Thanksgiving Blog! Heinicke, Play-offs and Scherff

And all of a sudden there is hope.

The Washington Football Team have won two in a row, and perhaps more importantly, both victories vs Tampa and Carolina, have been deserved.

In Defense, despite the loss of Montez Sweat and Chase Young off the edge, we’ve witnessed significant improvements, with Jon Allen, in particular, having a stellar season in burgundy & gold. The backfield miscommunications have been worked on, and the DB four of Kendall Fuller, Landon Collins, Kam Curl, and William Jackson III are performing better as a unit.

There is a legitimate Wild Card play-off discussion to be had and five victories from the last seven games would likely secure that.

Tony Wheat of Full Press Coverage and UKHTTW founder Christian Burt took a Timeout to discuss three WFT issues of the day: 1) can Taylor Heinicke be here long term as the QB1 2) what are the WFT wild card chances? 3) would you sign RG Brandon Scherff long term.

First up is Christian UKHTTW on Taylor as the potential QB of the now and the future in Washington.

Two confessions are in order.

First off, I had more-or-less lost faith in Heinicke after the Denver loss and would not have been unhappy to see Kyle Allen get a shot again. I was wrong and put my hands up, as without a doubt, Taylor is the best QB in Washington right now.

Confession #2 regarding the WFT #4 is that although I get excited for a Heinicke led WFT offense on a Sunday, I do keep expecting it to go badly wrong at some point. Am I bias owing to Taylor not being a rookie or being 28 rather than 22 years old?

I shall say this, however: Taylor has provided across a small sample size, some of the most genuinely thrilling moments that the fun-starved fanbase of Washington have witnessed since the RG3 rookie season.

It is often said that an NFL Defense can gradually work out a limited QB, but against Tampa Bay it looked more like that the QB in Washington was growing and adapting to his elevated status as QB and it was he who could now better read an NFL Defense.

If Taylor carries the burgundy & gold to the play-offs, I’d suggest that he will get another full season in Washington and, at the very least, the front office will not pursue a FA QB in 2022. Doesn’t mean they won’t draft a rookie, but it won’t be in Round 1 if Heinicke continues this current upward trajectory.

Moving on to the play-off chances

Of the remaining seven games, the WFT can only really afford to lose two maximum.

The schedule is a full-on NFC East slugfest down the stretch (x2 Dallas x2 Eagles x1 Giants). A win vs an underperforming Seattle would be a great and arguably essential start to building up to positive 9-8 record.

Historically, Ron Rivera led teams have been better in the second half of the season and if WFT can get, and stay, healthy, nothing is impossible. After a less than inspiring start to the 2021 season, I’ll take there at least being wild-card discussion at this point.

The question of a Scherff contact

On Boxing Day this year, RG Brandon Scherff will turn 30 and is, of course, playing on the non-exclusive franchise tag for the second season in a row.

I have a feeling that the Washington Football Team will look at his career since 2015 and when combining the rookie deal years with the franchise tag years they’ll feel that Scherff has been a great value asset to the burgundy & gold. Head Coach Rivera clearly likes him, and Brandon & rookie Sam Cosmi are a real nasty duo on the right side of the O-Line.

If it didn’t break the bank (I fear it will) then I’d frontload years 1&2 around the $34m guaranteed region with a get-out in Year 3 on an overall four-year deal for $65m. He is a guy who just won’t look right in different NFL colours, but overall, I feel they’ll be teams willing to pay that bit more.

Next up, Tony Wheat of Full Press Coverage.

Will the Legend of Taylor Heinicke continue to grow?

He can be here long term but not as the starting QB. We are always blinded by recency bias and Heinicke has played well the last 2 weeks but before then there were calls for Kyle Allen.

He is a top end backup QB and there is always value for that in the NFL and he is capable of playing well, but not consistently (unless he can prove otherwise in the final 7 games).

The team should be exploring the top end trade market (Russell Wilson/Aaron Rodgers and maybe even DeShaun Watson) but given that landing one of those is unlikely I’d be looking at the draft prospects.

While there is no obvious mega star there are a few with definite NFL starting potential (Pickett, Corral, Willis, Howell). I would not entertain, however, another free agent like Trubisky/Mariota as they’re no better than Heinicke.

Play-off potential for the burgundy & gold

Unlikely but not impossible.

Nobody predicted the run we put together last year and it’s asking a lot to repeat that, but the schedule actually isn’t too bad from here on out.

We may be too far back though as we are effectively 2 games behind the Saints due to head-to-head and I think some of the other teams i.e. the Vikings are better than us.

And finally, on long term deal for Scherff

If we have to pay him top dollar which I assume is around the $18 million mark, then the answer is no.

He is a quality guard but the age/injury history plus the fact that the line didn’t drop off too much, if at all, when he was out would lead me to investing that money elsewhere, potentially bringing in a starting quality guard and tackle for the same money it would cost to keep Scherff.

The o line coaching has been excellent, and I’d back that to continue.