Washington coach Jay Gruden has insisted all offseason that Robert Griffin III will be the team’s Week One starter. And the closer we get to Week One, the less believable those statements become.
In fact, reports coming out of Washington are now indicating that Kirk Cousins will not only start tonight’s third preseason game but will also start the regular-season opener against the Dolphins. ESPN reported this morning that the team plans to start Cousins for Week One, while Albert Breer of NFL Network says there’s been no decision yet on the Week One starter.
The reality is that even if the report about Gruden planning to start Cousins is right on the money, that doesn’t mean much, because plans can change. And nothing we’ve seen coming out of Washington in the last few weeks would suggest that this is a team that will make a plan and stick to it.
The best guess is that if Cousins plays great tonight, he’ll start Week One. If Cousins struggles, that opens the door to Griffin, assuming he’s medically cleared to play. And the wild-card possibility is that Colt McCoy could play better with the backups tonight than Cousins plays with the starters, and Gruden will decide to go with McCoy.
Whatever decision Gruden makes, he’d better get it right. Gruden’s first season as a head coach was a 4-12 campaign marked by a season-long quarterback controversy. If Gruden’s second season goes the same way, he may not get a third season.