Can Colt Brennan Live Up to the Hype?

ASHBURN, Va. -- He is the man, the myth, the legend around these parts, the quarterback who will finally lead a hungry franchise back to the promised land. He is a fan favorite, a cult hero, a promise of a bright future.

And he has never taken a regular-season snap.

Colt Brennan finds himself in an intriguing situation as he enters his second season with the Washington Redskins. On the one hand, he'll once again be his team's third-string quarterback -- stuck behind oft-criticized Jason Campbell and 15-year veteran Todd Collins. On the other hand, a growing number of Redskins fans think he is the missing piece to their championship puzzle.

They want him in the lineup. Right now.

"It gives me something to play for, if there's that many people out there really supportive of me already, when I haven't even become a starter yet," Brennan told FanHouse on Thursday after Washington wrapped up its final practice of a four-day minicamp. "It feels good that there are a lot of people excited to see me.

"It motivates me, drives me to get out there and show them what I'm all about, that I appreciate the love."

The groundswell of love for Brennan has come at the expense of Campbell. In the 2005 NFL draft, Washington gave three picks to Denver for the No. 25 selection, then chose Campbell out of Auburn. By mid-2006, Campbell was starting full-time for the Redskins.

Now, just three years later, people are ready to run him out of town -- including some in Washington's front office. Earlier this offseason, Campbell was at the heart of trade rumors involving then-Denver QB Jay Cutler. Even though that deal fell through, the message was clear: the Redskins are not completely happy with Campbell's development.

"He's been the starter here and he's trying to build this team and lead this team to the playoffs," Collins said of Campbell, "and anytime you hear about maybe the organization not thinking highly enough to keep you there, that doesn't make you feel good."


For his part, Collins is the man stuck in the middle between Campbell and Brennan on the depth chart. Should Campbell falter in 2009, or suffer an injury, it would likely be Collins -- not Brennan -- who gets the nod. Collins' experience is a huge part of the reason why, but Brennan's also still very much in his developmental phase. An injury cost him much of last offseason, then he rode the pine all season.

Only now does Brennan feel comfortable as an NFL quarterback -- but feeling ready, and actually being ready to lead a team, are very different things.

"I'm throwing way better, way more confident," Brennan said. "There's so much you have to be responsible for, especially as a quarterback in the NFL. There's so many things this year, whereas I was thinking about them [last season], they're second nature to me now."

Brennan's ability to grasp the mental part of the NFL game has been as difficult -- perhaps even more so than taking steps forward physically.

"I walked up to him when he was on the line of scrimmage and said, 'Listen, we're telling you about all this technique and stuff, but eventually you've just got to play,' " Washington coach Jim Zorn said, recalling a moment from Thursday's practice. "It's about knowing those things, and just doing them naturally. He's got a ways to go, but he's progressing very fine."

Brennan came to Washington in the sixth round of the 2008 NFL draft as a bit of an unknown. There were questions about Brennan's arm strength, technique and decision-making. More than that, teams had concerns that Brennan's time in a wide-open spread offense at Hawaii would make it tough for him to move into a pro-style scheme.

"It's funny to see the bias about [spread quarterbacks], yet you look at the Patriots or Colts, how many times do you see them in shotgun slinging the ball around?" Brennan said. "There's a stereotype out there, but I'm not in the stereotype -- I can help break the barrier."

To smash those preconceived notions, though, he'll need to get a chance to play.

Misguided or not, the hope from plenty of Washington fans is that he'll have that opportunity very soon.