Instant Analysis: What Keenum starting Week 1 means for Haskins in 2019

Head coach Jay Gruden made his decision, and now he's going to have to live with it. Case Keenum has been named the Washington Redskins starting quarterback for their Week 1 tilt against the Philadelphia Eagles, a move that will likely give the club the best chance at remaining competitive in ball games early in the season.

There is definite fallout though, that goes beyond their odds of pulling off a win on the road to being the season. Rookie Dwayne Haskins, by default, lost the QB competition, and that means his career trajectory takes one path while leaving another behind.

The plus side

Haskins may end up being better off by not starting. The Washington offensive line is porous, at best, and as a QB not built for quick escapes out of the pocket on a regular basis, avoiding the numerous hits may be a good thing.

Being a punching bag for opposing defenses has ruined many promising young careers around the NFL, and Haskins missing out on a potential bludgeoning while learning the ways of the NFL game is a godsend.

Yes, there are things a quarterback can only learn from being under center, but the reward doesn't seem to outweigh the risk here.

The downside is, Haskins will not even be getting the limited amount of reps he's seen in training camp. Having a three-way competition between Keenum, Haskins and Colt McCoy meant the rookie was only seeing one-third of possible first-team reps.

His progress has been stunted from the get-go.

Now, he'll be relegated to second-team reps throughout the regular season, too, or at least the first part of it. Haskins may not even be the No. 2 QB on the depth chart. If Gruden is intent on winning as many games as he can, a fair decision considering he's on the hottest of seats with owner Dan Snyder, than a healthy McCoy could be the backup that would play in the event of an in-game injury to Keenum.

So when could Haskins see the field?

In the event that he isn't the No. 2, Haskins must focus his efforts on being prepared if things go south.

Washington's schedule to start the 2019 season is brutal, and one of several factors which may have come into Gruden's decision-making process.

Washington faces Philadelphia, Dallas, Chicago and New England in four of their first five contests. That's a murderer's row of quality defensive coordinators who know how to wreak havoc on an offensive line.

Putting an inexperienced quarterback behind what Washington has deployed this preseason would be a recipe for disaster.

Week 6, if things are going terribad, may be the opportunity for Haskins to see his first start.

Miami and San Francisco aren't of the same caliber as those other souls, but they won't be a video game, either. Following are road games against Minnesota and Buffalo.

The best bet may be to wait until the Week 10 bye before trotting Haskins out against the New York Jets and Detroit Lions. If not, then it may end up being a full redshirt season for the Ohio State alum and DMV native.

At that point, there's a very real chance Haskins could have an entirely new coaching staff telling him what to work on and how to be a franchise quarterback. Gruden and staff may have been able to buy some time for themselves, playing Haskins early and taking their lumps. Trent Williams holdout essentially robbed them of that option.

Now Haskins career has a defined starting point. What happens next won't be completely on him, either.

Add us as a preferred source on Google