Official Game Thread - Week 1 - Jaguars @ Commanders

[Boone]

 

[burgold]

I imagine if we'd lost then the Jags pick would have got rookie of the week. A sack and an interception is a pretty eye opening first game. Funny how slim the margins can be.

 

[Theismann To HOF]

If I remember correctly, Heinicke was both playing spectacular AND winning games last year, until 2 things happened :
Decimating injuries, and a Defense that slid off a cliff.
Now...Wentz is getting the benefits of the opposite of those. Neither of those have been an issue for Wentz, yet. In the one game he played, we had a mostly healthy offense, and a Defense that was solid. And even then, he barely won.
If I had to make a choice right at the moment, I'd still go with Heinicke.
Because while he may not have the long ball capabilities, his short to mid-ground passes actually look better than Wentz'
I'm confident we would have won that game with Heinicke too...just without the need for a comeback

Indeed....I think Washington would have won by a larger margin if Heinicke was the QB against Jacksonville.

 

[burgold]

I dunno. I think the NFL disagrees with you. There’s been a lot of QB movement the last two years. When anyone could have picked up Heinike there wasn’t interest and Washington got him really cheap. After watching him sixteen games, Washington traded for a QB? What was Hienike’s response? What was the NFL’s response?

Heinike said, “Well, I guess I’m a backup.”
The NFL said, “Shrug. He’s not worth trading for.”
Think how many teams were looking or changed QBs. Not one, as far as we know, floated a trade offer.

 

[Boone]

I think we can sum up the two guys pretty easily based on what we've seen to date:

Wentz:
Big. Strong arm. Tough (has played with significant injuries). Can make any throw required at NFL level. Historically makes good decisions (low INT %). Sometimes struggles with short gimme passes. Has made some highlight mistakes in key moments, and also played at the top of his peer group at times. Some questions about 'leadership'.

Heinicke:
Gamer. Decent arm. Short and sometimes has trouble finding receivers. Very good accuracy on throws he can make. Lacks strength and velocity to get the ball into tight windows or downfield. No quit in him. Courageous. Natural emotional leader players love. Will force the ball at times when play is not there. Dangerous as an RPO threat.

They both have their great qualities and neither's books are written in their entirety. I never understand why we have to tear down one guy to make the case for the other? We have half a century of NFL experience looking at both guys and determining Wentz is the better option. If he can't get it done, we'll root for Heinicke or Howell just as hard. That's the way it should be.

 

[Theismann To HOF]

I dunno. I think the NFL disagrees with you. There’s been a lot of QB movement the last two years. When anyone could have picked up Heinike there wasn’t interest and Washington got him really cheap. After watching him sixteen games, Washington traded for a QB? What was Hienike’s response? What was the NFL’s response?

Heinike said, “Well, I guess I’m a backup.”
The NFL said, “Shrug. He’s not worth trading for.”
Think how many teams were looking or changed QBs. Not one, as far as we know, floated a trade offer.

We don't know if the NFL disagrees with me. I bet a lot of GMs are laughing at Washington for spending $30 million on Wentz, when we have a better QB for $2 million in Heinicke.

The fact is that if the Washington defense didn't suck ass last year, Heinicke would still be the starter. This team was 7 - 10 last year because that defense was the worst since the 1960s. It's that simple.

If Wentz was the QB of this team last year, Washington would have won fewer than 7 games. Wentz cannot carry a bad team the way that Heinicke can. He's too robotic, he is not a gamer like Heinicke and he definitely doesn't have Heinicke's natural football instincts.

Wentz had good protection against the Jaguars, and yet he still made two really boneheaded decisions and threw several very inaccurate passes. My impartial opinion, as a football fan for 40 years, is that Wentz will not start another NFL season after this one. And I think there is a very good chance he won't make it through this season.

 

[Theismann To HOF]

I think we can sum up the two guys pretty easily based on what we've seen to date:

Wentz:
Big. Strong arm. Tough (has played with significant injuries). Can make any throw required at NFL level. Historically makes good decisions (low INT %). Sometimes struggles with short gimme passes. Has made some highlight mistakes in key moments, and also played at the top of his peer group at times. Some questions about 'leadership'.

Heinicke:
Gamer. Decent arm. Short and sometimes has trouble finding receivers. Very good accuracy on throws he can make. Lacks strength and velocity to get the ball into tight windows or downfield. No quit in him. Courageous. Natural emotional leader players love. Will force the ball at times when play is not there. Dangerous as an RPO threat.

They both have their great qualities and neither's books are written in their entirety. I never understand why we have to tear down one guy to make the case for the other? We have half a century of NFL experience looking at both guys and determining Wentz is the better option. If he can't get it done, we'll root for Heinicke or Howell just as hard. That's the way it should be.

It's not my intention to tear down Wentz. I never wanted him here in the first place. I felt that he was probably going to be bad news after watching him lose two games all by himself last year against the Titans and Jaguars.

I'll cheer for him. If he can prove me wrong, then I'll be the first to admit it. When Washington plays a team with a good pass rush, watch out. It could get very ugly very quickly.