For the Good of the Washington Redskins, John Beck Must Not Start

In the Washington Redskins quarterback battle between Rex Grossman and John Beck, both players have shown that they are more than capable of handling the offense.  Both have played well at times, and both have played poorly at times this preseason. 

Based on performance alone, you could possibly call it a coin flip as to who should be the starter, and even Coach Mike Shanahan hasn't openly chosen one over the other.

And that's why Rex Grossman must be the quarterback for Week 1 against the New York Giants.

If both quarterbacks are equal in skill, you need to consider the psychology of football.  Quarterbacks are the leaders of their teams.  The other players need to be able to follow a quarterback, and feel confident in the quarterback. 

While Rex Grossman doesn't ooze confidence, having been run out of Chicago and Houston, he does have a Super Bowl appearance on his resume.  He also has three years in Kyle Shanahan's offense.  And he even played quarterback to end last season with some positive results.

John Beck has his old college credentials and the support of Kyle and Mike Shanahan (Cue the trombone).

If Rex Grossman starts at quarterback, no one will strongly challenge it.  John Beck was given a fair chance to show that he was the better quarterback, but, at best, showed he was competitive.

Look deeper into the psychology of football, and you'll see why this wasn't even a hard decision.  Let's look at the options, and how things could play out.

If Grossman is your quarterback and he is successful, everyone is happy, even John Beck, who was at least "given his opportunity" to be the starter.  If Grossman does well enough, the Redskins can sign him to a long term contract midway through the season and everyone around the beltway is celebrating the brilliance of the Shanahan's system.

If Grossman is mediocre or bad, there may be some grumblings for Beck to take over.  Suddenly, Beck is gaining credibility and support, because "everyone loves the backup quarterback."  Eventually, Beck is given his shot, the team is behind him, and Grossman is discarded as the journeyman many felt he was all along.

In both of these instances, the locker room is kept in tact and the credibility of Coach Shanahan is secure.  Even if John Beck fails when given a chance, everyone will have to agree that while Shanahan "believed" in him, he still chose Grossman over him initially.

But, if John Beck is the starter, things could get complicated:

If John Beck is successful, everyone is happy again, because winning cures everything.  Rex Grossman can't be upset because the team is winning, and the Skins can either keep him on as the backup or let him go, while Beck is signed for at least one more season.

But if John Beck is mediocre or bad, people will start to second guess the decision.  The Shahahans believed in Beck, and with his failure could come a loss of blind support for Coach Shanahan's way of conducting business.  Rex Grossman will soon become the man everyone is cheering for, and if he takes over for Beck, then the guy who gets run out of town is the guy with one more year on his contract.

Since realistically, no one expects either John Beck or Rex Grossman to be great.  The decision comes down to one where Grossman becomes the sacrificial lamb in hopes of gaining further support for John Beck, while he gets more time to learn the system; or one where John Beck is put on a pedestal that was destined to be knocked over. 

If the Shanahans really do believe in John Beck, I think they knew he wasn't going to be the starter to start the season.  Because, football is not just about X's and O's, it's about emotion and believing in the guy who's leading you.