Washington Football Team signs QB Taylor Heinicke to back up Dwayne Haskins
Taylor Heinicke will back up Dwayne Haskins for the Washington Football Team.
The Washington Football Team made another quarterback change ahead of their Week 15 game against the Seattle Seahawks. With Alex Smith dealing with a calf injury, Dwayne Haskins is set to make his first start since a Week 4 game against the Baltimore Ravens.
However, that wasn’t the only change the team needed. Because Smith was unable to play and Kyle Allen is on season-ending IR, Washington needed to add a backup quarterback to their roster. They had a couple on the practice squad, Taylor Heinicke and Steven Montez, and the choice of which passer to entrust in that role was a fascinating one.
On one hand, Heinicke is a veteran who has experience in Scott Turner‘s offense. On the other hand, Montez has been in Washington since going undrafted in the 2020 NFL Draft and has drawn some solid reviews from the coaching staff.
More from Riggo's Rag
- Highlighting the best Commanders 2023 NFL Draft betting props
- 3 late Commanders rumors drawing buzz ahead of the 2023 NFL Draft
- 4 bold predictions for the Commanders 2023 NFL Draft
- Commanders News: Chase Young trade, draft day, CB riser and Sam Howell
- Bet365 VA Bonus Code – Claim $200 Guaranteed With Sign-Up Bonus
At the end of the day, however, experience won out. Washington announced that they had signed Heinicke to the active roster and made room for him by releasing wide receiver Jeff Badet, who played just 21 offensive snaps for the team this season.
Rolling with Heinicke does make some sense. As much upside as Montez has, we’ve yet to see him play competitively at the NFL level. Entrusting him as a top backup at this point could pan out, but if he were to see the field and struggle, it would come with negative repercussions for Washington’s playoff chances and Montez’s growth, development, and confidence.
Heinicke represents the safer bet. He knows the system and does have some experience playing at the NFL level.
Heinicke has made one start in his career and it came in 2018 when he was with the Carolina Panthers. In that game, Heinicke completed 62.3 percent of his passes for 274 yards, one touchdown, and three interceptions. He was able to move the ball, but the turnovers were a problem.
If forced into action, Heinicke will have to avoid those types of negative plays. Otherwise, Washington will find itself in inopportune spots on defense or squandering key scoring opportunities on offense.
Next. Reality checks for Washington vs. Seahawks Week 15. dark
We’ll soon see how Haskins does in his second stint as starter, but if he struggles or gets hurt, Heinicke will be the next man up.
UPDATE (11:11 a.m. ET): Washington is actually elevating Montez to the gameday roster against the Seahawks as well, per Nicki Jhabvala of The Washington Post. So, the backup job may not have been decided just yet. Stay tuned.