Case Keenum To Start For Redskins Week 1, Dwayne Haskins Week 2?
Case Keenum is going to start for the Redskins in Week 1, but will Dwayne Haskins take over in Week 2?
On Sunday morning, Washington head coach Jay Gruden announced that he is naming Keenum the team’s starting quarterback for Week 1 of the regular season.
Keenum started in all three of the Redskins’ first preseason games, so most expected this decision.
After all, if Gruden was not planning on starting him at the beginning of the season, he would not have given him all the first team reps.
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That being said, Keenum has not looked particularly great over the course of the preseason.
Keenum is 16-for-30 in the preseason, with 213 yards and a touchdown. Compare to that to his rookie counterpart who has thrown for 305 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions on 16-for-30 passing.
Haskins has gotten sacked more times than Keenum, but that is likely due to the fact that he had the backup offensive line protecting him.
When the Redskins brought Keenum in this March from the Denver Broncos, it was assumed that he would start at quarterback when the year began.
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Washington needed someone to replace Alex Smith, who suffered a brutal leg injury last November that will take him out for a full year, so the move made sense.
But then the Redskins also went out and picked Haskins with the #15 selection in the 2019 NFL Draft. Naturally, that made some wonder what the plan here was.
And when Keenum did not noticeably outperform Haskins in the preseason, some speculated that maybe the youngster could take the starting job.
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It is worth noting that of the two, Keenum is the one with legitimate experience against NFL opposition.
Between two years as a starter with the Broncos and Minnesota Vikings he racked up 7,437 passing yards on a nearly 65 percent completion rate. In that time he also threw for 40 touchdowns and 22 interceptions.
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That being said, Keenum is hardly a world-beater. If he looks as unimpressive in Week 1 against a fierce defense as he did over the course of the preseason, it would not be particularly shocking to see Haskins take over in Week 2.
The Redskins will face the Baltimore Ravens next week to conclude the preseason.
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On Sept. 8, Washington will kick off the regular season against the Philadelphia Eagles.
.@casekeenum has been named starting QB pic.twitter.com/bAzriOkjK2
— Washington Redskins (@Redskins) August 25, 2019
Charles Kruger has been credentialed to cover two Super Bowls, four NBA Finals, and one World Series. A 20-year veteran in the sports world, he has sources spanning the NBA, MLB, NFL, UFC and NASCAR. Currently residing in Los Angeles, Calif., he is Game 7’s go-to source for rumors surrounding the Lakers, Clippers and Dodgers.
Haskins may end up being the better option one day, but he didn’t show anything in the preseason indicating that might be the case.
Yeah I mean this was a lose lose situation either way. You can’t say Haskins got sacked because he had a 2nd string o line and then not acknowl3ge he was playing against second string defenses…
Haskins will be starting before Week 7. People love to overrate Keenum. Hes a solid backup, that’s it. He had one solid year with Minnesota and people started acting like hes a starter. That Vikings team was loaded.