Who is Garrett Gilbert? QB starts first game for WFT vs Eagles
The Washington Football Team has officially announced that Garrett Gilbert will be their starting quarterback for Week 15 of the 2021 NFL season against the Philadelphia Eagles. WFT's top two quarterbacks, Taylor Heinicke and Kyle Allen, are still on the Covid 19 reserve list and will not clear the necessary protocols prior to the game on Tuesday night.
This will be Garrett Gilbert's first start of the season and first start for the Washington Football Team. He has appeared in seven NFL games in his career, starting just one of them. In a division rivalry game against the Philadelphia Eagles, with both teams battling for a spot in the NFC Playoffs, Washington will hope the inexperienced quarterback can get up to speed quickly.
Garrett Gilbert's football career
Garrett Gilbert is a Texas high school football legend for what he accomplished while attending Lake Travis. He won two Texas state championships, set an all-time Texas record for passing yards and recorded an impressive 39-4 career record. He was named the national high school football player of the year in 2008 by multiple publications including USA Today and EA Sports.
Neither WFT QB Taylor Heinicke nor Kyle Allen tested out. So while they remain on the Reserve/COVID list, Garrett Gilbert - fresh off New England’s practice squad - gets the starting assignment tonight.
Garrett Gilbert was highly recruited out of high school but remained in the state of Texas for college. He first spent three years at the University of Texas before eventually transferring to Southern Methodist University (SMU). He lost the starting quarterback job at Texas but regained it when he transferred.
He didn't exactly live up to all of the hype coming out of high school but still had a relatively solid college career. He has accumulated over ten thousand total yards and 69 total touchdowns. He played well enough in his career to be selected in the sixth round of the 2014 NFL Draft by the St. Louis Rams.
After bouncing around several teams' practice squads for nearly five years, Garrett Gilbert saw his first taste of NFL action come in 2018 with the Carolina Panthers. He completed two of his three passes for 40 yards before being released by the team at the end of the season.
Garrett Gilbert was then drafted by the Orlando Apollos of the Alliance of American Football (AAF) for their first season in existence in 2019. The AAF only lasted eight weeks but Gilbert was one of their stand-out players. He led the league in passing yards and passer ratings while ranking second in passing touchdowns on his way to a 7-1 record.
Also read: Alliance of American Football ends first season prematurely
When the AAF folded, Garrett Gilbert signed a contract with the Cleveland Browns. He appeared in five games and threw just three passes, completing none of them. In 2020 with the Dallas Cowboys, he got the first start of his NFL career, adding to his Texas legend. He played decently, throwing for 243 yards and a touchdown, but was unable to come away with a victory.
QB Garrett Gilbert to start for Washington vs. Eagles; Taylor Heinicke, Kyle Allen still in COVID-19 protocols (per @MikeGarafolo
& @TomPelissero)
nfl.com/news/qb-garret… https://t.co/cfmMNMtmYI
That was the last time Garrett Gilbert appeared in an NFL game, prior to Week 15 of the 2021 NFL season, where he will get the start for the Washington Football Team. He will look to earn his first NFL victory in his second career start. It won't be easy in a hostile environment in Philadelphia against the Eagles and their division rivals in an important prime-time game with NFC playoff implications.