Washington Football Team: Taylor Heinicke is perfectly flawed

Washington Football Team quarterback Taylor Heinicke is not a perfect player but he has proven that, despite his flaws, he can be a quality leader.

The Washington Football Team saw their season hit a snag almost immediately when quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick went down with an injury early in their Week 1 contest. Taylor Heinicke stepped up though, ready to make plays – just as he had done in the playoffs last year.

A few weeks in, and Washington is 2-2 coming off an electric win against the Atlanta Falcons. It was a game that saw the defense struggle, and Washington fall into a hole. However, Taylor Heinicke led the offense to some big drives. That included a beautiful pass for a touchdown to Terry McLaurin, a miracle play for another touchdown to McLaurin, and a clutch play for a touchdown to J.D. McKissic with just seconds left to give Washington the lead.

The quarterback finished the game 23-for-33 (69.7 completion percentage) for 290 yards, three touchdowns, and no interceptions. He even added 43 yards on just five carries. A pretty phenomenal outing.

Overall on the season, Heinicke is 82-for-118 (69.5 percent) on his pass attempts. He’s thrown for 960 yards and eight touchdowns, compared to three interceptions. Meanwhile, he has 20 carries for 87 yards and one touchdown with zero fumbles.

Those are fantastic numbers. But this is here to serve as your reminder no matter what side of the coin you are on. Because there are some that seem to believe Taylor Heinicke is the savior of the Washington Football Team franchise. While there are others that still don’t want to enjoy having a quarterback performing well because they’ve been burned so many times.

Taylor Heinicke is flawed. He is absolutely flawed, just like basically everyone else. But for the Washington Football Team — he is perfectly flawed.

What are some of his flaws? Well, he doesn’t have the most incredible arm strength. Sometimes his accuracy gets a little wild. And he tends to have eyes bigger than his arm, meaning that he’ll try to make plays that probably shouldn’t be made.

What are his strengths though? Despite that arm strength, he seems to be good at fitting the ball into tight windows. He’s done a good job of leading his receivers and has already had a lot of perfectly placed throws that he leaves in a spot that only his receivers can get to. Heinicke also has great legs and a massive heart. He also tends to have eyes bigger than his arm. No this isn’t a mistake, I put it in both categories.

Why was it put in both spots? That second touchdown pass to McLaurin in Week 4 is why. That was a very ill-advised throw. After breaking a few sack attempts, Heinicke just lobbed it up to the end zone. Maybe not the smartest move, but it worked and ended as a touchdown.

Sometimes you need to make bold moves, Heinicke isn’t afraid to do that and Washington benefitted from it. It will likely backfire sometimes, but if you aren’t playing with a little risk, your offense is probably not moving much.

Heinicke is 28 and his 118 pass attempts this year are more than he had in his entire career before 2021. He could be Washington’s solution for the position long-term, but that seems like a bold prediction to make this early on.

Meanwhile, he isn’t perfect, but you would be crazy not to enjoy what he is doing right now. This franchise has had a long and miserable track record when it comes to quarterback play. Especially in the last 20 years or so. Right now they have a quarterback who is performing well and making the offense very exciting. Why not have some fun and enjoy it?

At times, both sides need to be talked off the ledge. Heinicke might not be the next Kurt Warner late-bloomer-Hall-of-Famer (but with the ability to scramble). But at the same time, you have to acknowledge that he’s doing a masterful job at the moment. Let’s meet in the middle. Jeff Garcia anyone?

In four games (three starts) Heinicke has led two game-winning drives. He’s made multiple eye-popping plays. He’s also shown that he’s human and struggled at times though.

Taylor Heinicke is a flawed quarterback. But could he be the perfect quarterback for the Washington Football Team right now? Does he have what it take them on a magical run and get to the postseason?

Maybe he isn’t the franchise’s superstar quarterback for the next 10 years like some seem to believe. He isn’t as bad as others seem to think either though. It looks like Washington has a quarterback that will make them fun to watch and win them some games in the process. Enjoy it while it’s happening, please.