Re: Burner's Burning Questions: Free Agency, Mocks, Camps, OTAs, Roster Predictions,
Burner's Burning Questions: Free Agency, Mocks, Camps, OTAs, Roster Predictions, 2019
Greetings from BBQ to everyone here at BGO. We hope you had a good weekend. Hello to everyone on social media. We'd love to have you as a member here and become part of the family.
OTAs, mini-camp, rookie camp, and the draft have passed into the history books. Training camp will be here in five weeks. We'll continue to cover it all and give everyone at BGO the best coverage possible.
BBQ begins our off-season evaluations and today we will take a look at the quarterbacks. Feel free to scroll back in this off-season blog and see what we have said about free agency, the draft, and take a look at what your fellow Redskins think of the team transactions over the last several months. After today, BBQ will take a look at each position and provide analysis over the next few weeks. Feel free to offer your own analysis as we go along.
Let's get right to it!
Quarterbacks:
Case Keenum
For now, BBQ is placing him as the starter due to his experience and success in the league. There will certainly be a competition in training camp and the preseason, but we could have some solid answers after two or three games in August. BBQ believes that the competition will be intense and has the potential to bring out the best in both quarterbacks. Assuming that Keenum is the opening day starter, how long will that last? It depends on two factors. First, Keenum will need to prove that he is the best option to lead the team to victories. Secondly, it all depends on the progress of Dwayne Haskins.
Dwayne Haskins
Haskins is the future, but how soon should he start? The season opener? Halfway into the season? The last two games? Does he sit the entire season? So much will depend on his grasp of the offense and a general feel for NFL defenses. If Keenum starts the season and is able to steer the team toward a possible division title or a serious playoff run, then Haskins could sit out all of 2019. That wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing, but he needs to be ready to take the reins in 2020. You don't sit a first round selection into his second season. Haskins will need to show that he is ready from day one, but it is more than likely that Keenum will start the season.
Others
In our first roster prediction recently, BBQ left Colt McCoy off the roster of fifty-three for several reasons. Jay Gruden typically prefers to keep two quarterbacks on the roster and he will probably make the same call this year. McCoy seemed to lose a step in 2018 and was woeful in the preseason and in his brief time during the regular season. He is injury prone and the Redskins need to have a reliably healthy option moving forward.
Josh Woodrum is simply a camp arm and likely plays in the fourth quarter (or less) in the preseason games.
Alex Smith
Alex Smith will be placed on injured reserve for 2019. He will likely have the fixator removed just after the 4th of July holiday, but he is still looking at a lengthy recovery. If he can fully recover, the earliest Smith can practice is probably next spring. It's also possible he could miss the 2020 season or be placed on the PUP list for several weeks. There is also a chance Smith could see his career come to an end. However, he can still have a very positive impact for the team in 2019 and 2020. The former number one overall pick from 2005 can serve as a mentor to both Keenum and Haskins in particular. Smith's contract likely keeps him in Washington until the 2021 off-season, but his impact can still be a huge positive for the Redskins – either as a backup or a mentor.
There is our first look at roster position evaluations this off-season. We will feature another position later in the week.