Redskins Rookie QB Colt Brennan

For about a week I had marked Sunday night on my calendar as the unofficial kick-off of the 2008 football season. With two of my childhood heroes inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Redskins receiver Art Monk and defensive back Darrell Green, the Washington Redskins were slated to play the Indianapolis Colts in the Hall of Fame game the following day and I was pumped to get a glimpse of my Skins. (Now that I live in New England, my opportunities to watch my ‘Skins on TV are few and far between).

My only problem was that although I had marked yesterday, August 3rd, in my calendar as “Football Night in the Monkey Household,” and even “warned” my wife that I would be watching football Sunday night, I forgot one little thing: August 3rd is also my wedding anniversary. Oops. Oddly enough, my wife also forgot it was our anniversary, until we were both reminded about 15 minutes before kickoff with a phone call from my mom to congratulate us. Verdict: no watchee HOF Game for the Monkey and me.

But thanks to the magic of the internet I was able to wake up this morning and check out some highlights. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the Redskins were able to pour on some offense and that rookie Head Coach Jim Zorn got great performances out of two of his quarterbacks.

I know it’s just preseason, but when you’re an NFL “enthusiast” (read: addict) like myself, and you get the opportunity to check out your favorite team, even in preseason mode, it’s an exciting thing. I actually kind of dig preseason because you get the opportunity to evaluate other players besides the starters. In this case, I was eager to have a look at Redskins rookie Colt Brennan, the highly prolific University of Hawaii standout and 6th round 2008 pick of the ‘Skins.

Always a fan of underdogs, I was casually interested in the University of Hawaii’s run last year, when they went undefeated in the regular season (only to be trounced by Georgia in the Sugar Bowl). Brennan’s draft status plummeted as a result of his horrible performance in that game, which made him available to the Skins in the 6th round at bargain basement prices.

So far it looks like Jim Zorn and the Redskins made a great pick. And it is already clear that hiring Zorn, the former Seahawks QB and QB Coach responsible for the development of Pro Bowler Matt Hasselbeck, has already made a profound improvement on the overall quarterbacking of the Redskins. Brennan was nearly perfect in preseason action last night, going 9 for 10 and 123 yards, with a 157 passer rating.

Oh yeah, Jason Campell played well (i.e. perfect) with the starters. He had a touchdown toss to Antwaan Randle-El within the first two minutes of the game.

Todd Collins was 5 for 6.

I don’t think there will be any quarterback controversy, but it’s nice to know the Redskins seem pretty solid at the QB position with Campbell developing nicely, Todd Collins proving last year that he can come in and deliver solid performances (3-1 as starter to finish last season), and now Brennan bringing another dimension to the offense, vying against Collins for the backup role. Could it be that for the first time in years the Redskins will field a potent offense? Only time will tell but so far so good.

Jason Campbell’s HOF Game highlights are right here.