Ron Rivera says Alex Smith will remain Washington starter: ‘Nothing has really changed in NFC East’

Following the injury of incumbent Kyle Allen, the Washington football team will move forward with Alex Smith as quarterback. Head coach Ron Rivera indicated after Sunday’s loss to division rivals New York Giants, but went into a bit more detail on Monday about the factors that weighed in on his decision to stay with Smith rather than Dwayne Haskins, who started the season under center. before being replaced by Allen.

Smith, who returned this year from an absence of almost two seasons after sustaining a terrible leg injury in his first season as a Washington starter, has made two appearances this year, both in relief from Allen. He’s 33 of 49 for 362 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions, but he was sacked on an incredible 14 percent of his backhands.

According to the Washington Post’s Nicki Jhabvala, Rivera explained the decision noting, “Nothing has really changed in the NFC East except that we lost the tiebreaker with the Giants. It’s still a close race.” Washington is now 2-6 after Sunday’s loss, but remains insanely second in the decrepit NFC East because the Giants and Cowboys are 2-7. The Eagles 3-4-1 remain first.

Jhabvala further noted that Rivera said having Smith under center could also be useful for Haskins development, and that Haskins could do it again at some point this season. Smith’s presence as a Chiefs starter in Patrick Mahomes’ rookie season has been given at least some credit for helping Mahomes develop, in addition to his otherworldly talent, training in Andy Reid and the skill position of the players on the roster.

Haskins appeared to show slight improvement, but still struggled in his four starts earlier this season, completing 61% of his passes averaging 6.4 yards per attempt, while throwing four touchdowns and three picks. He was Washington’s first-round pick last season, but it was under a previous leadership regime. It’s not uncommon for new management and coaching staff to be less loyal to their predecessors’ draft picks, simply because they haven’t invested as much in their success.

Unless Haskins returns to the roster at some point this season and shows a big improvement, it seems highly likely that Washington is in the mix for one of the best quarterfinals in the 2021 NFL Draft.