LA Rams: Washington promotes Kyle Allen to starting QB to face Rams

LA Rams: Washington promotes Kyle Allen to starting QB to face Rams

The Washington Football Team announced on Wednesday morning that the team’s starter for the first four weeks of the season during the Football Team’s 1-3 start to the season, Dwayne Haskins, was being benched in favor of back-up quarterback Kyle Allen. Washington head coach Ron Rivera brought Allen to the team from Carolina, where Rivera was the head coach last season. Allen started 12 games for the Panthers for the injured Cam Newton,

NFL reporters were all over the news this morning. Speculation kicked in immediately from sources all across the league. Let’s check out some of this speculation while giving you all of the information that you need to know as a Rams fan.

Don’t underestimate Allen

Kyle Allen is not a guy that you, as a Rams fan, really want to underestimate. Allen was undrafted back in 2018, having played at both Houston and Texas A&M in college. Allen was a five-star recruit coming out of high school but just never seemed to have the “it” factor. 2019, his second season in the league, Allen pulled off one of the more incredible five-game starts to a career in NFL history, making the Panthers seem like almost an invincible offense. After a 5-1 start as a starter, last year, Allen and the Panthers lost seven straight games and Allen was benched for the rookie, Will Grier.

Allen is somewhat mobile too, he won’t be a statue in the pocket. He passed for 3322 yards and 17 touchdowns in his 12 games in action and added 2 rushing touchdowns and 106 yards on the ground.

Haskins will be the third quarterback on the depth chart

Here’s the crazy part about this situation: Haskins was the 15th overall selection in the 2019 NFL Draft. He’s not just getting benched for Allen, he’s been dropped to the third-string position and will be behind veteran Alex Smith on the depth chart.

Allen, Smith, and practice-squad quarterback Steven Montez took reps in practice today at quarterback, but Haskins did not. The organization already looks willing to trade him away, hoping to capitalize all that they can on their former first-round selection before the new class of quarterbacks enter through the 2021 NFL Draft.

Rapid turn of events

Why such a quick turn? Only Washington coaches know enough to share that tale. But suffice it to say that head coach Ron Rivera wants his quarterback running the team.  With the quarterback change, Washington will either play with more consistency in a division that is completely up for grabs, or the team will fail miserably and have a chance to draft a new quarterback in 2021.

It’s a little strange to see an organization not even 20 games into their first-round quarterback’s career already looking to move on from him and his services. You spent an important pick on him, you should try to see if he pans out! It’s not like Haskins had played poorly, either. Last week, Haskins played well against one of the best teams in the NFL, the Baltimore Ravens.

LA Rams provide a real challenge

The LA Rams defense is currently ranked eighth in passing yards allowed so far this season, and they’ve been a very difficult defense to throw the ball against. Especially with the emergence of certain defensive players who have been key factors in that success.

The Rams secondary has been very difficult to throw against all year. With defensive lineman Aaron Donald leading a fierce defensive line up front, followed by defensive back Jalen Ramsey and a shut-down secondary, they’ve been very good, borderline elite.

Unfamiliar opponents

Kyle Allen doesn’t have a lot of experience in the NFL, just 14 games in his young career. I wouldn’t expect him to be able to keep up with the coverages that the Rams are going to throw at him, or decipher the looks that he sees. The Rams have 12 starts worth of tape on his ability, he has four games to study on the Rams defense.

Regardless, don’t be surprised if Washington head coach Ron Rivera throws some wrinkles into the Washington scheme. He’s made the quarterback switch for a reason, even if we really don’t know what that reason is just yet.