Why did Washington sign Garrett Gilbert over other QB options?

Amid a wave of positive COVID-19 tests, the Washington Football Team managed to get their Week 15 matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles postponed.

The decision bides Washington more time to get some key pieces back for what amounts to a playoff game for both clubs on Tuesday night. Lo and behold, they’ve since activated the likes of Jonathan Allen, Montez Sweat, James Smith-Williams, Cam Sims, Darryl Roberts, Casey Toohill and Daniel Wise.

The return of those players will serve as a massive boost for the defense, but it’s still worth noting Washington’s secondary is in ruins and Taylor Heinicke and Kyle Allen are still battling to get activated in time for kickoff.

Speaking of the quarterback position, Washington raised a lot of eyebrows when they signed Garrett Gilbert off the Patriots’ practice squad. After all, they’ve had Kyle Shurmur on the practice squad all season.

Wouldn’t it make sense to start the guy who’s somewhat accustomed to the playbook over a new signing? In theory, yes, but Shurmur’s yet to attempt a pass in the NFL and Gilbert has experience with one Ron Rivera.

Here’s why Washington signed veteran QB Garrett Gilbert.

It’s not often you can compare the NFL to everyday life, but sometimes it really is all about who you know. Thanks to Gilbert’s familiarity with Rivera and offensive coordinator Scott Turner from his time in Carolina, he suddenly has a chance to make a spot-start in Washington’s biggest game to date.

So, how did Gilbert make his way to the Panthers? It’s actually a long story, but we’ll tell the truncated version.

Back in 2014, Gilbert was drafted by the then-St. Louis Rams in the sixth round. However, he was waived in the middle of his rookie season and subsequently signed to New England’s practice squad. From there, he had short stops with the Lions and Raiders before he landed on his feet with the Panthers in 2017.

The following year, Rivera hired Turner to be his quarterbacks coach, so Gilbert, who lasted with Carolina through December of 2018, got a little taste of his new OC around the same time Taylor Heinicke and Kyle Allen did.

When the dust settled on Gilbert’s time with the Panthers, he played just 13 snaps, all of which came in the 2018 regular season finale vs New Orleans, when he completed two of three passes for 40 yards.

Throw in the fact that Gilbert has a long track record of playing in the preseason and made a start for the Cowboys last season, and it’s easy to see why Washington opted to sign him despite already rostering Shurmur (and Jordan Ta’amu).

In that start, Gilbert finished 21-of-38 for 243 yards and one touchdown to one interception in a hard-fought 24-19 loss.

That’s pretty much everything fans need to know about Gilbert. If Heinicke and Allen are unable to get activated in time for Tuesday night, it’s widely expected that Gilbert will get the nod over Shurmur and Ta’amu.

Given they were backed into a corner, Rivera and Co. deserve a pat on the back for making the most of an unfortunate situation.