Taylor Heinicke has a chance to be Washington Football Team’s unlikely hero

Taylor Heinicke has a chance to be the Washington Football Team’s unlikely hero.

Just a few days ago, it seemed like nobody would have a chance to top Alex Smith as the most unlikely hero of the season for the Washington Football Team. Smith returned to action for Washington after a gruesome leg injury that nearly cost him his life, his limb, and his career and was able to lead the team on a late-season playoff push.

Smith would go 5-1 he started the team’s Week 17 win against the Philadelphia Eagles that officially gave Washington the NFC East title. While it wasn’t always pretty, his steady hand helped guide the team to their first divisional crown since 2015. It was a storybook comeback for Smith and well may be the greatest comeback in the history of sports.

But now, ahead of Washington’s playoff game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Smith is continuing to deal with a lingering calf injury that he has been dealing with since Week 14 against the San Francisco 49ers. He may not be 100 percent for the game, if he even plays, and that could open the door for another unlikely hero to emerge.

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That would be Taylor Heinicke. The former Old Dominion quarterback is now the backup to Smith and may become the fourth different quarterback to start a game for Washington this season. And considering Heinicke’s journey, that would be remarkable.

Just over a month ago, Heinicke was an unsigned free agent. He hadn’t been with an NFL team since being released among the Carolina Panthers’ final roster cuts ahead of the 2019 season. He spent his time warming the bench with the XFL’s St. Louis Battlehawks and was taking classes at Old Dominion when Washington came calling.

Heinicke was added to Washington’s practice squad to essentially serve as a third-string quarterback. He knew Scott Turner‘s system from his time with the Panthers, and he was there as insurance in case Smith and Dwayne Haskins couldn’t quarterback the team. Heinicke was effectively there to prevent the team from playing the potential-packed but raw undrafted rookie Steven Montez, who had never played an NFL snap.

Instead, the worst-case scenario emerged for Washington. Smith suffered the calf injury and has been in and out of the lineup since Week 14. During that span, Haskins became a massive distraction after violating COVID protocol again and that plus his terrible on-field performance led him to be released.

With Smith hurting again, Heinicke may become the last line of defense (or, in this case, offense) for Washington. There is reportedly a “real chance” that he will start. He looked good in his one quarter of action against the Panthers, going 12-of-19 for 137 yards and a nice TD pass to J.D. McKissic, but it should be noted that the Panthers were playing softer coverage in that action because they were holding a big lead on Washington.

That’s also the only quarter of NFL football that Heinicke has played in the last two years, so that’s a tiny sample size. Even his one start for the Panthers in 2018 is a small sample. In that game, he completed 35-of-57 passes for 320 yards and a touchdown, but he had three interceptions in that game. The passing line was solid, but the turnovers proved costly to the Panthers in that contest.

There are obviously reasons to doubt Heinicke, but there are reasons to believe in him too. His performance against the Panthers this year was strong. He has watched film with Tom Brady and absorbed knowledge from him during his time with the New England Patriots. He even had a college game in 2012 with a whopping 730 passing yards. That was an NCAA record until Connor Halliday and Patrick Mahomes broke the record in 2014 and 2016 respectively (both QBs had 734 passing yards).

In short, Heinicke is a gamer. That’s what gives him the potential to be an unlikely hero. Nothing about his numbers professionally or the fact that he was signed off the street a month ago suggest that he should win this game. But he will have a chance to get Washington their first playoff win in 15 years. And if Heinicke delivers and plays well, he will become one of the great underdog stories of all time.

We’ll soon see whether or not Heinicke has to see the field and whether or not he can add yet another amazing story to the book that has been the 2020 Washington Football Team. Kickoff for the game is at 8:15 p.m. ET.