For a time, grading the Redskins at quarterback was easy.
From 2015 to 2017, the Washington Redskins started only one quarterback, for a full 48 games: Michigan State product Kirk Cousins.
While Cousins had his flaws, he was an able starter in the NFL, and one that helped the Redskins at least find a semblance of security at the quarterback position, something they haven’t traditionally had.
In the offseason of 2018, however, Cousins left for greener pastures, and the Redskins attempted to maintain their security by trading for Kansas City Chiefs veteran Alex Smith. For a time, Smith’s presence achieved its purpose.
And then, it all fell apart. Brisk, and chaotic.
The Redskins quarterback saga in 2018 was a roller coaster in the worst way, emanating shades of 1994, and 2002, and the mid-2000s just after, and 2014. It was the first season in franchise history in which the Redskins started four quarterbacks. It was chaos. How do you grade chaos?
Take a look.
Mark Sanchez
Can I skip this slide?
No? Okay, then.
Let’s be fair; it couldn’t have been easy for Mark Sanchez to come to the playoff-aspiring Redskins midseason, with almost no time to prepare and acclimate himself with his receivers.
That said, if Josh Johnson can come in and do the same thing, in the same season, with the same team, at a higher level, then Sanchez must be graded properly by extension. Because he did not play quarterback at a high level.
In two game appearances, which totaled to just over four quarters of football, Sanchez completed 19 of 35 passes for 138 yards and three interceptions. He was the only Redskins quarterback who, with at least one start, failed to log a single passing touchdown. His stats amount to a 28.0 passer rating, and his interception percentage was 8.6.
It’s safe to say Sanchez won’t be in burgundy and gold for another year.
Mark Sanchez’s 2018 Grade: F
Colt McCoy
It isn’t hard to root for Colt McCoy. The former Browns draft pick almost saw his career finished by the turnstile of quarterback tumult in Cleveland, and after spending a season with the 49ers as a backup, he found his way to Washington, where he would wait, for four years, for an opportunity like what he had earlier this year.
When Alex Smith went down, in the midst of a possible playoff season, the fans looked to Colt McCoy to finish the job Smith had started. Some saw him as a dark horse candidate to re-invigorate an offense in neutral, as his gunslinger style had been well-documented over the years.
McCoy brought a bit of spark to the Redskins offense, but he also brought the turnovers they’d naturally avoided with Smith at the helm. In his first start, a Thanksgiving game against the Cowboys, McCoy completed 24 of 38 passes for 268 yards, two touchdowns, and three interceptions. In a game that required more offense, McCoy provided such a thing, but at the cost of far less ball security, and the concession of the time of possession battle.
The next week, after completing his first four passes for 50 yards, McCoy was injured, and did not return, relinquishing the game to Mark Sanchez. McCoy would finish the year with three touchdowns and three interceptions. With another opportunity cut short, and a contract that runs through 2020, it’s hard to imagine McCoy doing anything else, other than to wait again.
Colt McCoy’s 2018 Grade: C
Josh Johnson
For a time, Josh Johnson was a beacon of hope, for a city that needed it far too badly.
The Redskins signed Johnson after their first quarrel against the Eagles, in which backup quarterback Colt McCoy was lost to the season with a broken leg. Johnson, who had not logged an NFL start since 2011, was assigned to be Mark Sanchez’s backup. But when Sanchez threw for 38 yards and two interceptions in three quarters, Johnson was subbed in, to give any kind of life at all to the Redskins, who were down 40-0 to the Giants.
In one quarter, Johnson brought the final to 40-16, throwing for 195 yards and a touchdown, while also scoring another on the ground. His performance was overshadowed by the monstrosity of a loss that occurred, but the next week, he’d have another chance to prove himself. And he did.
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Johnson led the Redskins to a low-scoring win over the admittedly limping Jacksonville Jaguars, and in that effort, he showed poise and level-headedness in the pocket against one of the league’s most relentless pass rushing units. Johnson’s mobility served him well again, as he ran for almost 50 yards, keeping Washington’s offense moving when it needed to, in any way possible.
The Jacksonville win was Johnson’s first career win as a starter, at 32 years old. It was a Cinderella story Redskins fans, who’d seen their season collapse so swiftly before their eyes, needed at the time. But that story was not meant to last. Although Johnson had a stellar first half against Tennessee, he’d close out the final five quarters of the season with three interceptions. His final stat line? 52 for 91, 590 yards, four total touchdowns, four interceptions.
Still, this shouldn’t be an assumed good-bye for Johnson. The veteran displayed steely resolve on the field, amidst very tough circumstances. Think about it; this was a man who was thrown behind a makeshift offensive line, in an offense he’d used Madden to learn team mates’ names. And he led them to a win. Players likened Johnson’s leadership to that of Alex Smith, an exalted endorsement for the San Diego product, for those who know how highly Smith was regarded in less than one year with the team.
The end may not have been so grand. But Johnson did more than enough to earn a place in the NFL again, and if the Redskins are smart, they’ll at least explore the possibility of keeping him aboard for 2019. With their degree of uncertainty at quarterback, they could use a cheap set of idle feet and healthy legs.
Josh Johnson’s 2018 Grade: B-
Alex Smith
If 2018 was the last time we’ll see Alex Smith on the field, then the veteran quarterback deserved a better send-off.
When players sat by their lockers, after the Redskins season-ending defeat at the hands of the Philadelphia Eagles, the questions revolved around the collapse. They had once been 6-3. Knocking on the door of the NFC playoffs. What happened? Where did it all go so wrong?
They all pointed to December 18th. Houston. When Alex Smith was lost. One player, when granted anonymity, said this:
“Everything fell apart when Alex went down.”
From a front office perspective, Smith’s injury was the unmasking of a fraudulent playoff team, and the unraveling of a winning philosophy that was unsustainable, in the face of high-octane offenses such as the Chiefs and the Rams. It sped the exposure of a team that was not quite built to win in the modern NFL.
But from a player perspective, Smith’s injury destroyed the winning philosophy that they’d all grown to believe in. Smith, the glue of the locker room and the team itself, was lost, and so too was the team’s season. In a sport as complicated as football, somehow, it’s as simple as that.
Smith had his drawbacks in 2018. He didn’t push the ball down the field as often as some would like. His offense rarely piled on points; he finished the year with ten touchdowns in ten games. But Smith, as a player and a leader combined, was the only reason the Redskins were ever competitive in 2018 at all. His time-of-possession dominant style gave the defense valuable rest, and it allowed the Redskins offense to hold serve against lesser teams.
For a fan base losing faith, in desperate need of a jolt – something, anything – Smith was a godsend. For a team in need of a leader to follow, to give them something to play for… Smith was a godsend. While his play didn’t always inspire with dazzling offensive explosions, he always gave the Redskins a chance.
Alex Smith’s 2018 Grade: B+
Now, Smith’s football future is in doubt after complications from the surgery done to repair his compound fracture suffered against the Texans. And the players, and the fans, need something else to believe in. That Smith might come back from a career-threatening injury, and lead his team to a win again.
They’ll be waiting.