Washington Football Well On Its Way to an NFC East Crown

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Coaching matters. As the head football coach in Washington, Jay Gruden compiled a 35-49-1 record and made one playoff appearance. He may or may not have been well liked. He may or may not have won the NFC East a couple years back before Alex Smith’s unfortunate injury. Regardless, the reality is that Washington did not have much success during his tenure, despite playing in the most overrated and mediocre division in all of sports history.

Washington replaced Gruden this offseason with Ron Rivera. The Panthers weren’t wrong for moving on from Rivera. It was simply time for both parties to find a new opportunity, and I expect Rivera to do wonders and bring stability to one of the most unstable franchises in all of sports.

The Washington football team is still owned by Daniel Snyder, which means there is undoubtedly a ceiling to the long-term success this franchise can have. For now, however, Rivera brings leadership acumen and X’s and O’s this franchise hasn’t had in a field general in quite some time. He also gets the luxury of coaching one of the bottom third secondaries in all of the NFL. That being said, there are pieces here to work with, and by adding the best player in the draft in Ohio State Edge Rusher Chase Young to an already exemplary defensive line, just a marginal improvement in Dwayne Haskins play can mean Washington is a prime candidate to go worst to first in the NFC East.

Offense

Admittedly, I was not a fan of Dwayne Haskins coming out of Ohio State. While I believed him to be talented, I thought selecting him 15th overall was incredibly risky and an erroneous reach. I still have doubts about Haskins ability to develop into a franchise QB, but he was decent enough last season to make you think your team can win a weak division with him at QB — so long as you have high quality play in the trenches on both sides of the football.

Lucky for Washington fans, one of the things they’ve done right recently is become a poster child for how to take elite offensive lineman with high first round picks. Washington’s best player is by far OT Trent Williams, but he didn’t play a single snap for the team last year, and probably won’t play again in the burgundy and gold. For most teams, that would set them back ages. But Washington has Iowa product Brandon Schreff at guard, and though he suffered a season ending injury, he is by far one of the better players at his position in the NFL. It’s unlikely they can replace/find upgrades for both Donald Penn and Ereck Flowers, but they could get away with an average FA signing at LT, leaving Flowers, Penn and Morgan Moses to battle for the right tackle position.

One of the key areas of improvement for Washington will be providing Haskins with weapons. The team got a surprising rookie campaign out of the wideout Terry McLaurin, but he’s more of speedster that you hit down field or in the open, and this team severely needs a big weapon with a wide catch radius to help compensate for Haskins’ current accuracy shortcomings. McLaurin has the potential to develop into an elite level WR1, but is already an outstanding WR2 option. Pairing him with another target, particularly in the slot or at TE, should be of high priority. At TE, Jeremey Sprinkle and Hale Hentges won’t cut it.

Defense

A promising defensive front is coupled with massive holes in various positions across the field. In the secondary, Washington should be excited about the future of CB in Quinton Dunbar. The Florida product was exceptional when on the field last season, tallying up four interceptions. The key moving forward is for him to prove he can stay healthy, as he ended last season on IR. Free agent splash Landon Collins was decent at SS last season. Though no one can argue that he is woefully overpaid, you can do much worse at the backend of the secondary.

The other side of the defensive backfield is an area Washington must address this offseason. Jimmy Moreland, Fabien Moreau, and Montae Nicholson were dreadful last season, and whenever you are signing Coty Sensebaugh, you know you have huge problems in pass defense. The middle rounds of the draft should be cornerback and free safety heavy.

The strength of this team, and one of the many reasons I am high on their ceiling for 2020, is the front seven. Aside from QB, the offensive and defensive lines are the most important position groups in football, with edge rushers and edge protectors being of premium value. Ryan Anderson had a precipitous drop in production from 2018, but that can be contributed to a number of factors outside of his control. Ryan Kerrigan ended the season on IR but still managed 5.5 sacks, while Montez Sweat showed flashes of having the potential to become an elite edge defender. Adding Chase Young to this group will likely take them from good to elite.

That said, it’s Washington’s interior defense that is going to be dreadful to matchup against, as Daron Payne, Matt Ioanndis, and Jonathon Allen, when flanked with a superb edge rushing group, are going to wreak havoc up the middle. Even with slight upgrades in the secondary this offseason, this Washington defense will probably be very tough to score on with Rivera in charge.

Top pick: Chase Young, DE — Ohio State

This is a no brainer for Washington, and the team should take less than 30 seconds getting the card in on draft night. The Bengals should take Joe Burrow first. They need to, but Young is the consensus best player in the draft, and is the best defensive prospect I have seen since Von Miller out of Texas A&M. He’s a generational talent that will take this team from potentially from average to potentially good. When paired with what Washington already has in the front seven, yes, he’s that special.

Way-too-Early Projection: 1st in NFC East

The Cowboys and Eagles are going to be the darling picks to win the East, and either of those teams can certainly win the division. All that being said, we know there’s going to be at least one team that goes from worst in their division to first, and Washington is easily my pick to do so. Though I am still skeptical on the team’s long-term ceiling with Haskins at QB, they finally have a leader of men in charge with Ron Rivera. Add in Chase Young on the edge and some minor upgrades in the secondary and on the offensive line, and Washington is primed to make their first postseason appearance since 2015.