992. Mark Rypien quarterbacked that Washington team. Since the former Washington State star, who made 10 starts in the 1992 season, Washington has gone through 25 quarterbacks.
Rich Gannon
Before directing Oakland to a Super Bowl game, Rich Gannon started four games for Washington in 1993. He was ineffective, going 1-3 with seven interceptions.
Cary Conklin
Cary Conklin came from the University of Washington to Washington. The Huskie made two starts in 1993 and was winless. He did throw four TD passes against three picks.
Heath Shuler
Heath Shuler was the third overall pick in 1994. He was tossed into the fire, immediately. The former Tennessee star when 1-7 as a rookie and was 4-9 overall as Washington’s starter. A bust, a big bust.
John Friesz
John Friesz went 1-3 as a starter for Washington in 1994. The journeyman quarterback threw for 1,266 yards with 10 TDs and 9 picks before moving on to the Seattle Seahawks.
Gus Frerotte
Gus Frerotte concussed himself as Washington’s quarterback. He spent five seasons with the NFC East team and went 19-26-1. His best season was 1996 when he went 9-7.
Jeff Hostetler
Jeff Hostetler makes two quarterbacks who won Super Bowls with other teams that did not thrive with Washington. He finished his career there, going 2-1 in three starts. Overall, Hostetler threw five TD passes and 10 interceptions. Ouch.
Trent Green
Trent Green made 14 starts in two-or-so years in Washington. Another medicore record of 6-8 saw him throw for 3,441 yards with Washington. He threw 23 TD passes and 11 interceptions.
Brad Johnson
And Brad Johnson makes a third quarterback who would win a Super Bowl with a team other than Washington. He was successful, going 17-10 in Washington before heading to Tampa Bay, where he would earn a Super Bowl ring. He threw for more than 4,000 yards while going 10-6 in 1999.
Jeff George
Jeff George moved all over, whether he was in college or the pros. The one-time phenom, No. 1 overall pick, turned journeyman was 1-6 over two seasons at the end of his career. He threw nine picks against seven TDs in Washington.
Tony Banks
Washington was the third of four teams Tony Banks played for in a journeyman career. He made 14 starts in 2001 and went 8-6 with 10 TD passes, 10 picks and 2,386 passing yards.
Shane Matthews
Shane Matthews can be added to the collection of journeymen who started for Washington at one point since they last won a Super Bowl. The former Florida star was 3-4 in 2002 as a starter.
Patrick Ramsey
Patrick Ramsey was a first-round pick out of Tulane in 2002. He made all 24 of his career starts in his four years with Washington. Overall, he was 10-14 with 34 TD passes and 29 picks.
Danny Wuerffel
The 1996 Heisman Trophy winner out of Florida, Danny Wuerffel finished an average NFL career with Washington in 2002. He went 2-2 as a starter with three TD passes overall and six interceptions.
Tim Hasselbeck
Washington was the second team Tim Hasselbeck played for out of four in his NFL career. He went 1-4 as a starter, throwing for 1,012 yards. There were five touchdown passes against seven picks.
Mark Brunell
Mark Brunell came to Washington after a long run in Jacksonville. He made 33 starts with mediocre results, going 15-18. He did throw for 6,000 yards in Washington with 38 TD passes.
Jason Campbell
Jason Campbell was Washington’s first-round pick in 2005. High hopes dimmed fairly quickly. He made 52 starts and was 20-32 before moving on to Oakland.
Todd Collins
Todd Collins was perfect in three starts for Washington. He was with the team for 2006, ’07 and ’09. Not only did he win all his starts, but Collins threw five picks and zero interceptions.
Donovan McNabb
What seemed like a good idea, grabbing a quarterback who had been stellar with the Philadelphia Eagles, backfired. Donovan McNabb went 5-8 in 13 starts. He threw for 14 TDs and 15 interceptions, no longer having the star quality he displayed for so long in Philly.
Rex Grossman
Rex Grossman became somewhat of a punch line during his career. He finished with three seasons in Washington, going 6-10 as a starter with 23 TD passes and 24 interceptions. Sort of fitting mediocrity.
John Beck
John Beck had not started a game since 2007 when he got the call to start for Washington in the middle of 2011. He failed to win in three starts and threw two TD passes and four interceptions.
Robert Griffin III
There was a lot of excitement when Washington moved all sorts of draft picks to position itself to draft RG III out of Baylor. After going 9-6 as a rookie starter, the bottom fell out to due to injuries and an assortment of on-field struggles. Griffin threw 20 TDs against five picks as a rookie and after that it was a struggle for player and team.
Kirk Cousins
There was a lot of wondering when Washington drafted Kirk Cousins in the fourth round after selecting Heisman winner Robert Griffin III in the first round of the 2012 draft. It proved to be a smart pick as Griffin was unable to stay healthy and Cousins became the starter. The former Michigan State star through 99 TD passes against only 55 picks in Washington. He departed via free agency for Minnesota.
Colt McCoy
Colt McCoy has been with Washington for four seasons. He has made six starts, most recently going 0-2 in 2018 before suffering an injury that ended his season. The former Texas start threw for 372 yards last year.
Alex Smith
Alex Smith was doing his typical strong job as a starting quarterback before a devastating leg injury ended his season in 2018 and will keep him out for 2019. The former No. 1 overall pick was 6-4 in 10 starts. The team never recovered from losing him.
Josh Johnson
Josh Johnson was last seen in the AAF. Before that, he was with Washington, the fifth NFL team he had been on in his career. Johnson made three starts and went 1-2.
Mark Sanchez
Mark Sanchez came to Washington and had an instant impact. He handed the ball off to Adrian Peterson, who took it 90 yards for a touchdown. He wound up losing his lone start, throwing three picks overall with no TD tosses.
… Is Dwayne Haskins next?
Will Dwayne Haskins solve the QB riddle that has perplexed Washington for decades. The former Ohio State star put up gaudy numbers in 2018 as a Buckeye. Washington took him in the first round and hopes he can put the brakes on the merry-go-round of mediocrity that has gone on for decades.
