Rex Grossman vs. John Beck: The Washington Redskins Dilemma?

Today, Mike Shanahan should make his decision on who will be the starting quarterback for the Washington Redskins.  In my opinion, the Rex Grossman experiment should be over, and John Beck should get the start.

Let's be honest; up to this point Grossman was the Washington Redskins' starter because of Kyle Shanahan.

Kyle believed in two things. One, he believed that the days of the bad decisions, poor ball protection and streaky play were behind Rex. Two, Kyle believed his system and Grossman were a perfect fit.

He was wrong. We all hoped he was right, and we all prayed that the Grossman of Week 1 would stay with us all year. It didn't happen.

In fact, if you look at the games, Rex has become less effective every game this season, though you could argue he was worse in the loss to Dallas than in the win over the Rams.

During the preseason, the Redskins fans watched and debated: the known quantity of Rex, or the unknown upside of John Beck?

Both seemed to run the offense well, both brought different tools to the game. In the end, the race was so close that half of America was sure Beck was going to start, but on Week 1, the experienced Grossman got the start over the third year “rookie.”

At the time, I applauded the decision. I believed and stated in my article that the experience deserved the start and gave the Redskins the best chance to start the season with a win.

However, I also stated that the upside to the situation was a second-string QB that got to learn and gain experience on the sideline while also being as good as the starter.

I said that the whole point of Beck as backup was that he can step in immediately if Kyle turned out to be wrong about “the new” Grossman.

I'm all for continuity, and I believe that every QB will have a bad game. Michael Vick had one already, Tom Brady had one already and Grossman had one. So why would they remove Rex as the starter?

Because Grossman isn't Tom Brady. He won't stop at one bad game. He never has.

Honestly, I don't know why there is even a question about it. The Washington Redskins gambled that Grossman had become a better player under the Shanahan system. He did not.

I wish he had, but the facts are plain to see. Opposing defenses are talking about how fun it is to read Grossman.

The Washington Redskins groomed the second-string's Beck to step in if Grossman performed badly.

Last week, that happened and a rusty Beck scored the only Redskin touchdown in the last six quarters. If the coaches had put him in earlier, I believe the Redskins would have won the game.

Now, the Redskins have two linemen out with injuries. Kory Lichtensteiger is out for the season, and Trent Williams is out for at least two weeks. Grossman is not a mobile QB, but Beck is.

It's part of his different skill set. Washington is going to need that skill set to win games with a weakened offensive line.

The Redskins have nothing to lose by starting Beck, and everything to gain. They are not giving up continuity since Grossman is incapable of performing at a winning level with any reliability anyway.

The "Rex Grossman Experiment" is over. Now it's time for the "John Beck Show."

EDIT: Apparently the Redskin Coaching staff agrees with my sentiments.  John Beck has been named the starter from next Sunday.