Former Washington Football Team head coach Jay Gruden is hanging out in Jacksonville and playing a lot of golf these days after new boss Urban Meyer did not retain him as the Jaguars offensive coordinator.
Gruden was only with Jacksonville for a year after serving as head coach of the WFT from 2014 through October 2019.
To last five years under Dan Snyder is quite the tribute to the younger brother of Jon, the Las Vegas Raiders head coach.
With the recent Washington splash in free agency, Gruden's unfiltered opinion on what his former organization did at quarterback carries weight.
Will this work?
"Yeah I think so," Gruden said on The TEAM 980 in Washington D.C.'s "Russell & Medhurst" show. "I know Kenny Zampese [Washington Football QB coach] at Cincinnati had him -- he was the QB coach there. He always spoke very highly of him...It's a good fit."
Fitzpatrick was only with the Bengals for a bit over one season. Zampese served as quarterback coach for Gruden, who was the offensive coordinator for three seasons before becoming the head field general in Washington.
"It's a good security blanket to have,'' Gruden said of Fitzpatrick, entering his 17th NFL season. "You can still let the young guys compete and if they're not quite ready, you got a veteran like Ryan that can lead the show and win you a lot of games. He's proven that. At the end of the day, if one of these young guys emerge as a quality starter, he's going to be a quality backup.''
That's not Fitzpatrick's plan, of course. He's the QB1. But Gruden's point about his accomplishments is inarguable.
Gruden knows a good quarterback from a bad one. He immediately soured on Robert Griffin III, whom he inherited and after a bit of instability, chose to go with Kirk Cousins, who has gone on to be a top-third-of-the-league quarterback for the last six years.
If Fitzpatrick can stay healthy, which has not been a problem in his career, he should easily beat out Taylor Heinicke and Kyle Allen for the starting job.
"He's a great guy to have on your team, a great leader and a good fit,'' Gruden said. "He can win games for you as a starter and still be a positive role (model) for the backup position."
More must-reads: