Washington Football Team what NOT to do at QB in 2022

What the Washington Football Team should avoid while searching for a quarterback this offseason.

The Washington Football Team franchise has been mired by below-average quarterback play for a long time. I’m 28 and have been actually following and knowing what’s going on with Washington for at least 20 years now. In that time I can honestly say they’ve never had a great quarterback.

Sure, there were times when I was really young that I thought they had great quarterbacks. 10-year-old Hunter thought Patrick Ramsey was the guy. I had a shrine to Gus Frerotte in my room. The point is, Washington fans know a little something about mediocre and below quarterback play.

It’s a cycle. There’s that time of hope that leads to disappointment, followed by nothing, ending with more hope. And we’re at that final hope spot again.

Who is the best QB Washington has had in the 2000s? One year of Robert Griffin III? A couple of seasons of Kirk Cousins? Alex Smith‘s “eh” numbers but winning games? Mark Brunell?

Well, now we’ve seen Taylor Heinicke for a year. He wasn’t miserable but it’s clear he shouldn’t be the starter moving forward. And there are options for the Washington Football Team this offseason. They can go the draft and try to find the new franchise guy. Or they can add a big name in free agency or via trade (Aaron Rodgers, Deshaun Watson, Russell Wilson, and Derek Carr are some options).

The question here is what should they do, it’s what should they not do?

Looking at the free agency pool/trade targets, that’s simple. Don’t get some average veteran. We’ve run that course plenty and it’s never worked.

No offense to someone like Jimmy Garoppolo. He might win a Super Bowl this year with the San Francisco 49ers. Leave that “he wins games” garbage at someone else’s door though. He barely had better stats than Heinicke this season. In the playoff game against the Green Bay Packers, he had 131 yards and no touchdowns (one interception) while completing less than 60% of his pass attempts.

That was a win thanks to their defense and Special Teams. It’s a team-game.

Garoppolo isn’t going to win you many games. He’s a solid QB but you need a great team around him. Washington’s tried doing that before and it doesn’t work for them. Just getting 8-9-10 games isn’t going to cut it.

I was born in 1993. Since then Washington has had exactly zero 11-win seasons and they’ve won a whopping two playoff games. You aren’t going to turn that around with Garoppolo unless you are elite in other categories. They weren’t elite anywhere in 2021.

Another option I saw was Mitchell Trubisky. No. Just no. Give me Heinicke over him all day and twice on Sundays. There’s a reason the Chicago Bears gave up on him. And they’ve been just as bad at that quarterback position historically as Washington has. My friend Harry is a Bears fan, and we always love to compare the poverty of our franchises when it comes to the QB position. We can never pick a winner. If Washington were to pick up Chicago’s failed attempt, I might win.

The point is if you’re going to trade for or sign a QB, make it a true “franchise” guy. Not someone that isn’t really a free agent or trade target “by choice” if you know what I mean. If Rodgers wants to stay in Green Bay, he’s staying in Green Bay. If Trubisky wants to stay with the Buffalo Bills – he might need to negotiate.

When it comes to the draft, make a choice and stick to it. There are going to be a lot of Twitter GMs claiming one QB is lightyears ahead of others or that a certain choice is terrible.

I don’t care if it’s Malik Willis, Kenny Pickett, Sam Howell, Matt Corral, Desmond Ridder, or anyone else. As long as you commit to him. Have a plan. Give him a chance to grow and prove himself. Don’t take multiple QBs. I know some people like that, but all it does is create controversy and has everyone questioning who should start whenever there’s a good or bad game from one of them.

It’s a waste of a pick, use that to get him another weapon. I hated when they did it with RGIII and Cousins and I’d hate it if they did it again. Show confidence and build around him.

If this guy doesn’t hit, cool that sucks. Try again a few years later. But try.

The Washington Football Team has one of the weakest histories in the NFL when it comes to quarterbacks. That can turn around at any moment if they make the right choice. The chances of making the right choice feel slim though. So just stay away from the obviously wrong ones and at least raise those chances a little bit.