Dark horse quarterback who the Washington Football Team should acquire
By Jonathan Eig
Why Tyrod Taylor is the best fit
Taylor is the same size as Heinicke. Neither Taylor nor Heinicke is Lamar Jackson, but both can run. If anything, Taylor is probably a somewhat better runner than Heinicke. And he has a better arm.
Most significantly, when comparing him to Heinicke, he has an actual track record. He has been in the league, as both a starter and a backup, for 10 years. He has made the Pro Bowl. And his career passer rating of 89.5 is just fractions behind that of Stafford, and better than the likes of Baker Mayfield, Carson Wentz, and almost all the others not named Watson that are mentioned above.
Taylor’s career has been a journey. He isn’t very big and he doesn’t have a huge arm. He has been seen as a classic place holder – along with Fitzpatrick, the modern equivalent of Steve Deberg. He gave way to Baker Mayfield in Cleveland and to Justin Herbert in Los Angeles. He was even benched for Nathan Peterman in Buffalo. No one sees him as a long-term solution.
But he will come cheap, and he can do everything that Scott Turner wants a quarterback to do. He can make enough throws and he can run when necessary. He brings experience and maturity. And when he throws to Logan Thomas, you will be making Hokie fans very happy.
The Washington Football Team has too many roster holes to trade away high-value draft picks or blow a big chunk of their salary cap on anyone right now. (Anyone not named Watson, that is.)
This is shaping up to be a good year to draft a quarterback, but Washington will not be in position to take a Day 1 starter. If they fall in love with Lance or Jones and take him in Round 1, so be it. Personally, I don’t see any of them as sure things so I would prefer and take a chance later in the draft on someone like Feleipe Franks or Jamie Newman.
Next. Simulating Washington's entire 2021 offseason. dark
But no matter who they pick, they will need a quarterback to start week one, and quite possibly the entire 2021 season. I assume Kyle Allen will be in that mix, depending on his recovery. The other guy competing for the job should be Tyrod Taylor.