When Denver traded for Joe Flacco, it was clear they were going to have to move on from high-priced Case Keenum somehow. They did that a week later, shipping him off to Washington in a draft-pick swap where they're also paying a good chunk of Keenum's salary.
Washington had previously endorsed Colt McCoy as its starter if Alex Smith weren't ready to play this season, which is what most reports indicate is the likeliest scenario. It didn't take them much time to reverse field on that, since teams don't generally trade for veteran backups in March. As things currently stand, Keenum should be the starting quarterback in Washington this season. (Although there's yet another possibility; more on that in a moment.)
Hard to get excited about Keenum in Washington, of course. Sure he led Minnesota to a playoff berth two years ago, but he pretty much flopped in Denver. Of the 38 quarterbacks to attempt at least 100 passes last year, only four had a lower passer rating than Keenum. Three of the four were rookies, and the fourth was Blake Bortles.
| QUARTERBACK PASSER RATINGS, 2018 (100-PLUS ATTEMPTS) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Cmp | Att | Yds | TD | Int | Rate |
| Drew Brees, N.O. | 364 | 489 | 3992 | 32 | 5 | 115.7 |
| Patrick Mahomes, K.C. | 383 | 580 | 5097 | 50 | 12 | 113.8 |
| Russell Wilson, Sea. | 280 | 427 | 3448 | 35 | 7 | 110.9 |
| Matt Ryan, Atl. | 422 | 608 | 4924 | 35 | 7 | 108.1 |
| Philip Rivers, LAC | 347 | 508 | 4308 | 32 | 12 | 105.5 |
| Deshaun Watson, Hou. | 345 | 505 | 4165 | 26 | 9 | 103.1 |
| Carson Wentz, Phil. | 279 | 401 | 3074 | 21 | 7 | 102.2 |
| Jared Goff, LAR | 364 | 561 | 4688 | 32 | 12 | 101.1 |
| Ryan Fitzpatrick, T.B. | 164 | 246 | 2366 | 17 | 12 | 100.4 |
| Kirk Cousins, Minn. | 425 | 606 | 4298 | 30 | 10 | 99.7 |
| Andrew Luck, Ind. | 430 | 639 | 4593 | 39 | 15 | 98.7 |
| Tom Brady, N.E. | 375 | 570 | 4355 | 29 | 11 | 97.7 |
| Aaron Rodgers, G.B. | 372 | 597 | 4442 | 25 | 2 | 97.6 |
| Dak Prescott, Dall. | 356 | 526 | 3885 | 22 | 8 | 96.9 |
| Ben Roethlisberger, Pitt. | 452 | 675 | 5129 | 34 | 16 | 96.5 |
| Nick Foles, Phil. | 141 | 195 | 1413 | 7 | 4 | 96.0 |
| Mitchell Trubisky, Chi. | 289 | 434 | 3223 | 24 | 12 | 95.4 |
| Cam Newton, Car. | 320 | 471 | 3395 | 24 | 13 | 94.2 |
| Derek Carr, Oak. | 381 | 553 | 4049 | 19 | 10 | 93.9 |
| Baker Mayfield, Clev. | 310 | 486 | 3725 | 27 | 14 | 93.7 |
| Ryan Tannehill, Mia. | 176 | 274 | 1979 | 17 | 9 | 92.7 |
| Eli Manning, NYG | 380 | 576 | 4299 | 21 | 11 | 92.4 |
| Marcus Mariota, Tenn. | 228 | 331 | 2528 | 11 | 8 | 92.3 |
| Nick Mullens, S.F. | 176 | 274 | 2277 | 13 | 10 | 90.8 |
| Jameis Winston, T.B. | 244 | 378 | 2992 | 19 | 14 | 90.2 |
| Matthew Stafford, Det. | 367 | 555 | 3777 | 21 | 11 | 89.9 |
| Andy Dalton, Cin. | 226 | 365 | 2566 | 21 | 11 | 89.6 |
| Brock Osweiler, Mia. | 113 | 178 | 1247 | 6 | 4 | 86.0 |
| Alex Smith, Wash. | 205 | 328 | 2180 | 10 | 5 | 85.7 |
| Lamar Jackson, Balt. | 99 | 170 | 1201 | 6 | 3 | 84.5 |
| Joe Flacco, Balt. | 232 | 379 | 2465 | 12 | 6 | 84.2 |
| Jeff Driskel, Cin. | 105 | 176 | 1003 | 6 | 2 | 82.2 |
| C.J. Beathard, S.F. | 102 | 169 | 1252 | 8 | 7 | 81.8 |
| Case Keenum, Den. | 365 | 586 | 3890 | 18 | 15 | 81.2 |
| Blake Bortles, Jac. | 243 | 403 | 2718 | 13 | 11 | 79.8 |
| Sam Darnold, NYJ | 239 | 414 | 2865 | 17 | 15 | 77.6 |
| Josh Allen, Buff. | 169 | 320 | 2074 | 10 | 12 | 67.9 |
| Josh Rosen, Ariz. | 217 | 393 | 2278 | 11 | 14 | 66.7 |
A report yesterday from Peter King has Washington the "favorite in the clubhouse," nice mixing of sports metaphors, King to trade for Josh Rosen. That wouldn't necessarily be a step in the right direction, at least based on last season. Rosen is at the very bottom of the above list.
Neither Keenum nor Rosen was much worse than Alex Smith in that regard, of course, so maybe Washington doesn't mind the switch that much. A year ago only three teams passed for fewer yards per game (205) and only three threw fewer touchdowns (16), so it's not like things can be much worse. But Keenum is unlikely to provide much of a shot in the arm to this offense.
--Andy Richardson