The Washington Football Team lost both of their quarterbacks this week. Both Taylor Heinicke and Kyle Allen tested positive, and joined some 20-plus other Washington team members on the Covid-19 list. That means whomever suits up this week against the Philadelphia Eagles for the WFT, will not only have never played a down for them, they might never have played a down in the NFL.
Washington head to Philadelphia with Garrett Gilbert and Jordan Ta’amu on their roster, two quarterbacks that were only added late this week.
Garrett Gilbert
Garrett Gilbert was preparing for a game against the Indianapolis Colts. He was a member of the New England Patriots practice squad until Friday morning, when he was plucked by a very needy Washington franchise.
Despite having only been in Washington a few days, Gilbert has some familiarity with the system. He was with head coach Ron Rivera in Carolina in 2017 and 2018. He served as Kyle Allen’s back-up in the last game of the 2018 season for the Panthers, and even saw game time when Allen was injured. He threw two passes for a total of 40 yards.
Gilbert spent time with both the Cleveland Browns, and the Dallas Cowboys as well.
The journeyman quarterback also played for the Orlando Apollos in the Alliance of American Football.
Fun fact, former Washington head coach Steve Spurrier coached him up with the Apollos.
Jordan Ta’amu
Jordan Ta’amu was only brought in on Wednesday, but he was with the Washington Football Team for their 2021 Rookie Training Camp. That might not give him game experience, but he does at least have some familiarity with Scott Turner’s offense. Or some of it anyway.
Ta’amu signed as an unrestricted free agent out of Ole Miss with the Houston Texans in 2019, but didn’t catch on. He has spent time on the practice squads of the Kansas City Chiefs and the Detroit Lions.
He was also with the St. Louis Battlehawks of the XFL when the league folded.
Kyle Shurmur
Kyle Shurmur doesn’t have any NFL experience either. Not yet anyway.
What he probably does have, is the most familiarity with Turner’s system.
Shurmur has been with Washington since Ryan Fitzpatrick went down in this year’s season opener.
He had a solid college football career at Vanderbilt, and signed with the Kansas City Chiefs as an undrafted free agent in 2019. Most recently, he was on the Cincinnati Bengals’ practice squad until being waived at the end of August.
Shurmur has some NFL preseason game experience; but no regular season experience.
What he may have, is a slight leg up on Gilbert and Ta’amu with regards to practice and repetitions with the team.
The real question is though, with so little continuity throughout the rest of the entire roster, does that even matter at this point?
Who Will It Be?
It could be any one of the three quarterbacks. There’s no real clear cut advantage.
That’s a tough situation for Washington, no matter how you look at it.
“We have three quarterbacks that have practiced with us that do know what we do,” said Rivera.
“We also know what their strengths are. I mean, so for the most part, what we’ll have to do is take a look at it and see what the situation is.”
It might just come down to what Rivera feels in his gut.
Which is probably mostly just nausea at this point.
Hopefully it’s not Covid.