Redskins Name Case Keenum Starting Quarterback

The Dwayne Haskins era will have to wait just a little longer before it can get started in the nation's capital.

Washington Redskins head coach Jay Gruden ended the team's starting quarterback competition Sunday, declaring journeyman Case Keenum the winner. Keenum will officially start Washington's first regular season game against the Philadelphia Eagles.

Keenum beat out Haskins and Colt McCoy, who is currently nursing an injury.

A 6-1, 215-pound quarterback who broke just about every college passing record there is to break during his time at the University of Houston, Keenum went undrafted but ended up keeping it local when he was subsequently picked up by the Texans.

After brief stints in Houston and St. Louis-then-Los Angeles with the Rams, Keenum moved to Minnesota, where he completed 68% of his passes, threw for 3,547 yards, and tossed 22 touchdowns against just seven picks in just 14 starts. Unfortunately, Keenum's Vikings lost in the NFC Championship two seasons ago a week after pulling off the Minneapolis Miracle.

Last year, Keenum went 6-10 and threw for 3,890 yards, 18 touchdowns, and 15 interceptions in his only year with the Denver Broncos.

Keenum has proven to be a solid bridge quarterback and backup at this level, which is a major achievement for an undrafted player, but that's his ceiling. With every mistake that the 31-year-old Keenum makes this season, the calls for Haskins will only get louder.

The trend in the NFL nowadays is to play the rookies when they're young and let them make mistakes, so Keenum should be on the shortest of leashes.