Washington Redskins QB Kevin Hogan Raising Stock With Hometown Team

Former Stanford quarterback and D.C. native Kevin Hogan has turned heads in three Washington Redskins preseason games. The No. 3 guy behind Alex Smith and Colt McCoy, Hogan could be setting himself up for a better job down the line.

If there’s one position that you want to have excessive depth, it’s at quarterback. The Washington Redskins, a team that seems to always have question marks under center, finds themselves with three solid quarterbacks in 2018: No. 1, Alex Smith; No. 2, Colt McCoy; and No. 3, Kevin Hogan.

Smith, a three-time Pro Bowler and proven winner, has built a solid resume over his 14-year NFL career and McCoy, albeit to a lesser degree, has done the same. Hogan, however, was purely a wild card before playing very, very well in the 2018 preseason.

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In all three of Washington’s games, he’s been effective: 7-for-9, 7-for-11, and 7-for-9 with two touchdowns. All totaled up, the D.C. native has a 112.7 QB rating with a 70-plus completion percentage and zero interceptions. Sort of shocking considering how his career has gone before this year.

A fifth-round pick in the 2016 NFL Draft, Hogan has bounced around in his first few NFL seasons with mixed results. The Kansas City Chiefs drafted him but after posting a 25.7 QB rating in the 2016 preseason, he was promptly released. Two days later he was signed by the Cleveland Browns, debuting for the winless franchise in Week 7. He’d finish the 2016 season with a pitiful 31.6 QB rating. During the 2017 preseason, however, Hogan took an obvious leap as things started to slow down for him. He played in Cleveland’s final three preseason games, posting a fantastic 123.0 QB rating. When the regular season rolled around he was rewarded with more action, even making his first NFL start in a Week 6 loss at Houston. While not great, his 71.9 QB rating in 2017 was a step in the right direction. During the offseason, the 6-foot-3 quarterback was acquired via trade by his hometown team, the Washington Redskins.

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As a Redskin, Hogan has jumped off the screen in three preseason games — leading a game-winning drive against the New York Jets and severely outplaying Smith and McCoy in their Week 3 loss to Denver. While McCoy probably has the No. 2 spot locked up, the former Stanford star has raised his profile in a big way. He’s a smart kid and is obviously building off the time he gets on the field. With any position, you want to see improvement with each year that passes. At quarterback, it’s even more important and Hogan has definitely built off each experience he’s gone through.

Maybe the Redskins like what they see and keep him around, but he also could be a guy QB-needy teams go after. Right now, Hogan is on a $630,000 base salary. In a league that relies so heavily on the quarterback position, you can bet that Hogan is playing himself into a bigger deal somewhere down the line.

It should be noted that Kevin Hogan is wearing No. 8 with Washington, the jersey most recently donned by Kirk Cousins.

Hogan was born and raised in McLean, VA and played his high school ball at Washington, D.C.’s Gonzaga High School.