With the Washington Redskins acquiring Case Keenum from the Denver Broncos, the initial thought was that it was to be the starter, but that might not be the case after all. The Redskins have raved about Colt McCoy all offseason and according to Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network, McCoy is going to at least get a shot to start the season.
“At the very least they have a quarterback who is going to come in and compete with Colt McCoy, that is my understanding of where this stands,” said Ian Rapoport on Thursday night. “It's not like Keenum is going to be handed the job. They actually — especially head coach Jay Gruden — actually really like Colt McCoy, they like a lot of the things he's done, he knows the system well. This does seem to be like it's going to be a fair competition.”
From @NFLTotalAccess: The #Broncos traded QB Case Keenum to the #Redskins, solving two key issues and eliminating one top quarterback landing spot. pic.twitter.com/g0glVaCv6c
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 8, 2019
It's interesting that the Redskins would trade for Keenum if they aren't planning on using him as a starter, but this does give them a bit of insurance if McCoy doesn't pan out. McCoy threw for 372 yards, three touchdowns, and three interceptions in the three games before he broke his leg against the Philadelphia Eagles.
One big red flag with McCoy is that he has gone only 1-5 with the Redskins as a starter, although Keenum might not be a huge improvement over that. Last year, the Broncos finished with a 6-10 record and Keenum struggled most of the year, especially with turnovers.
Whoever is the starter next year, the Redskins need them to take care of the ball.