First Down: Campbell is waiting

Campbell is right there, waiting

Phase 1, the de-Vinnyfication of the Redskins, is complete. Phase 2, the search for a new coach, is underway. Not that Jim Zorn shouldn’t stay (a case can be made both ways) but his departure is a given, so let’s get ready for Mike Shanahan or Jon Gruden or whoever.

Phase 3 is finding a quarterback.

Oh, wait, the Redskins already have one. Jason Campbell is sitting right there under the tree.

Presents are supposed to be new, wrapped in pretty paper, but Campbell’s return next season would nevertheless amount to a gift. He has played well under trying circumstances — improved actually. It would be foolish to deal him away as Snyder and the departed Vinny Cerrato attempted last summer, or let him go as a free agent.

The now-dissolved Vinny and Dan tag team reportedly was out scouting college quarterbacks recently. Given Cerrato’s exit and Snyder’s pledge (which bears close watching) to let new general manager Bruce Allen call the shots, the idea should be canned. Now.

The notion of spending a No. 1 pick on an untested quarterback and his steep learning curve as opposed to keeping Campbell and DRAFTING AN OFFENSIVE LINEMAN would be counterproductive and worse, more of the same.

No, Campbell is the man, or should be. If Allen is as smart as advertised, he will recognize that.

We know Snyder is enamored with big arms. Campbell’s arm is big enough and he has other attributes, like moving pretty well for a 6-foot-5 guy. Remember, it was the owner who ditched the steady, capable Brad Johnson as quarterback in 2000 for the erratic, temperamental, universally-disliked Jeff George. Much has since transpired, but if you want to trace a decade’s worth of woe to one, precise point, that would be it. The club never recovered. Let’s see how much Snyder has learned and, more important, if he means what he says.