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QB Taylor Heinicke, ATL (1 Viewer)

Taylor Heinicke completed 20-of-30 passing attempts for 201 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception in the Commanders' 23-21, Week 7 win over the Packers.​


Heinicke looked completely out of sorts to start the game, completing just one of his first seven attempts with a bad pick six. However, he recovered as the game went on, showing a connection with Curtis Samuel, Antonio Gibson, and especially, Terry McLaurin. Heinicke was able to find McLaurin deep along the sideline to extend the Commanders' final drive, which was critical in taking enough time off the clock to prevent a Packers game-winning field goal drive. Heinicke could play well enough to keep some fantasy value alive for the Commanders when they take on the Colts in Week 8.
- NBCSportsEDGE
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Taylor Heinicke completed 15-of-28 passes for 150 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception in the Commanders' Week 9 loss against the Vikings, adding four rushes for 17 yards.

Facing pressure on nearly every drop back, Heinicke predictably struggled to get the ball out with any accuracy. He got fortunate with a 49-yard touchdown to Curtis Samuel into triple coverage; Samuel came down with it after a Minnesota defender crashed into a ref. He threw high time and again until he was finally picked off in the fourth quarter, allowing the Vikings to seal the game. Heinicke's fantasy prospects in the ultra run-heavy Washington offense hinge entirely on his willingness to rush. He'll be a superflex option in Week 10 against the Eagles.
- NBCSportsEDGE
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Heinicke is a below-average QB and his decisionmaking is not good. He's short and throws the ball too low resulting in blocked passes. Yet he rallies and inspires the team more than any QB since RGIII's rookie year. I love the guy. But he is what he is.
 

Taylor Heinicke completed 17-of-29 passes for 211 yards and an interception in the Commanders' 32-21, Week 11 win over the Eagles.​

Heinicke had some of the most unique highlights you'll find for a quarterback. His first came on a snap that sailed over his head. He managed to coral the ball and heave it past the line of scrimmage to avoid a back-breaking intentional grounding call. Later, he all but sealed the game by giving himself up for a sack, only to take a hit from Eagles defensive lineman Brandon Graham to draw a 15-yard penalty for a fresh set of downs. To Heinicke's credit, he also made a handful of impressive throws including a 41-yard rocket to Terry McLaurin in the third quarter. Heinicke is now 3-1 as a starter this year and has the Commanders on the fringes of the playoff race in the NFC. Having taken over for an injured but struggling Carson Wentz, he may not give the job back, even if Wentz is ready to go for the Commanders' Week 11 matchup with Houston.
Nov 14, 2022, 11:31 PM ET
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Taylor double fisting Busch Lights on the plane last night with his hype man Chase Young.

Obviously the plan (said as recently as a few days ago by Rivera) was to return to Carson Wentz. Heinicke has some rather obvious limitations. He's also capable of managing TD drives - though sooner or later he'll have one of those throws that remind who he is and who he isn't.

IDK their plans but I just don't know if you can bench him when he just knocked out the heavyweight champs of the NFL first half world. When is the last time the Commanders had that big of a win on the road? They have a shot at a WC and might want to stick with the guy who has taken them there. But coaches don't always do the logical thing so who knows.
 
This year is the end of his contract. Curious what you all think will happen in free agency. Will he be the WAS backup next year? Starter? Go somewhere else as a backup? Gotta think he is worth more to WAS than any other team. They aren't going to draft an immediate starter at QB if they pick around 15th. I'm sure they will cut Wentz at his $28M number, though they could re-sign him at lower.

Taylor makes like $1.5M salary now. Gotta think that number goes over $5M per year for at least 3 years no matter where he goes.
 

ESPN's Jeremy Fowler reports "many around the league" expect Taylor Heinicke to retain the Commanders' starting job.​

Fowler cited a league source who said "young players gravitate toward Heinicke because of his fiery personality and his no-fear attitude, and [Commanders head coach] Ron Rivera knows about the locker-room support for sticking with Heinicke." Washington is 3-1 with Heinicke at the helm this season following Carson Wentz's early-season struggles. Wentz has missed the past month with a finger injury. He might not see the field again in 2022 unless Heinicke struggles through a game or two. Heinicke has been serviceable as the team's starter, posting the 16th highest completion rate over expected during his four-week run in the conservative, run-first Commanders offense. Heinicke is in a good Week 11 spot against a Texans defense allowing the fifth highest EPA per pass this season.
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SOURCE: ESPN.com
Nov 16, 2022, 11:15 AM ET
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Commanders coach Ron Rivera said Taylor Heinicke will start in Week 11 against the Texans.​

Carson Wentz is still on injured reserve with a finger injury, but Heinicke's play may have earned him the starting gig regardless of Wentz's health. Heinicke is 3-1 as the starter and is coming off a massive upset over the Eagles. He is taking fewer sacks and throwing fewer interceptions per game than Wentz. Facing the Texans and Falcons in his next two matchups, it could be a while before the starting quarterback conversation in Washington is revisited. Heinicke will be a mid-ranger QB2 in Week 11.
SOURCE: Nicki Jhabvala on Twitter
Nov 16, 2022, 5:17 PM ET
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Taylor Heinicke completed 17-of-29 passes for 249 yards and a touchdown in the Commanders' 20-12, Week 15 loss to the Giants, adding three carries for 33 yards.

Heinicke was under duress all night against the aggressive Giants front, losing two fumbles on the night as a result. The first one came early in the second quarter with the team backed up inside their own five, as Kayvon Thibodeaux forced a strip sack and scooped the ball for an easy score from one yard out. The second came inside the red zone with just over six minutes remaining with the team down by five, ultimately resulting in a New York field goal to push the lead to eight with under two minutes remaining. A massive kickoff return by Antonio Gibson gave Heinicke and the Commanders the ball at the Washington 43, which the team took to the Giants goal line before a turnover on downs to end the game. The Commanders still control their own destiny for the seventh and final playoff spot out of the NFC, but both the Lions and Seahawks are only a half game back with three left to play.
- NBCSportsEDGE
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The players might want to play for him, but he stinks. You can't totally discount that, but the Commanders are winning because of defense.
 
WAS has no QB. And hasn't since Cousins left while dumb@$s Bruce Allen was comparing him to Kyle Boller. (bruce ... ughh, yet another NFL insider living off his Dad's reputation and the latest emails showing what a tool he was). Everyone has been average to below average since Bruce ran Kirk out

But there is 1 constant. Ron Rivera/Scott Turner combo running the offense. With Riverboat extending Turner another 3 years this offseason. For reasons nobody on the planet would understand. The scheme stinks. Alex Smith and Ryan Fitzpatrick have said as much on live TV .... I believe it was "no QB can be successful in this offense" . The offense has been 30th, 20th, an 25th in points per game since Turner took over (wait for it, fired from job after job but still around since his Dad was an NFL guy). In their last 21 games they have scored more than 23 points like 4 times. How you supposed to win games when your OC considers it a great day to score two TDs?

The OC has to go. Or the perfect QB has to walk through the door. But neither will happen. And so Heinicke, Wentz, Haskins (RIP), Kyle Allen, Fitz, A Smith ... it don't matter. One in the same in this putrid offensive scheme that is wasting the talent of so many good skill players.

Anyone putting their fantasy season on Heinicke ... just remember that Kyle Allen has probably been the best performing QB in the history of Turner's offense. Kyle F*in Allen.

And to breakdown Scott Turner's career since being no more than a QB coach under his Dad as Norv was being fired in CLE, MIN, ...

2017 - Offensive Analyst, University of Michigan
2018-2019 - quarterbacks coach, CAR (interim coach after the whole staff was fired). Team went 12-20 those seasons.
2020-2022 - offensive coordinator, WAS. Team went 21-25-1 those seasons.

So he went from a college offensive analyst to WAS OC for all losing record NFL teams in 3 years. I'm not sure he's actually ever coached in any capacity a team with a winning record. Ron really can pick who should get contract extensions.
 
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Taylor signed a contract with the Falcons? I missed that. Good for him, but as a Washington fan I was ready for us to move on.
 
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Falcons signed QB Taylor Heinicke, formerly of the Commanders, to a two-year contract worth up to $20 million.​

Among the least accurate and weakest armed quarterbacks in the NFL, Heinicke could easily be Atlanta's Week 1 starter if it comes down to an offseason competition between him and Desmond Ridder. Heinicke started 24 games for Washington over the past two years, throwing 32 touchdowns and 21 interceptions while demonstrating a willingness to scramble. Ideally, Heinicke, entering his age-30 season, would function as a backup in the run-first Falcons offense.
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SOURCE: Ian Rapoport on Twitter
Mar 14, 2023, 8:44 AM ET
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Don't know what to think of this. It's a good landing spot for Heinicke. He is an average backup NFL QB that believes he's a starter. I don't see him being some kind of support system for Ridder. He'll say the right things, but he is definitely coming in there to make the impression he's the #1. Can't fault him for that. But if he wins the job, it basically means ATL has no starting level QB and doesn't say much good about Ridder.
 

Taylor Heinicke told reporters his mindset for the Falcons is to be "the best backup I can be to Desmond [Ridder]."​

Assuming there is no quarterback picked in the draft this year or some sort of wacky late run at Lamar Jackson, it seems safe to assume there will be no quarterback battle in Atlanta this year and that Desmond Ridder will enter Week 1 as the starter. Heinicke very well may wind up playing games anyway given how Ridder's end of the season audition went, but Ridder should have at least a little runway in fantasy this year with some rushing upside.
RELATED:
SOURCE: Josh Kendall on Twitter
Mar 16, 2023 at 3:33 PM ET
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Brunell4MVP said:
I don't see him being some kind of support system for Ridder. He'll say the right things, but he is definitely coming in there to make the impression he's the #1.
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He was always good in the QB room in Washington whether he was starting or on the bench.
 
Dr. Octopus said:
I can't believe the money they paid this guy. He looks like a high school level QB out there.
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He's gotten a lot of mileage out of 1 pretty great game in the playoffs against TB. He was Washington's 3rd best QB last year, and that's not a compliment to the other guys. Statistically, only Zach Wilson was a worse starting QB last year.

Kinda crazy Jacoby Brissett (a vastly superior QB, if limited) is getting less to replace him.

If Atlanta really doesn't draft a QB highly, I think Ridder will have a very long leash. Like he'd need to start like 0-6 or something.
 
travdogg said:
Dr. Octopus said:
I can't believe the money they paid this guy. He looks like a high school level QB out there.
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He's gotten a lot of mileage out of 1 pretty great game in the playoffs against TB. He was Washington's 3rd best QB last year, and that's not a compliment to the other guys. Statistically, only Zach Wilson was a worse starting QB last year.

Kinda crazy Jacoby Brissett (a vastly superior QB, if limited) is getting less to replace him.

If Atlanta really doesn't draft a QB highly, I think Ridder will have a very long leash. Like he'd need to start like 0-6 or something.
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I'll disagree with the bolded, but I agree with the rest of what you said. Washington (8-8-1) had a winning record in games he started. He raised the level of team play, despite his obvious limitations.
 
fatness said:
travdogg said:
Dr. Octopus said:
I can't believe the money they paid this guy. He looks like a high school level QB out there.
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He's gotten a lot of mileage out of 1 pretty great game in the playoffs against TB. He was Washington's 3rd best QB last year, and that's not a compliment to the other guys. Statistically, only Zach Wilson was a worse starting QB last year.

Kinda crazy Jacoby Brissett (a vastly superior QB, if limited) is getting less to replace him.

If Atlanta really doesn't draft a QB highly, I think Ridder will have a very long leash. Like he'd need to start like 0-6 or something.
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I'll disagree with the bolded, but I agree with the rest of what you said. Washington (8-8-1) had a winning record in games he started. He raised the level of team play, despite his obvious limitations.
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I'd put that record more on the defense. The offense topped 23 points 1 time with Heinicke starting (admittedly a very big win against Philly) while both Wentz and Howell (in 1 start) topped it as much or more. Wentz had that embarrassing Browns game, which was almost comical, but I'm not sure the record isn't as good or better if he keeps the job. Its probably irrelevent as neither should be starting without someone in front of them getting injured ever again.

I very much believe if Washington goes with Howell sooner, they make the playoffs last season.
 
travdogg said:
I'd put that record more on the defense. The offense topped 23 points 1 time with Heinicke starting (admittedly a very big win against Philly) while both Wentz and Howell (in 1 start) topped it as much or more. Wentz had that embarrassing Browns game, which was almost comical, but I'm not sure the record isn't as good or better if he keeps the job. Its probably irrelevent as neither should be starting without someone in front of them getting injured ever again.
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And again I'll disagree since I watched all their games, being a masochist. The entire team, offense and defense, played better with Heinicke in the game. Loved him, and played harder when he started because they felt they actually had a chance to win with him. They never felt that way with Wentz, except perhaps after the first game of the season. That's why Wentz has no NFL job now and no one is calling. Howell started 1 game at the end of the year. They won. It was 1 game. Ask that locker room which QB gave them the best chance to win last year and the answer (which they'll never give for PR reasons) is Heinicke.

Offensive and defensive units (and players) can and do inspire others on the team. Heinicke did that.
 
He was our best QB last year in my opinion. Wentz was possibly the worst QB this franchise has had in a long time. And as much as I wanted to see Howell, we have no idea what he is yet. But being WAS best QB last year isn't saying much. It pretty much equates to the 45th best QB in the NFL. Apparently that's worth $10M per year.
 
He's fine as a backup if not very good.
He can come in and finish and he can start for a few games without too much worry or gameplan changes.
Y'all are overstating backups
 
Bri said:
He's fine as a backup if not very good.
He can come in and finish and he can start for a few games without too much worry or gameplan changes.
Y'all are overstating backups
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I saw somewhere that first week backups started over 35% of the games in the NFL the last two seasons. Backups are immensely important. And Heinicke is a fine backup. But he's certainly no more than that.
 
Brunell4MVP said:
Bri said:
He's fine as a backup if not very good.
He can come in and finish and he can start for a few games without too much worry or gameplan changes.
Y'all are overstating backups
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I saw somewhere that first week backups started over 35% of the games in the NFL the last two seasons. Backups are immensely important. And Heinicke is a fine backup. But he's certainly no more than that.
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Maybe so.
He's had to be a square peg round hole and never been the guy a team alters it's offense around.
This will be no different so I expect the same, absolutely.
If Ridder is out for an extended period- I wanna see what Arthur does with him.
 
Really surprised how committed ATL is to Ridder at this point. Heinieke feels like a guy you get when you don’t really want to challenge an aspiring QB1.
 
TheDirtyWord said:
Really surprised how committed ATL is to Ridder at this point. Heinieke feels like a guy you get when you don’t really want to challenge an aspiring QB1.
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Tough choice. They could get set with some stud rookie QB or get a game changer at another position.
I think I'd see what Ridder does and figure I can always sign some FA QB later as long as there is a good team around.

I'm a big fan of Ridder. I am forever confused why rookie QBs are often different in year two then year one. I've long said, he outplayed a lot of names in college and it seemed like he played for years n years. He's definitely better than some third round schlub- in my opinion.

Still, they have several offensive players that are probably winning a matchup. The size n speed they have is wow. What defense has big corners and backers and safeties? Its Gibbs like what Arthur is doing.
 
Special teams were brutal. The offense consistently has horrible field position. Smith wanted to take deep shots before the Titans got comfy without Byard. Big Jeff had one of the best halves of any DT ever. When he did have time and wasn't backed up to the end zone, announcers were pointing out no one was open. Kurt Warner diagrammed how they were consistently leaving one Titan unblocked. No QB was succeeding in that setup.

Heinicke took over in the second half and announcers said that the touchback was the best field position they had all game. That's so bad.

He moved them. He had a bit of a spark or determination to him that ya love to see in a backup QB.
They blocked big Jeff. They didn't leave some defender unblocked.
If no one was open, the veteran launched it at the WRs to make a play anyway. London made the catch of the year and hurt his groin doing it. Pitts did nothing, nothing. Van Jefferson looked just like he is- but uncomfy in a new place but doing his thing anyway trying to fit in. He got some work in, he brought some hope.

You can see why Arthur left the door open for Ridder to return. Night n day difference from most everyone and a lot not on him.
He does turn the ball over too much but so does every rookie QB so where do you draw the line? He makes mistakes but so does.... It's all a tough call that no one ever agrees with and then suddenly the QB is good and set for ten years. Go back and look at Eli.

I rrrreally like the veteran throwing it anyway. Their routes are sloppy n lazy and they better wake up. The line...all the obvious things.

I can't stand how the NFL has a pedigree system and Heinicke will always be an XFL guy bound to be benched for some high profile guy but...he will. Is that Ridder? Is that some pick next year? Some marquis free agent?

Gotta remember it's not like everyone adored Heinicke a year ago. He's a good backup. On any FF team he should be the same
 
Falcons HC Arthur Smith said Taylor Heinicke will start in Week 10 against the Cardinals.

Fresh off shaving his mustache, America’s favorite coach re-committed to “toxic groupthink” for at least one more week, opting to ride with Heinicke before the team enters its bye week. Heinicke threw for 268-1-1 in the Falcons’ Week 9 loss to the Vikings, with his lone score coming on a 60-yard screen to Jonnu Smith — an embodiment of the Heinicke experience. Heinicke didn’t lead the Falcons to victory last week, keeping the team within striking range throughout. If not for an unprecedented performance by Joshua Dobbs, the Atlanta native likely would have won his first start of the season. Heinicke will be worth a desperation stream in 2QB/superflex leagues but can be kept off the fantasy radar in 1QB leagues.
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Maybe Atlanta will tank the season just to draft Williams or Maye, then Arthur Smith will outsmart the NFL and let Ridder take all the snaps while Williams or Maye line up outside so the defense has to account for the reverse pass every down. Smart, very smart...
 
Allen Strk
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Finished watching Vikings-Falcons film. I was wrong about Heinicke having a shaky performance. It was a borderline disaster showing. Accuracy all over the place badly missing receivers. Throwing into crowded areas staring down his primary read. Fortunate not to throw three picks.
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If Heinicke struggles against Arizona, the coaching staff must go back to Ridder. Ridder's better accuracy and ability to throw with anticipation would have capitalized on Minnesota's soft zone coverages. Heinicke didn't do enough in the pocket. Maybe with London back he does.
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Taylor Heinicke will start in Week 16 against the Colts.

Desmond Ridder, following his disastrous Week 15 outing against the 1-11 Panthers, will be benched for the second time in 2023. It likely marks the end of Ridder’s time as the Falcons starter and could — depending on how the team’s final three games go — be the end of the Arthur Smith era in Atlanta. Ridder threw his sixth red zone interception of the season last week against the Panthers in the fourth quarter. Ridder now has 12 touchdowns and ten picks in 17 games in the NFL. “The Falcons coaching staff has consistently praised Ridder’s work ethic and pointed out that he’s shown flashes of very good play, but the quarterback has not been able to eliminate the crucial errors, and Atlanta seems to have given up hope that he will,” The Athletic’s Josh Kendall said. Heinicke’s willingness to be aggressive downfield should be a boon, however slight, for Drake London and Kyle Pitts. He threw for 268 yards, one TD, and one interception in his lone 2023 start in which he played the entire game. Heinicke can be picked up in superflex formats.
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