Who is Jalan McClendon, the UDFA quarterback just signed by the Redskins?

The Redskins have an honest-to-goodness quarterback competition going on, with rookie Dwayne Haskins competing with veterans Case Keenum and Colt McCoy for the job of starting quarterback when the Redskins visit the Eagles in Week 1.

Between now and then, the team has three preseason games, and it appears that head coach Jay Gruden wants to give his top three guys a limited chance to show what they can do in game conditions, but also wants to protect them by having a fourth quarterback to take the snaps for much of the second half when the field is filled with bubble players on both teams trying to make an impression and earn a roster spot.

In the first preseason game against Cleveland, QB4, Josh Woodrum, was blasted by a free rusher on the penultimate play of the game, tearing his pectoral muscle and sending him to IR, ending his season, and likely, his NFL career.

It was reported by several people that the Redskins worked out Conner Cook and Jalan McClendon on Saturday after practice. On Saturday morning, Jay Gruden acknowledged the planned workout, but sounded a bit tenuous about the teams commitment to signing a quarterback to replace Woodrum.

We’ve got a workout today after practice but the more reps they get the better in my book so we’ll have to see if we want to add a fourth one to the roster, we can do that. If we do that we’ll probably do that today or tomorrow.

On Sunday, the Redskins announced a number of roster moves, including the signing of QB McClendon:

The Redskins signed the following free agents:

• QB Jalan McClendon
• DB Dejuan Neal
• LB Darrell Williams

The Redskins waived the following player designated as injured:

• LB Garrett Sickels

The Redskins waived the following player:

• WR T.J. Rahming

The Redskins placed the following players on their Reserve/Injured list:

• QB Josh Woodrum

Following the announcement of these roster moves, Gruden spoke briefly about McClendon to reporters on Sunday:

Well, he’ll be obviously the fourth quarterback and try to get him some snaps out here and maybe clean up some games there, third or fourth preseason game maybe. I think he had a good workout; moves around a little bit, has a big arm. Still got to get him taught the offense here. It’s going to be a long process, but he’s a good kid. He’s got some talent.

So, who is Jalan McClendon?

Here’s a short description of Jalan McClendon’s background from Fansided:

McClendon is an undrafted rookie who played in 23 total games in his collegiate career. A three-star prospect out of high school, McClendon was rostered with the North Carolina State Wolfpack for three years. There, he completed 26 of 47 passes for 262 yards, one touchdown, and four interceptions.

McClendon, 6-foot-5, 219, has intriguing size and mobility for the quarterback position, and it will be interesting to see how he fares in the inevitable preseason snaps coming his way.

After his junior year, he transferred to Baylor to battle Charlie Brewer for the starting spot. McClendon lost the battle for the Bears’ starting job, and he became the team’s backup.

In his one season with the Bears, he saw more action than his three years at NC State combined. He completed 55 of 91 passes for 715 yards, three touchdowns, and three interceptions, showing modest improvement from his early years. He went undrafted in the 2019 NFL Draft and spent time with the Ravens offseason program before eventually landing in Washington [today].

On Rotoworld’s website, there’s a report from January that describes McClendon as a quarterback who “possesses great size, poise in the pocket, and impressive arm velocity”. He also impressed teams at the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl with his football acumen.

Source: Washington Post