The Washington Football Team needs a franchise quarterback, the loss to the Philadelphia Eagles highlighted that miserably.
The Washington Football Team was absolutely decimated heading into their Week 15 against the Philadelphia Eagles. This was thanks mainly to an outbreak of COVID-19 in the locker room, as well as a string of injuries plaguing the team.
Due to this, Washington didn’t have Taylor Heinicke or Kyle Allen. And they had to bring in Garrett Gilbert to play quarterback. As you could guess, this didn’t go all that well. Washington’s offense was completely stagnant the entire game, and they suffered a 27-17 loss. In the game, they picked up just 237 yards of total offense – that’s bad bad.
And the game highlighted Washington’s desperate need for a quarterback.
Now, I know you could argue that it was already pretty obvious that they needed a quarterback. And you could also say that a game that featured a 30-year-old QB making his second career start and just getting signed from a different team’s practice squad a few days ago doesn’t prove anything.
But it was more about the other side of the ball. Washington Football Team fans had to sit there and watch as Jalen Hurts made plays all night – with his arm and his legs. Meanwhile, Washington struggled just to pick up first downs.
In fact, Philadelphia had more rushing yards (238) than Washington had total yards of offense. And Hurts plays a big role in that. Oh, and his 296 passing yards also easily surpassed Washington’s total yards of offense as well.
Yes, if Heinicke was healthy we likely would’ve watched a more competent offense. We all still would have seen a team surging towards the playoffs with their young franchise quarterback though – and for what feels like the millionth time it wouldn’t be Washington doing so.
You could look to free agency to find a solution. And who knows, maybe the answer is there. They tried that this year. And to be fair, who knows maybe it would have worked? But Ryan Fitzpatrick played one half of football before going down with a season-ending injury.
Even if it was successful though, you get what one or two seasons from the now 39-year-old before you have to move on?
The Dallas Cowboys had Tony Romo, then moved on to Dak Prescott. Philadelphia had Donovan McNabb, then meddled around with a couple of people (most notably Michael Vick to success), then Carson Wentz (and Nick Foles), and now have Hurts. Daniel Jones isn’t looking all that great with the New York Giants but there’s still hope for him, and they had Eli Manning for a long time before him.
What has the Washington Football Team done in that time? Nothing. Even worse, they’ve made very few efforts to actually get that franchise guy. Remember when they tried to convince everyone that 30-year-old John Beck (who was 0-4 in his career) was the answer? Then gave up on him after three games because obviously, that didn’t work? They then moved on to veteran Rex Grossman.
What about Tony Banks? Shane Matthews? Mark Brunell was solid but again it was an older (average-to-slightly-above-average) quarterback being brought in. Or that time they traded for an old McNabb?
The Washington Football Team has made very few efforts to get the young franchise QB in the last 20 years. Jason Campbell was a first-rounder. He didn’t pan out but they did absolutely nothing to help him, including giving him new coaches and offenses every single year.
Robert Griffin III was meant to be the future. Fair play to Washington for going all-in to get him. That was weird though. An injury derailed his career, there’s a chance the coaches were sabotaging the whole situation. A bunch of wild stuff came out of that. Kirk Cousins was taken in that same draft (again, weird). And he was a solid quarterback for Washington for a few years.
Then they traded again for a slightly-above-average veteran in Alex Smith. After an injury to him, they moved to Case Keenum. They did take Dwayne Haskins in the first round. That went about as bad as anything could possibly go.
So there are some first-round QBs in there. But it all just seems so lackadaisical though. Like there was some effort, but not all that much.
And yes, even if you take a QB in the draft and he is a stud that won’t stop injuries (or in this case a COVID outbreak) from forcing a weird situation as the one Washington had in Week 15. But it was just the stark contrast. A 30-year-old desperation starter vs. the future of a rival franchise. It really made the dire situation pop out at you.
All three other NFC East teams have had legitimate franchise quarterbacks for long periods of time over the last 20 seasons. Washington hasn’t had one for a single season even (unless you count all the excitement surrounding RGIII after his rookie year).
Dallas and Philadelphia moved on pretty gracefully. The Cowboys transitioned seamlessly from Romo to Prescott. Two elite QBs.
Philadelphia went from McNabb to Vick, to Wentz, to Hurts. That’s an elite QB, then a great QB (only talking about his time in Philly so don’t attack me obviously he was insane in Atlanta), to a very good QB, to a potentially great QB.
New York went from Manning to Jones. Manning was elite, Jones is bad in my opinion but at least they made an effort and he’s given them some hope that he could still be the future.
The Washington Football has just fumbled from one dud to the next with a few decent seasons sprinkled in. Yes, they need help in the secondary and on the offensive line. They could upgrade at linebacker. They need more wide receivers. And running back is sort of a question mark again. But until they get a QB nothing else will matter.