Long wait well worth it for Skins QB

ASHBURN, Va. -- The quarterback must wait.

That's the only way this offense that depends so much upon timing will work. The quarterback must stand tall even as the defense compresses around him and he must wait while his receivers execute their routes.

Patience isn't just a virtue for Al Saunders' offense in Washington, it's a necessity. One that explains Todd Collins' recent success.

The man knows how to wait. He has waited for 10 years now, preparing as a backup quarterback for an opportunity with no guarantees.

"I didn't know when it was going to come," Collins said. "It took a long time. I just wanted to be ready for that time so I had no regrets."

And with Washington's season on the line, starting quarterback Jason Campbell went down in the second quarter. Collins came into a scoreless game, and the Redskins never looked back, winning the game against the Bears and the next three games that Collins started.

"To be honest with you, he was poised," guard Jason Fabini said of Collins. "Just like he'd been in there before."

Well, Collins had been there before, but that was 10 years ago when he was in Buffalo serving as Jim Kelly's successor. Collins, 36, hadn't thrown a regular-season pass in three years when he stepped onto the field against Chicago, yet he performed just like the man who calls Washington's offense expected him to.

"I've never, ever doubted his ability to perform at a very high level," said Saunders, who has coached Collins eight seasons.

Second chance in D.C.

Collins is a 6-foot-4 quarterback with a wry sense of humor and a command of so many offbeat facts that one teammate jokingly called him Cliff Clavin.

He threw five touchdown passes in Washington's final four regular-season games, hasn't been intercepted in 10 years and was just named the NFC's Offensive Player of the Month for December.

When December began, Campbell had attempted a total of 27 regular-season passes in the past nine-plus seasons.

Twenty-eight quarterbacks were chosen in the first round during the decade between Collins' starts. Five of those 28 started for playoff teams at some point this season. Five are now out of the league. So for all the millions that NFL teams spend, picking a quarterback remains not much more than a 50-50 proposition.

"None of us are as smart as we think we are when it comes to selecting or drafting quarterbacks," said Dick Vermeil, who coached Collins in Kansas City.

For every Peyton Manning, there is a Tim Couch. For every Ben Roethlisberger who steps in to find immediate success, there is a Collins who spends 10 years on the shelf.

The starting quarterbacks in Saturday's playoff game at Qwest Field share geography and one common lesson about the position's unpredictability.

Matt Hasselbeck was not invited to the NFL's scouting combine and was chosen in the sixth round.

Hasselbeck lived a few miles away from Collins in New England. As an eighth-grader, Hasselbeck even watched Collins play once at Walpole (Mass.) High School.

"He was a stud in high school," Hasselbeck said.

He wasn't too bad in college, either, at Michigan, becoming a second-round pick who was the Bills' starter for one season and then spent a decade waiting for a second chance.

A long time coming

Surprised?

That's not the right word for Vermeil's reaction to Collins' success. Happy? Definitely.

"He's the kind of person that everybody on the squad really respects and wants to do well," Vermeil said. "Very bright, and he has a great sense of humor. I never had anybody at that position who could play so well without any practice reps."

Vermeil was one of Collins' biggest advocates. Vermeil said he remembers twice reaching out to a coach taking over an NFL team and making a stump speech for Collins, hoping to get him a starting job. Neither pitch panned out.

The Chiefs had Trent Green at the time. He came to Kansas City with Vermeil and didn't miss a snap in five seasons, so Collins progressed into his 30s with nothing more than preseason success for credentials.

So Collins did what a quarterback must in the offense Vermeil and Saunders ran in Kansas City. He waited.

"He just hasn't had the opportunity," Saunders said.

Saunders was with Kansas City when Collins arrived in 1998, coached the next two years in St. Louis and then returned to K.C. with Vermeil.

Collins pitched in high school, but it was never his fastball that impressed NFL coaches. It was his touch, his timing and an understanding of an offense he knew from all those seasons with Saunders.

"He's a very accurate passer," Saunders said. "He's going to put the ball in the hands of the playmakers. He's a timing, rhythm quarterback that can throw the ball with anticipation. That kind of a player fits what we do."

Saunders left Kansas City after Vermeil retired in 2005, heading to Washington to become the assistant head coach in charge of the offense. Collins followed, as third-string quarterback last season. He beat out Mark Brunell for the backup job this season.

And in the second quarter of Washington's game against Chicago, Campbell was injured. Enter Collins, a man who hadn't attempted a regular-season pass since 2004.

"I've been playing quarterback my whole life, so it's kind of like second nature," Collins said, "even though it's been such a long layoff."

This was the opportunity he waited for since 1998. And once he got his chance, he stood in the pocket while the offense developed in front of him.

Patience. It's what makes Washington's offense work, and it's an attribute that Collins turned into a career.

"Right now, the timing is right for Todd and the circumstances are right," Saunders said. "I think he wishes it was eight years ago, but it is what it is right now, and he's just playing at a very terrific level."

Danny O'Neil: 206-464-2364 or doneil@seattletimes.com