Pat Shurmer’s son could start versus the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 15

Welp, it’s officially official: Tyler Heinicke has been placed on Washington’s COVID-list.

This news, which comes just days after noted Ron Rivera-favorite Kyle Allen also landed on the list, could leave Washington with far more questions than answers about what to do in Week 15 when they take the field for the first time this season against the Philadelphia Eagles.

Will the Football Team have to run the ball a lot? Yes. Could we even see college wide receiver-turned-NFL running back Antonio Gibson take some snaps directly out of the shotgun like Darren McFadden in a Wildcat look? Not only can we, but we all but surely will, but for at least some of the game, Washington will have to trot someone out to take snaps under center, and dink/dunk passes out to whichever players still have a clean bill of health come Sunday.

In a weird twist of fate, that might just turn out to be the son of a former offensive coordinator/interim head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles.

Kyle Shurmur or Garrett Gilbert; either way, the Philadelphia Eagles win.

On Thursday, Washington’s football team had one quarterback on their active roster, Tyler Heinicke, with two more, Kyle Shurmur and Jordan Ta’amu, on the practice squad.

Fast forward one day into the future, and those numbers hold; only the specific names on the hypothetical lockers have changed. You see, once Heinicke was placed on IR, the Football Team stole Garrett Gilbert off of the New England Patriots practice squad and are expected to call up Shurmur to run the first-team offense in their final on-field practice snaps before taking on the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 15.

Could Kyle Allen magically test his way out of protocol? Yes, technically, that is still a possibility, but by Saturday morning, we will definitively know whether or not that is the case.

If Allen can go, great. While he’s unquestionably the best option of Washington’s hypothetical quarterback quartet, Allen is a backup quarterback for a reason, as his 7-10 record and 23-17 touchdown-to-interception ratio help to identify.

But if he’s unable to play? Well, then the Eagles will either be facing off against the son of their former offensive coordinator, Pat Shurmur‘s son Kyle, or Gilbert, who have a combined 93 offensive snaps on their combined resume.

Either way, the Eagles win.

Of the two, Gilbert is the more experienced. He’s been pursuing football professionally since 2014, when he was drafted in the sixth round out of SMU by the then-St. Louis Rams, has been a member of eight different NFL teams, and even has the noted honor of being the all-time leading passer in the now-defunct AAF, where he played for the Orlando Apollos.

Is the 30-year-old from Buffalo a starting-caliber NFL quarterback? No, but at least he’s faced off against NFL defenses.

Shurmur, conversely, has only played quarterback against an NFL defense in practice or during the preseason, which could severely offset his three months of experience he has in Washington’s system.

See what I mean? Neither of those options sound particularly frightening, especially when you consider Washington’s defense/offense/special teams units have been absolutely decimated by having 21(!) players on the COVID-list, plus 13 more players on IR.

Should the Philadelphia Eagles take Week 15 lightly? No. As fans saw in Week 12, even a team like the New York Giants can pull out a stunner on any given Sunday – especially when Jalen Hurts goes 14-31 for 129 yards and three interceptions – and Washington is no exception. But if there was ever a game to play right after the Bye in a search of evening up a record at .500, this would be the one, as Washington’s entire roster is very much in shambles regardless of who they have under center.