State of the Washington QB
by Phil Walker February 2, 2021
“What a long strange trip it’s been” sang Jerry Garcia. Who would have thought that “Truckin” by the Grateful Dead would successfully describe the Washington Football Team’s (WFT) quarterback (QB) experience over the last 3 years. WFT had three coaching staffs starting 8 different QBs. That is counting that 2018 disaster in Philadelphia where Mark Sanchez mercifully played his last NFL game. Here is the list of the notorious culprits. This is not meant to be a horror article. So, Tantor omitted Sanchez’s stats.
Tantor wants a guy that will complete a high percentage of his passes, throw the ball down the field (no Check Down Charlie), throw TDs and does not turn the ball over. Tantor likes to keep it simple. Based upon the above statistics, none of our beloved WFT QBs had great numbers. Nor did any of them succeed on the field. Tantor knows Alex Smith had a winning record in games he started, but would argue that his defense was the reason behind the victories.
Check Down Charlie is what I like to call the QB that looks at the first read, declines that route and throws to the outlet receiver within 5 yards of the line of scrimmage. Optimists call that taking what the defense is giving you. Tantor calls it gutless quarterbacking. Which usually leads to losses. Take the anemic AYA of 6.5 and lower, combined with a low completion rate of 65% or less, and we get Dwayne Haskins and Josh Johnson. Alex Smith is a check down QB that does throw some picks.
JAG or Just Another Guy is what is an average NFL QB. He does not make you better and will not put the team on his back and win games, but he will not lose you any games either. He can keep the team competitive and maybe get you to the playoffs. Only if your defense and special teams are elite. Here you will find Kyle Allen, Taylor Heinicke, Colt McCoy and Case Keenum in our police line-up of usual suspects. We have mid-sixties completion percentage, with AYA of around 7 and more TDs than Ints thrown. They are average JAGs in the NFL.
Here are some of the latest NFL QBs in the news:
Check Down Charlie is what I like to call the QB that looks at the first read, declines that route and throws to the outlet receiver within 5 yards of the line of scrimmage. Optimists call that taking what the defense is giving you. Tantor calls it gutless quarterbacking. Which usually leads to losses. Take the anemic AYA of 6.5 and lower, combined with a low completion rate of 65% or less, and we get Dwayne Haskins and Josh Johnson. Alex Smith is a check down QB that does throw some picks.
JAG or Just Another Guy is what is an average NFL QB. He does not make you better and will not put the team on his back and win games, but he will not lose you any games either. He can keep the team competitive and maybe get you to the playoffs. Only if your defense and special teams are elite. Here you will find Kyle Allen, Taylor Heinicke, Colt McCoy and Case Keenum in our police line-up of usual suspects. We have mid-sixties completion percentage, with AYA of around 7 and more TDs than Ints thrown. They are average JAGs in the NFL.
Here are some of the latest NFL QBs in the news:
Notice that the LA Rams traded 2 first and a third round draft picks plus Gared Goff to the Lions for Matthew Stafford. Look at their statistics and tell me who got the better end of that deal. Popular opinion on all sports talk is hammering Goff, but his stats are on par with Stafford. Data suggests that the Rams traded a bunch of capital to get back the same older guy. They are nothing but JAGs.
Compare our Check Down Charlies and our JAGs with the MVP candidates.
Compare our Check Down Charlies and our JAGs with the MVP candidates.
Look at what all these MVP candidates have in common. High completion rates, AYA in the 8s, and they rarely throw picks. Deshaun Watson wants out of Houston. His stats are clearly superior to Stafford in every way. His trade value would be astronomical and completely unaffordable for any team.
Bringing it full circle to Washington, would Tantor trade away every draft choice for the next three years for Deshaun Watson? Of course not, WFT is a flawed team with many deficiencies needing to be addressed. Watson, while being the best QB in the league, only fixes one problem. WFT would still be a flawed team. Tantor is happy that WFT did not pay a king’s ransom for a JAG as did the Rams.
WFT already has two JAGS on the roster, Kyle Allen and Taylor Heinicke. Stafford’s statistics are only slightly better than either of those guys. The clear choice for the WFT is to draft a college QB, and play our two JAGs in 2021 (Allen and Heinicke). The Football Team could get lucky and hit on that draft choice. Their luck is changing. For the first time in 25 years, the WFT is no longer the worst run NFL franchise. That honor goes to the Houston Texans. Thank You Houston, love Tantor.
Bringing it full circle to Washington, would Tantor trade away every draft choice for the next three years for Deshaun Watson? Of course not, WFT is a flawed team with many deficiencies needing to be addressed. Watson, while being the best QB in the league, only fixes one problem. WFT would still be a flawed team. Tantor is happy that WFT did not pay a king’s ransom for a JAG as did the Rams.
WFT already has two JAGS on the roster, Kyle Allen and Taylor Heinicke. Stafford’s statistics are only slightly better than either of those guys. The clear choice for the WFT is to draft a college QB, and play our two JAGs in 2021 (Allen and Heinicke). The Football Team could get lucky and hit on that draft choice. Their luck is changing. For the first time in 25 years, the WFT is no longer the worst run NFL franchise. That honor goes to the Houston Texans. Thank You Houston, love Tantor.