Maybe it's time to call an audible

Think something that happens 3,000 miles away can’t affect your sports happiness? Wrong. Matt Barkley’s decision Thursday to return to Southern Cal for his senior season directly affects the Redskins’ ability to draft an elite quarterback in next spring’s draft. And that, in turn, could cause more miserable Sundays in the coming years. That’s because Barkley was considered in nearly the same class as Stanford’s Andrew Luck — the expected No. 1 pick — and Baylor’s Robert Griffin III, the Heisman Trophy winner. Most teams would be happy to go to war with any of the three for the next 10 years. And as we’ve seen this season, rookie quarterbacks are often more NFL-ready now.

Washington is slated to pick seventh. Assuming Luck goes first to the Colts, that leaves five teams who could nab Griffin instead. St. Louis (Sam Bradford) and Tampa Bay (Josh Freeman) have talented young quarterbacks in place. Jacksonville (Blaine Gabbert) and Minnesota (Christian Ponder) each took one last year. But Cleveland might be looking for a quarterback to replace Colt McCoy.