Sonny Jurgensen.  Joe Theisman.  Doug Williams.  Mark Rypien.  Patrick Ramsey?  That's the talk around the nations capital as the most powerful city in the world is buzzing over Ramsey, the 23 year old kid from Louisiana who has given Washington Redskins fans something to cheer about for the first time in a long time and also has them wondering if the Redskins may finally have a quarterback for the future!  Ramsey, who came in off the bench in relief of an injured Danny Weurffel, led the Redskins to a 31-14 victory over the Tennessee Titans, showing remarkable poise for a rookie completing 20 of 34 passes for 268 yards and two touchdowns.

Who knew that when Ramsey stepped in for Weurffel in the first quarter that he would cement his position as the Redskins starting quarterback?  If you're saying you knew, you're wrong.  Ramsey, after all, has overcome a lot of hurdles to get to where he is now.  First there was the 16 day hold out during training camp that not only put him at the bottom of the depth chart on a team where he could have easily competed for the starting job, but even worse put him in the dog house with the ol' ball coach himself, Redskins head coach Steve Spurrier.  If that wasn't enough Ramsey had to learn one of the most complex offensive systems in the league, Spurrier's Fun-N-Gun.  Oh, and did I mention that Ramsey was almost traded to the Chicago Bears because of that 16 day hold out?

So when you look back to all of the obstacles that stood in Ramsey's way in route to his rookie season with the Redskins, you have to be amazed when you sit back and think about what he did against the Titans.  Not only did he lead the Redskins to the end-zone, but he did it on plays that rookie quarterbacks aren't supposed to make.  When a rookie quarterback is in the game, you know one thing is for sure: the defense is going to blitz, blitz and blitz some more and that's exactly what the Titans did.  Unlike Matthews and Weurffel when the pocket collapsed under pressure, Ramsey made something out of nothing, showing not only the cannon arm that everyone knew he possessed, but also putting touch on the ball in a way that no one knew he could.

But while being able to put touch on the ball is a great thing for a quarterback to have, Ramsey was drafted on one thing and one thing alone: his incredible arm strength.  He went to Tulane for goodness sake!  They're not exactly up there with Miami, Florida St. and Texas, in terms of producing top-notch NFL talent.   Ramsey's arm strength and ability to stay poised in a collapsing pocket despite not being very mobile are what convinced the Redskins to use their first round pick in the 2002 draft on him.

That arm strength and incredible poise in the pocket are exactly what Ramsey showed against the Titans.  Even more impressive was Ramsey's apparent knowledge of the oh-so-complicated Fun-N-Gun, a system which requires a quarterback to call many audibles to his wide receivers at the line of scrimmage.  Ramsey seemed on top of everything and despite getting knocked around a little bit in his first couple of series, he regrouped and proceeded to pick the Titans apart with one rocket pass after another leading the Skins to victory.

Now as great as Ramsey's performance was, and it was a sight to behold for Redskins fans, there are a couple of factors that should be considered. First off, the Titans are playing really bad football as of late.  Even though the Titans have been a serious contender the last few years, things have changed drastically. The fact that Steve McNair has absolutely no weapons at wide receiver seems to have finally caught up with him and their offensive line just isn't opening up any holes for Eddie George.  Second, their best defensive player, defensive end Jevon Kearse, is out with a foot injury.  So basically Ramsey faced the Titans at their worst and was picking apart a team in turmoil.  Not to take anything away from his performance, but the Titans are definitely a team on a downward spiral.

Aside from the Titans' many problems however, at the end of the day you can't take away the fact that Ramsey played incredible for a rookie quarterback getting thrown into the fire the way he did.  But aside from the crisp rocket passes and the incredible poise shown under pressure, this is a rookie quarterback we're talking about, and that means growning pains. Despite the fact that Ramsey won the starting quarterback job because of his performance, don't expect to see this from him week in and week out.  The Skins schedule is just too tough, with no games against the Bengals in sight.

However, even with a difficult schedule looming, Ramsey has a chance to do something that very few men who have worn the burgundy and gold have been able to do: win over the city of Washington playing the quarterback position.  No NFL city cares about the quarterback position like D.C. does, period.  Ask any former Redskins quarterback and they'll tell you that sometimes it's easier playing on the road than it is at home.

There are two ways for a Redskins quarterback to forever win over the hearts of Washington:  win a Super Bowl or play consistently for a long time, otherwise they'll boo you out of town.  It's almost ironic that in his first home game as a starter Ramsey will step onto the field wearing the retro uniforms from the 60's that the Redskins wear at home this year to commemorate their 70th anniversary.  The same exact helmet with the spear and the dark maroon jersey's and gold pants that were worn by Jergensen, the one Redskins quarterback who is still treated like a king in D.C. after all these years.

Is it a sign?  Maybe.  Ramsey has D.C. buzing.  He's got the arm, and more importantly the leadership qualities and personality that could make him the toast of D.C. if he keeps launching touchdowns into the endzone.  Nothing in D.C. is bigger than the quarterback of the Redskins, and for the first time in a long time, it looks like the Redskins have found someone who can handle that.