Theismann Reveals What Washington QB Fitzpatrick 'Adds To Meeting Room'

Out went Alex Smith. In comes Ryan Fitzpatrick. For Joe Theismann, that's continued stability on and off the field for the WFT.

ASHBURN, Va. -- The Washington Football Team is still searching for their quarterback of the future. That might come in this draft. It might happen via a trade up in the first round, it might happen in the middle rounds, or it might not happen at all. 

READ MORE: 'Worse Text Ever' - Fitz to Alex

Joe Theismann is a WFT quarterback legend of the past and a Super Bowl champion. He joined Pete Medhurst and yours truly on The TEAM 980 in Washington on Monday, reflecting immediately on the Alex Smith retirement, to talk in-part about the latest addition to the WFT QB room. 

"Ron (coach Rivera) made this very clear: there's going to be an open competition for the quarterback job," Theismann said. 

Rivera has indeed preached competition all off-season long and that is more than understandable. He did, however, anoint Ryan Fitzpatrick as the No.1 going into training camp.

READ MORE: Rivera on Fitz - He's No. 1 Going In

Even though Rivera confirmed what everyone knew - that Fitzpatrick was the top dog on paper - Theismann points out what Rivera is aiming for: The need for a true competition. 

That was a problem last year. 

"Everyone was on Zoom meetings. Nobody was really on the field," Theismann said.

Joe's right, of course. It also didn't help that there was a focus on finding out if they actually could salvage Dwayne Haskins. They couldn't. 

With Alex Smith retiring -- a void in leadership and knowledge could have existed if Washington stayed with Taylor Heinicke and Kyle Allen along with a rookie QB in the draft. Now, they have an answer to that in the new guy.

"I think Fitz adds an awful lot to the meeting room,'' Theismann said. "Those are the things that are invaluable."

Ultimately, Fitzpatrick needs to be better on the field than in the film room but that's where it all starts. He's never made the playoffs in his career. ... maybe in part because Miami played Tua instead of him - a move that Theismann still doesn't understand, as he mentioned on The TEAM 980. 

"They made the decision to sit him at a time when he was playing really good football,'' Theismann said. "(It) makes no sense to me."

Hopefully, the role Fitzpatrick now has with the WFT will make sense to the legendary Theismann ... and to the rest of Washington watchers, too.

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