Is It Taylor Heinicke Time in Washington?

News broke last week that The Washington Football Team is expected to part ways with Alex Smith. The news comes after a somewhat disappointing season.

In just six starts Alex Smith had 6 touchdowns, 8 interceptions, and just under 1,600 yards passing. Although disappointing stats-wise, it is still a remarkable comeback from the injury he sustained two years prior, and at the age of 36, Smith has expressed interest in continuing to play.

With Alex Smith departing, The Washington Football Team has a few options as to who will start for them at quarterback next year.

Trade and Draft Options

There are still many looming trade rumors running around the league. In February, it was reported that Russell Wilson is not happy with his situation in Seattle and Deshawn Watson has hinted several times that he wants out of Houston. Although both of these options are high-priced targets and have gathered a lot of interest from multiple teams in the league, not to mention, both Seattle and Houston have stood their ground and have made it clear that they are not interested in trading their star quarterbacks.

Some more approachable targets could be Teddy Bridgewater or Jimmy Garropolo. There have been reports that the Panthers and 49ers are looking to upgrade at the quarterback position. If Washington wants to pursue this option they would most likely need to get a third team involved in the offer, as they don’t have a quarterback or high draft pick to offer.

Speaking of draft picks, Washington currently has the 19th pick in the draft. This is presumably too low of a pick in the first round to grab one of the top three prospects. Some mock drafts even have the top five prospects getting drafted by the time Washington will be on the clock. Also, Bleacher Report’s Paul Kasabian reported back in January that Washington is more interested in a veteran quarterback.

Taylor Heinicke Time

If all trade options fall through for Washington they should seriously consider giving Taylor Heinicke a year to prove himself.

Heinicke has only started in one game in his NFL career. You might remember it from earlier this year in a playoff game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Heinicke Game Stats:

Passing Yards – 306

Passing Touchdowns – 1

Interceptions – 1

Completion % – 59.1%

QBR – 78.4

Rushing Yards – 46

Rushing Touchdowns – 1

The stats aren’t anything special, but the game film says otherwise.

One thing that you can see from the game film that doesn’t show on the stats is Heinicke’s escapability. Mobility could be a big factor in Washington’s decision with Alex Smith. Smith only had 3 rushing yards this season and suffered 22 sacks in just 8 games (2 of those games not starting at quarterback).

It is a small sample size of only one game, but Heinicke proved in that game that he deserves some consideration for a shot to start at quarterback. Chase Young might agree.