John Beck should start against the Baltimore Ravens on Thursday. The Washington Redskins need to get a second look at the quarterback after his solid outing in the 16-3 victory over the Indianapolis Colts on Friday. Can Beck do it again against a knockout defense that would love to beat its regional foe? Is he ready for more than vanilla preseason schemes?
The Redskins know what Rex Grossman can do, and he also has played well during the team’s 2-0 start. Beck and Grossman are largely even so far. Beck has led more scoring drives, but Grossman seemingly has more of an intangible edge — both good and bad.
The selection of a starter for the season opener vs. the New York Giants on Sept. 11 shouldn’t come down to which is better against the Ravens. But Beck should get most of the first half and Grossman should play through the third quarter for a fair evaluation against a strong defense — barring a lopsided score that would sideline the starters.
After months of conjecture, Beck showed why coach Mike Shanahan and offensive coordinator Kyle Shan?ahan believed in an untested player who hadn’t thrown a pass since 2007. Maybe Beck just had a few bad breaks in Miami and Baltimore, but no one was remotely certain until he completed 14 of 17 passes for 140 yards and led four scoring drives against Indianapolis.
Beck isn’t the second coming of Sonny Jurgensen, but he did what the Shanahans hoped: He managed the game, played within himself and did not turn over the ball. That Beck showed a little more — he even completed a sidearmed toss — was a bonus.
Beck is reminiscent of former Redskins starter Brad Johnson, who led Washington to the 1999 playoffs in the best season by a quarterback of the Dan Snyder era. Beck and Johnson are of similar demeanors, though Johnson had a better arm.
The Redskins reasonably protected Beck by calling 11 passes in 20 first-down plays while Tim Hightower and Roy Helu combined for 171 yards rushing. (Indeed, Mike Shanahan’s next tough decision may be the pecking order of the running backs, including injured Ryan Torain.) Beck wasn’t pressured regularly and even added a couple nice runs for 17 yards.
Of course, it’s tough to accept the Indianapolis outing as a fair experiment. The Colts weren’t playing with regular-season intensity, so Beck’s ability still remains a bit unproven. That’s why the Redskins need to see more of him against the Ravens than Grossman.
Mike Shanahan said he would wait until after the final preseason game before choosing a starter and that he probably wouldn’t name him until right before kickoff against the Giants. But whoever starts against Tampa Bay on Sept. 1 likely will be the starter vs. New York. The starting offense needs as many snaps as a unit as possible. The job still could be lost, but the Ravens game is the real test.
Teammates will play for whomever’s picked, and there’s probably not a real preference in the huddle. But having either Grossman or Beck win the job rather than one of them simply not losing it would be preferable to those in the stands.
Examiner columnist Rick Snider has covered local sports since 1978. Read more on Twitter @Snide_Remarks or email [email protected].
