Washington Redskins: Starting John Beck Will Help Team Turn the Tide

Forget John Beck's career record, he is the guy who will turn the season around for the Washington Redskins.

According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, Mike Shanahan has opted to sit Rex Grossman and has officially handed the keys to car over to Beck.

The Redskins are 3-2, with all of their victories coming under Grossman; but none of those victories have come because of the arm of Grossman.

Grossman has played less than eight games as the Redskins starting QB, and has turned the ball over a total of 18 times. Turning the ball over more than twice per game just isn't going to get the job done.

According to ESPN's Total QBR, Grossman was the worst QB in the NFL last week with a 9.4 rating. On the other hand, Beck came in and recorded the 14th-best rating of the week. He had a higher QBR than Tom Brady, Matt Schaub and Matthew Stafford, albeit in a very small sample size.

Grossman left the Redskins no choice. In his post-game news conference, he singled out Fred Davis for allowing one of his interceptions, and blamed his wide receivers for not coming back to the ball. Grossman was right in a sense, but that's something that needs to be discussed during a film session or in the locker room.

Beck has never won a football game, but the fact of the matter is that he gives the Redskins the best chance to win. He always had the talent to be a starting QB in the NFL, but his opportunities have been few and far between.

The Redskins lost both left tackle Trent Williams and guard Kory Lichtensteiger to injuries last week. Lichtensteiger will miss the remainder of the season, while Williams will miss at least a couple weeks.

Those injuries didn't bode well for Grossman's tenure as the starting QB. The offensive line was holding up well for the most part this season, but they are going to struggle without many of their best players on the line. Grossman is far from mobile, thus his value diminishes with these injuries. On the other hand, Beck is a relatively mobile quarterback and has the ability to make plays outside the pocket.

It remains to be seen how well he can hold up for the course of a game or an entire season, but either way he is the guy the Redskins had to name the starter.

Grossman's biggest issue has been the turnovers, while Beck has been pretty good about protecting the football to this point in his career. During his five-game tenure in Miami, he threw just three interceptions, all of which came in a single game against the New York Jets.

The Redskins just need someone to manage the game and protect the football. They have an elite defense that shut down the Philadelphia Eagles for an entire second half, and a solid running game, if the coaching staff hands the ball off to them.

Beck isn't a savior, he is far from that, but he could be exactly what the doctor ordered for these Redskins.