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The Washington Redskins had three quarterbacks start games in 2014, as Robert Griffin III again couldn’t stay on the field and missed seven games. Kirk Cousins started five games and Colt McCoy started four, and the two will carry their current battle to be Griffin’s backup into training camp.
Redskins’ head coach Jay Gruden was not afraid to criticize Griffin last year, but he is still the most-talented quarterback on the team and he will start the season atop the depth chart. Cousins has been the subject of trade rumors seemingly every offseason, but he is back in the fold after finishing last season as the Redskins’ No. 3 quarterback.
Cousins and McCoy alternated working with the second-team offense daily during offseason work, and The Washington Post suggested on Monday that the situation will remain the same through training camp and possibly up until the last week of the preseason. Gruden added that he expects that determining the initial quarterback depth chart will take some time, outside of Griffin as the starter of course, so a prolonged training camp battle between Cousins and McCoy is coming unless one of them suffers a significant injury.
Griffin’s hold on the starting job is not great, due to a combination of poor play over the last two seasons and his injury history. So it makes sense for Gruden to let things play out during camp before naming Griffin’s immediate backup going into the regular season, since the No. 2 quarterback is very likely to see action and make starts at some point. But the lack of a front runner heading into training camp clearly speaks to the deficiencies of both Cousins and McCoy, and having either play a lot when the games matter is not an ideal scenario at this point.
Cousins reportedly worked out with Jon Gruden during the offseason, which may not really mean much in the big picture. But I see it as a sign that the current head coach with the same surname wanted some feedback from his brother, and presumably sees some potential in his other fourth-year signal caller.
I expect Cousins to start the season as Washington’s No. 2 quarterback, if only by default since I don’t see McCoy sustaining a significant challenge for the job. If Cousins does somehow wind up in line to open the season third on the depth chart, he could be one of the bigger name veterans that is cut before Week 1.
Brad Berreman is a Senior Writer at Rant Sports.com. Follow him on Twitter.
