COVID, Chaos, Clarity…and Christmas
December 23, 2021
by Paul Francis
Trying to recap the football/COVID-related events of the prior 10ish days feels like trying to recap the play-by-play of a hurricane that just rolled through. It got cloudy, rain started falling, and then the WFT world just violently swirled around. There goes our Dline sailing past the window – guess they’re gone! Whoa, the starting and backup QB just flew off the lawn! Oh, now the gameday and kickoff time is floating down the street! All the NFL Covid Protocols just got evacuated! Hold on…are we up 10-0 in Philly? Nevermind, giant tree branch just swooped in and crushed that lead.
Whew…with the storm cleared and barely a day to catch our breath before NFL Week 16 begins, we take a little respite to find our bearings and discover a little more clarity for our beloved team. What’s clear for WFT going into Week 16?
1) We’re finished.
The team gave the fans a brief burst of hope in the first quarter, jumping out to an unexpected 10-0 lead. Just when “belief” tempted to soften that hardened skeptical WFT heart of yours, reality saturated like a steady December Philadelphia drizzle. And belief dissolved. I wrote last week how our 4-game win streak from November-December put Washington in a position for meaningful late season football. But that was crushed in Philly like a cheesesteak in Chris Russell’s arm radius. I saw one odds-calculator put our Wild Card chances at about 10% after the loss. I think that’s generous. On short rest with a depleted roster, Washington now travels to Dallas to play its surging rivals ready to ice the division. Not even Lloyd Christmas likes our chances moving forward.
The rest of the season should revert to evaluation mode. We now have permission to start firing up discussions we typically engage this time of year: Who do we re-sign and extend? How much cap space are we looking at? What do we target in free agency? Where will we draft? Can we get a 2nd round pick for Ladell Betts?
Even though the coaches and players may continue to talk about focusing on the next game and not giving up this season, you can bet that the organizational thinking is shifting to the bigger picture. But I’m not completely losing interest in the games. WFT is entering a critical stretch of the Ron Rivera Rebuild, and important evaluations remain for starting positions and roster depth.
Between last year and this year, Ron and the new regime needed space to get things in order. Clearing out the debris of the prior regime and establishing their own culture with their people takes time. But in Year 3, expect to emerge from the chaos of transition and get clarity about what’s being built – a winner or a loser. The remaining three games are the first tryouts for Year 3, and some important tryouts are ahead. Which leads to…
2) We need a QB
“The COVID RnA levels…they are down, they are down! He passed the PCR test! He can go!”, screamed the medical assistant, as he burst into the hangar.
“Hear that? It’s go time”, said Kyle Allen coolly to Tanya Snyder. Flashing a smile and grabbing his helmet, he skipped up the steps into Redskins One…errrr…umm…Washington Football Team One.
The pilot got final confirmation for the flight path. His voice crackled over the PA speaker, “We have clearance for take-off. 30 minutes to Philadelphia”.
“And 30 minutes to victory!” exclaimed Jason Wright as cheers roared in the cabin.
There was something amusing and a bit pathetic about the scenario that built up hours before the Philly game. Rumors emerged that Kyle Allen could test out of the COVID protocols and join the team before kickoff, flying on a private jet to Philadelphia. WFT Nation waited with fingers crossed and breath bated. We could get back Kyle Allen right before the game! It didn’t happen, cruelly robbing my imagination of the scene I described above.
But really, what would we hope for? That Kyle Allen would parachute in and save the game…save the playoff run…save the season? Kyle. Allen. When our hopes are pinned on Kyle Allen (or Taylor Heinicke) performing heroics off the Covid list, aren’t we hoping against hope? Not just for a game but for a franchise.
We need Ron Rivera to fully invest in a QB with whom he can build. Over the past 2 years, Ron’s “wait and see” approach to the QB position meant passing on the opportunity to trade for a veteran or move up in the draft for a top prospect. We’ve heard that he wants to improve that position, but not at any price. This has left Scott Turner patching things together with short-term or failing “solutions” such as Dwayne Haskins, Alex Smith, Kyle Allen, Ryan Fitzpatrick (does he count?), Taylor Heinicke, and Garret Gilbert. As I type that list, I realize that Turner deserves a lot more credit than he’s getting for cooking up offense with those leftovers. The time for waiting and seeing if the next Drew Brees emerges from our collection is over.
Ron has to do 1 of 2 things: trade for a bonafide NFL starter in the offseason, or decisively move in the draft for a QB. The details of those possible scenarios is the subject of another lengthier column. But these moves involve risk and a commitment of resources that go above budget. You are going to overpay in a trade for a starting veteran. Look at what the Rams paid for Matthew Stafford. You are going to move draft picks and/or run a big risk building around a rookie. Look at the challenges faced by All-Universe-Can’t-Miss QB Prospect Trevor Lawrence this season. This is the cold hard reality of trying to fix the most important position on the roster, but it needs to be faced.
Is there any doubt that we need to accelerate in one of those directions? Or do you think Taylor Heinicke should get a franchise-level QB deal and be affirmed as “the guy” moving forward? I didn’t think so. The point is that Washington simply cannot putter through another year of journeymen backups or past-prime veterans. Whatever else is uncertain or chaotic, that is clear enough.
Which leaves us with one last choice to clarify before Christmas: Are we asking Santa for Derek Carr or Kenny Pickett?