NFL: Ranking every quarterback midseason
By Nick Villano
NFL: Ranking every quarterback midseason: 23. Taylor Heinicke – Washington Football Team
Taylor Heinicke was never supposed to be on this list. The Washington Football Team gave Ryan Fitzpatrick a $10 million contract in the offseason, but he got hurt almost immediately. Heinicke has been under center since Week 1. He really only has one dreadful performance, Week 5 against the New Orleans Saints. Besides that, he’s been gloriously average.
That’s not too bad if this was last year’s Washington team. They were so good on defense he could probably win the NFC East by being average. The issue is the Washington defense has been one of the worst in the NFL this season. That is putting a lot more pressure on Heinicke to perform.
It’s not like he’s not performing. Going into Week 8, he has three multi-touchdown performances and should have added a touchdown rushing against the Green Bay Packers, which would make it four. He’s making some plays, but he hasn’t really unlocked the best of his best receiver Terry McLaurin.
Heinicke is fine for right now, but he has serious limits that will hurt the team if he doesn’t get it right. He’s still somewhat young, and if the Washington Football Team thinks there’s a possibility he could be the future, they need to let this play out. He could make the top 20 on this list by the end of the season.