Kirk Cousins will finally get the opportunity to supplant Robert Griffin III as the Redskins starting quarterback.
Amid speculation this summer from analyst who Cousins had outplayed RG3, a report has come out indicating that the Redskins head coach felt that way as well.
According to Mike Wise of the Washington Post, Jay Gruden has wrestled with that knowledge for months now.
Wise reports, via a person with knowledge of Gruden’s thinking, the rookie head coach realized this summer Cousins was better suited to run the West Coast offense even if the exorbitant draft-pick investment in Griffin mandated staying the course.
While Griffin was struggling to master the offense and still working through obvious mechanical flawsdating back to a disastrous 2013 season, Gruden insisted there was no quarterback controversy and publicly backed RGIII as the face of the franchise.
With RG3 out, Gruden can now focus on tailoring the offense to suit Cousins strengths. Gruden admitted that much when he made it clear after Sundays win that Washington can win with Cousins under center.
“I feel like we can win any game with Kirk Cousins,” Gruden said after Sunday’s game. “Kirk is a special guy. He started four games last year and didn’t have great success, but obviously has a skill set that I feel like is very much suited for what we do. He can handle it mentally, and obviously, physically. I feel that he can make every throw in the book and we are going to move forward with Kirk.”