Outside of the weirdness in Minnesota,  the Washington Redskins have been the most controversial team in the NFL this season. From the bizarre pre-season spat between head coach Mike Shanahan and defensive linemen Albert Haynesworth to Donovan McNabb’s unexpected benching in week 8, Redskins fans have been through a lot. Things keep getting odder in the nation’s capital with Shanahan once again benching McNabb in favor of backup Rex Grossman. McNabb has been mediocre this season throwing more interceptions (15) than touchdowns (14). The 34-year-old quarterback signed a five-year $78 million contract during the season, but the Redskins reportedly have an option to cut him before the end of the regular season. If Washington decides to not cut McNabb, the franchise will owe him a $10 million bonus. If Rex “Sexy Rexy” Grossman can show some worth this weekend against Dallas, expect McNabb to be on his way out of D.C.

When comparing themselves to the empty trophy cases of the Detroit Lions, Minnesota Vikings, and Cleveland Browns the Redskins shouldn’t feel too bad about their franchise. The Skins won Super Bowls in 1982, 1987, and 1991, but they only made two playoff appearances in the 2000’s. Owner Daniel Snyder has thrown plenty of money at big name players in recent years like Albert Haynesworth and DeAngelo Hall, but the team has struggled at the quarterback position for years. McNabb has consistently been a top-tier quarterback in the NFL for a long time and could still have a number of years ahead of him at age 33. In the backfield, McNabb will have three former stars in Clinton Portis, Larry Johnson, and Willie Parker. At receiver McNabb will get to throw to proven players like Santana Moss and Chris Cooley while youngsters Devin Thomas and Malcolm Kellyhave shown potential. With McNabb under center most experts will likely at least mark the Redskins as a legitimate playoff contender for the 2010-11 season.

Newly appointed Washington Redskins head coach Mike Shanahan has said he will have open competition for the quarterback position heading into training camp. Jason Campbell was the team’s starter last season where the Skins went 4-12. Throwing 20 touchdowns and 15 interceptions, Campbell was inconsistent throughout the 2009 season. The Redskins signed former Chicago Bears starter Rex Grossman this off season to compete for the starting role. Grossman quarterbacked the Bears to the Super Bowl in 2006, but is mostly remembered for the amount of interceptions he threw in Chicago. The Redskins have the #4 pick in the NFL Draft this season and some experts are thinking they could use their first round pick on a QB. Sam Bradford, Jimmy Clausen, and Tim Tebow are all possible options for the Skins in the draft. Shanahan has coached stars QBs like John Elway and Jay Cutler in his time in Denver, so we shall see if he can find a top signal caller in the nation’s capital.

The Redskins are having a good season so far.  They are at 6-2 and second in the competitive NFC East Division.  Since this division includes the defending Super Bowl champions New York Giants, as well as the ever-strong Dallas Cowboys and the Philadelphia Eagles, second place is not too shabby.  There is no one in the division below .500 this season, so it’s going to be tough competition all the way through November and December.  But all is not well in Redskin-land.  Washington has been piling up injuries this year.  The biggest challenge they have is trying to make up for the injury of Jason Taylor, who was injured in a game against Arizona in September.  He had an emergency operation on his calf and has had more surgery on it this week.  He will probably not play next week against the Steelers and possibly not for a few more weeks.  There are also injuries to one of the Redskin running backs as well as a safety and an offensive tackle. The players will have to be flexible, in order to make up for some of those losses, if they want to stay in contention in this big division.

Jonathan Mapu, the undrafted defensive tackle and a rookie player, has been signed by the Washington Redskins football team at the expense of wide receiver Jerome Mathis. The decision was taken after the Redskins took a good look at the native Hawaiian player during his brief stint at the minicamp from May 2-4. Mapu, at 6-4 and 290 pounds, has played for the Tennessee University for four seasons and has a record of 32 solo tackles out of a total of 65, three sacks, two fumble recoveries and two forced fumbles to his credit. The Redskins fans are expecting that this rookie player will deliver the goods when his time comes to represent the Redskins team.

It has been officially stated that Chad Pennington is out as the New York Jets starting quarterback was replaced by Clemens for this week’s match against the Washington Redskins. This was a long time coming but it was probably only a couple of days too late. Regardless, Mangini made the right move today thus avoiding a week’s worth of media circus: he announced the switch at the first possible moment. Mangini has made this decision not based on singling out Chad Pennington for where they were, but based on the fact that Mangini thinks Kellen had earned that opportunity.