Case Keenum began the year as the starting quarterback for the Washington Redskins. Things were actually going well for him in that role too.
Sure, the Redskins weren't winning (which is the main goal), but he was putting up good numbers. Besides, it appears no QB on the roster is going to win a ton of games with this team anyways. (Although that doesn't stop my belief that Dwayne Haskins should be getting a chance to prove himself in this lost season).
In his first two games, Keenum had thrown for 601 yards and five touchdowns (no interceptions). However, his next two games were bad, very bad.
In Week 3 Keenum threw for 332 yards and two touchdowns. He had three interceptions as well though and got a lot of those stats in “junk time”.
Finally, Week 4 saw him start off with some errant throws and an early interception, followed by his benching.
After a Week off, Keenum is back in as the starting quarterback for Washington's Week 6 matchup with the Miami Dolphins. Can he rebound though? Could he find a way to get his season back on track?
The simple answer is yes.
Say what you will about the Washington offense, but it hasn't been completely miserable all season. It at least looked alive for the first few weeks.
Now, the Redskins face off with the Miami Dolphins. A team that's allowing over 40 points per game. That sounds like someone a team and a player can get back track against.
Keenum is not a bad quarterback. He's proven that over the years. Is he fantastic, nope. However, he has proven to be a competent game manager in the past.
That was even shown this year with some good games under his belt.
Now, one of the other arguments could be that the Redskins don't have much when it comes to weapons offensively.
While this is true for the most part, it's not a death sentence. Rookie Terry McLaurin has proven to be a very dangerous threat at wide receiver.
He had his first game of the season without five receptions, 60 yards and one touchdown in Week 5 against the New England Patriots.
That was against the elite New England defense though. McLaurin was also returning from injury. Finally, Colt McCoy was at quarterback. McCoy looked extremely rusty and as if he still wasn't 100% yet. He probably shouldn't have been starting.
Even with that, McLaurin managed three receptions for 51 yards and found himself open on a few occasions where McCoy didn't connect with him.
Keenum will have a healthy McLaurin. Paul Richardson has been solid this year and Trey Quinn is very useful as a slot receiver. There's also Steven Sims Jr., who finally got some serious play in Week 5 and rewarded Washington with their only big play of the game (a 65-yard touchdown run).
Finally, there's Bill Callahan at head coach. He's made it very clear that he wants to run the ball a lot. Whether you agree with this philosophy or not, it makes things easier on Keenum.
In his three full games this year, Keenum has 44 passing attempts, 37 attempts and 43 attempts. Don't expect the quarterback to be throwing the ball nearly that often anymore.
This will help him to limit the turnovers and keep the defenses from focusing on them as much.
He gets a good matchup to comeback against. Miami has looked absolutely hopeless this year (although the Redskins haven't looked much better). This should end with Keenum having a solid game and getting his confidence back.
After that, there is no reason Keenum can't be a strong game manager the rest of the year. If you're expecting him to go out there and be a star-like player that puts the team on his back and single-handedly wins games, you'll be disappointed.
However, if you expect someone to go out there and limit turnovers and keep the chains moving at a decent pace, Keenum will live up to those expectations for the rest of the season. He might even help the Redskins finish the season with a few wins.
It's underwhelming, but so is the rest of the Washington season. I mean, you can't ask for the world when you're 0-5. You just have to get what you're given and try to salvage the season with a few wins.
Despite fans wanting the team to tank, the coaching staff and players aren't working towards an 0-16 season. Keenum has the ability to lead this team to a few wins.
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