Campbell conflict

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The rookie quarterbacks looked good this week: Vince Young of the Titans and Bruce Gradkowski of the Buccaneers led their teams to victory, and Matt Leinart played well enough to win in a heartbreaking loss for the Cardinals.

Sophomores Alex Smith (49ers), Charlie Frye (Browns) and Andrew Walter (Raiders) run their team's offenses, albeit with marginal results.

And each of the members of the first-round quarterback class of 2004 -- the Giants' Eli Manning, the Chargers' Philip Rivers, the Steelers' Ben Roethlisberger and the Bills' J.P. Losman -- holds a firm grasp on a job as a starter.

Jason Campbell, meanwhile, continues to wait. And wait and wait. Campbell now is 22 games into his NFL career and still has not taken a snap, much less completed a pass, for the Redskins.

"Just running the scout team," Campbell said the other day in the locker room. "After practice, we run through the [game plan] so I can throw to the receivers."

Campbell can take all the work he wants during and after practice, but it's impossible to gauge his progress. The only way to know whether he's the guy to lead the Redskins into the next decade is by putting him into a game.

The fans at FedEx Field on Sunday made it clear that's what they want. Sure, as coach Joe Gibbs often says, the No. 2 or 3 quarterback is No. 1 in the fans' eyes.

But the Redskins are 2-4 and Mark Brunell looks every bit of his 36 years, so many fans want the quarterback of the future to play now -- even if it means sacrificing the rest of a season that appears to be going nowhere even if the Redskins upset the Colts on Sunday.

The case for Campbell

1. Experience the growing pains now