Washington Redskins: Who Will Win the Starting Job, Rex Grossman or John Beck?

Redskins’ quarterbacks Rex Grossman and John Beck continue to duke it out in preseason for the vaunted prize of starting. 

Grossman and Beck each led the Redskins on long scoring drives against a respectable Ravens defense, thus making Mike Shanahan’s decision perhaps increasingly difficult.

The Redskins are no strangers to quarterback controversies. The most famous of these occurred during the 1970’s between Hall of Famer Sonny Jurgensen and Billy Kilmer.

Vince Lombardi was clearly in favor of Sonny Jurgensen. George Allen, however, had a different philosophy of winning football and chose Billy Kilmer.

The debate was heated amongst fans. Popular buttons were sold that read either “I like Sonny” or “I like Billy”. 

So what does your button say? “I like Rex” or “I like Beck?"

Here, I break down each quarterbacks play against the Ravens and let you know how my button reads.

Rex Grossman: The Good

Many fans cringed last year when the Redskins signed Grossman.  Widely perceived to have been the worst quarterback to ever start a Super Bowl, Grossman has battled untimely turnovers throughout his career.

His play thus far in Washington, however, has shown a lot of promise. 

Grossman showed lots of poise and command during the Redskins two-minute offense closing out the first half. 

Going up against the Ravens starting defense, he completed nice throws in the middle of the field to Anthony Armstrong, Fred Davis, Jabar Gaffney and Santana Moss.

His ability to mix it up amongst receivers kept Baltimore’s defense on its heels. After Moss was unable to hang onto a touchdown pass in the red zone, Grossman went right back to him for the score. That shows good leadership.

In all, Grossman threw for 112 yards on 8 of 15, passing for one touchdown and a 99.9 rating.  Not too shabby on paper.

Rex Grossman: The Bad

Against the Ravens, Grossman started out cold.  An early incomplete pass to Jabar Gaffney lacked velocity.  He then followed up with a ball that lacked zip to Santana Moss on third down. 

Moss was single covered by Terrell Suggs on the play.  It was a favorable matchup, one that needs to be taken advantage of. Grossman’s lob fell out of Moss’ reach.

Another play that stood out to me was Grossman’s first third down attempt. Grossman’s pass was incomplete, but he did not appear to pick up on the Ravens blitz.  

Grossman got rid of the throw but just barely. He did not appear to feel pressure from the Raven defender about to blindside him.

Grossman’s lack of vision is what causes him so many turnovers. It’s his perception of the blitz that he does not always recognize that results in a blindside hit and fumble.

Another issue I had, came on the play before Grossman’s touchdown pass to Santana Moss. 

The ball was under thrown in the corner of the end zone and was simply dropped by the Raven defender. Red zone turnovers will frustrate a team like nothing else.

John Beck: The Good

The big critique on John Beck in training camp has been his shaky accuracy on the deep ball. It was clear coaches wanted to see him throw it long against the Ravens.

His first throw was beautiful, a 34-yard gain hauled in by Anthony Armstrong along the right sideline. Tim Hightower took over from there.

Beck’s best drive of the night came in the third quarter and started on the Redskins own three yard line. Sure, the drive came against the Ravens' backups, but it was the Redskins' second team offense as well.

Beck lead Washington on a 97-yard march that showcased his athleticism on bootlegs and confidence through the air. 

Beck connected on two nice third down conversions to wide receiver Terrance Austin while continuing to use the run threat keeping the Ravens guessing. 

Beck even got third-round draft choice Leonard Hankerson involved on an 11 yard gain for a first down.

It all culminated with a 13 yard touchdown pass to Austin.  For the evening, Beck completed 60 percent of his passes for 108 yards averaging almost 11 yards per completion.

John Beck: The Bad

Like Grossman, Beck started out a little cold as well. His second throw of the game to a well covered Fred Davis was perhaps a bad read. 

Another flop occurred on his next possession when he threw off his back foot (albeit under pressure) to an open Santana Moss that would have been a big gain. Beck definitely would like that throw back.

Beck also accounted for an interception, a long bomb to single covered Donte' Stallworth. Stallworth was well covered on the play, but Beck decided to take his chances anyway. 

As a result, Baltimore regained possession in excellent field position.

The Verdict: I Like Beck

I feel that John Beck has separated himself from Rex Grossman and has earned the starting job. 

I love his running ability, and he looks great on the bootleg. He can make all the throws out of the pocket and poses an additional threat with his legs. This is what truly separates him from Grossman.

Beck showed us he has some accuracy on the deep ball. His lone interception can be attributed to Donte' Stallworth pulling up on his route a bit and not following through. 

I think the pick was more on Stallworth than on Beck. 

It was also obvious coaches wanted to give him reps throwing down the field. 

Beck overall just shows a bit more command and poise in my opinion than Rex Grossman. I think he has the vision to see the blitz and knows how to take a sack or get rid of the ball when he needs to. 

Grossman still worries me with misreads at the line of scrimmage and for his tendency for turnovers. 

At the end of the day, my button reads “I Like Beck,” but Grossman will serve as a nice backup.