Washington Football Team quarterbacks: Three scenarios for 2020

Kyle Allen

The return of Smith to the quarterback conversation might seem to push Allen into the No. 3 spot, and there is a slight chance that he might not even make the final roster. But he probably will.

Allen took over for the injured Cam Newton in Carolina last year and played so well for several weeks that Panther fans were seriously debating whether Newton should get the starting job back when healthy. Allen would regress during the remainder of the season, and those conversations quickly ended. But if he didn’t establish that he could be a top-tier QB in 2020, Allen at least proved he belonged in the league.

Allen is also in an intriguing position in 2020. Typically, a new guy coming in to back up one — and possibly two — incumbent QBs would find himself buried on the depth chart. But the Washington Football Team has a new coaching staff, and when it comes to decisions about the offense, the two most important voices in the room — head coach Rivera and offensive coordinator Turner — are far more familiar with Allen than they are with either Haskins or Smith. They coached him last year in Carolina and thought enough of him to bring him to D.C.

And it isn’t as if the franchise doesn’t know what it means to elevate a lesser-hyped young QB over a bigger-named rival. See Cousins and Griffin. See Frerotte and Shuler. See Beck and Grossman. No — actually, don’t. Please don’t.

My best guess is that if Dwayne Haskins cannot complete the season, for whatever reason, Allen actually has a clearer path to the starting job than does Smith. I think Smith only takes over if the team is in contention, and if the team is in contention, it suggests Haskins will have been playing well. That means Smith is more likely to assume the starting role if Haskins suffers an injury. Were such an injury to occur early, when the season was still an open book, I could see Smith getting the nod. Were it to occur after the midpoint, the Washington Football Team would have to be in playoff contention for Smith to start. Otherwise, I think the coaches would want to see what Allen could do.

If Haskins is benched due to performance — which I repeat, I do not think will happen — then it is likely the team’s record is poor. In such a scenario, I think Allen would step in as the starter. Were he to do so, we could look for modest gains on his up and down 2019 campaign.

The numbers themselves would approximate what would be expected of Haskins — a passer rating flirting with 90 and a TD:INT ratio nearing 2:1. Those would be very good numbers for a UDFA in just his third season. More importantly for Allen, he would have to demonstrate enough consistency to show that his performance in his first four starts of 2019, in which he had a 7:0 TD:INT ratio, was not a fluke. In the remaining nine games, that ratio was a truly dreadful 10:16.

Overall, I kind of like the position in which the Washington Football Team finds itself with regard to its 2020 quarterbacks. I expect Haskins to have a strong year. I expect solid play from either backup if needed. Considering that less than two years ago, Mark Sanchez was lining up under center, 2020 looks to be headed in the right direction.

And if not, Babe is only 60.