The Washington Redskins have Robert Griffin III as the starter for 2015, but Jay Gruden has not named a backup quarterback and that means Kirk Cousins and Colt McCoy will compete in training camp to see where they land on the depth chart and this comes as DeAngelo Hall is hoping to be ready for the start of camp after dealing with an injury.
Griffin was named the starter during the offseason and Gruden is looking for him to take a "big leap" in his offense in year two. Griffin has not been fully healthy in the past couple years and he is looking to have a bounce back season after playing in just nine games last year. According to the Washington Post, Cousins and McCoy will each get the chance to work with the second team offensive unit in training camp and Gruden is not likely making a decision until sometime in the preseason about the main backup.
Cousins was mentioned in trade reports this offseason, but those did not go anywhere and now he is hoping to give a strong performance this summer as he comes into the final year of his contract. McCoy comes in after getting re-signed this offseason and he could be a better option for Gruden behind Griffin after the way he played last season.
ESPN.com writes that McCoy may have the "slight edge" over Cousins heading into camp, as he looked better overall last season than Cousins did for Gruden. Both players had up and down moments, but McCoy had a better completion percentage and if he plays better in camp, he could get the backup job. Last season McCoy had 1057 yards and four touchdowns in five games played, while Cousins went for 1710 yards and 10 touchdowns while completing 61 percent of his passes in six games.
According to CSNWashington.com, Hall is hoping to be recovered from his Achilles injury in time for the start of training camp. Hall spoke on the radio and said that he hopes that he is "ready to go" when camp opens and that is coming in a couple weeks. Pro Football Talk reports that Hall was not participating in practice during OTA workouts or minicamp this offseason.
The Redskins previously went after Frank Gore during the offseason and they ended up adding Matt Jones in the draft and he could be a much better option than if they added a veteran. Jones has been getting rave reviews this offseason from Jay Gruden, according to Pro Football Talk and he could end up taking some carries from Alfred Morris. While Gore had not missed a game in four seasons and he has rushed for at least 1000 yards in eight of the past nine years, he is past 30 and going young with Jones was a much wiser and cheaper option for the Redskins.
Jones should be able to put up between 400-500 yards rushing depending on his use and while Gore rushed for 1106 yards and averaged over four yards per carry last season, moving forward Jones could end up being a very valuable player for the Redskins and they will be glad they didn't go after Gore, although GM Scot McCloughan loves the RB.