The Washington Football Team won the NFC East in 2020 with an oddball situation at at quarterback, with former first-round pick Dwayne Haskins, Ron Rivera guy Kyle Allen, comeback king Alex Smith and young journeyman Taylor Heinicke all taking turns, leading to Heinicke's near-heroic work in the playoff loss to Tampa Bay.
All in all, the Football Team recognized a trouble spot, and this offseason set about to fixing that. quarterback. Haskins (now in Pittsburgh) already having been sent away, coach Rivera did the same with the now-retired Smith. Heinicke was re-signed, and then the WFT signed veteran Ryan Fitzpatrick in free agency.
Problem solved?
Not according to Bleacher Report, which lists NFL teams' "red flags'' entering the 2021 season. B/R's take?
The "red flag'' is quarterback depth. Writes B/R: "Fitzpatrick has played well over the last couple of years, but he has been wildly unreliable in the past. He’s had five seasons with a passer rating below 80.0 and led the league in interceptions in 2011. ... If Fitzpatrick does struggle, Washington could be in trouble. ... Kyle Allen started four games last year and went 1-3. Taylor Heinicke has just two career starts under his belt (counting the playoffs), while Steven Montez has never taken an NFL snap.
"With a defense that ranked second in yards allowed last season, an improved receiving corps and a versatile backfield, the Football Team has the pieces needed to return to the postseason. If Fitzpatrick gets injured or plays poorly, however, it could spell disaster.''
We wonder if kicker isn't a bigger concern, and if the O-line might be one guy short of "pretty good.'' So "red-flag'' those spots, too. But we might argue that if one believes that Fitzpatrick is decent, and if one believes that Rivera intends for Heinicke to "compete'' with Fitz for the job (and maybe Allen is in the competition, too), then the drop-off from one guy to the next won't be that steep.
Washington’s depth at QB, we don't think is a glaring problem. It's the Football Team's play at QB that needs to be substantially better than it was a year ago. And that's not on the backups; that'll be on Fitz.
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