Ron Rivera wants open competition for Washington starting QB job

The expectation is that Ryan Fitzpatrick will ultimately be the starting quarterback for the Washington Football Team this season, but coach Ron Rivera isn’t going there yet.

Rivera said this week that he envisions an open competition for the role between Fitzpatrick and Taylor Heinicke, the presumed backup.

“It’s going to be a good competition,” Rivera said, via John Keim of ESPN. “I look forward to it. It’s going to push our football team and make our football team better. I just feel that going into this knowing we have a proven guy there that has the ability to lead us, but again, we have a guy in Taylor that shows us he can do it. They are going to compete, they are going to push, and I’m looking forward to it.”

Rivera hinted that the approach is something of a response to last season, when Dwayne Haskins was anointed the starter and saw full reps with the first team. Rivera admitted that in hindsight, that was a mistake, and Haskins hadn’t been as ready as he thought.

“The mistake I made was that my approach was wrong,” Rivera admitted. “I should have made as big a competition as possible, and that’s on me. I wanted to try and find a guy.”

Rivera’s decision is easier now. Fitzpatrick, a trusted veteran, is unlikely to get complacent no matter how the competition goes. Plus, Heinicke is drawing rave reviews after minicamp and looked solid in Washington’s playoff loss last season. Might as well let him see if he can outplay Fitzpatrick during camp and earn the job.