Washington Football Team: Martin Mayhew’s concern with QB prospects

The 2021 NFL Draft is less than two weeks away and the Washington Football Team is getting ready to add some top players to their team. They have several needs still left to fill but the focus of many will continue to be the quarterback spot.

Washington has four quarterbacks on their roster in Ryan Fitzpatrick, Kyle Allen, Taylor Heinicke, and Steven Montez, but they’re still searching for a quarterback of the future. If they’re in striking distance to land one that they like, the team could certainly add one. However, as Ron Rivera has noted multiple times, they aren’t going to force it.

A move may or may not come, but it is worth noting that Martin Mayhew revealed something that is a concern for him about quarterbacks during Washington’s pre-draft press conference. As reported by NBC Sports Washington’s JP Finlay, Mayhew acknowledged the risk of drafting a quarterback that hasn’t made that many starts during his career.

This is completely sensible. We’ve seen one-year wonders at the quarterback position flop in recent years. Dwayne Haskins fits into that category and so does Mitchell Trubisky. There are many others, but those are the most notable ones at this time.

What does Martin Mayhew’s revelation mean for the Washington Football Team?

If Mayhew is being truthful and really is scared off by quarterbacks that have made few starts during their college careers, then the Washington Football Team will be less likely to draft an inexperienced QB. That would likely be bad news for Trey Lance and Mac Jones, who each have 17 total college starts.

Conversely, it could be good news for Kellen Mond who made a whopping 44 starts for Texas A&M over the course of his four-year career. As such, he could end up being a preferred Day 2 target over the likes of Davis Mills, who has just 14 career starts.

Of course, it’s also well within the realm of possibility that the concern Mayhew has about drafting an inexperienced QB will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. Maybe if they see enough tools in a small sample size on a guy like Mills, they’ll be willing to take him on Day 2. They are rumored to be interested in him, after all.

Nonetheless, Mayhew’s comments seem to demonstrate a risk-averse desire at the quarterback spot. What could that mean? Well, in all likelihood, it would make the possibility of trading up for a quarterback unlikely, unless, perhaps, Justin Fields is available longer than expected.

But if it’s Trey Lance on the board or even Mac Jones sliding, Mayhew may not want to move up and take that risk.

We’ll soon see what Washington does at the quarterback spot, but right now, it’s anyone’s guess.