No OTA's Could Mean a Lost Year?

The last time there was no traditional NFL offseason? 2011. The Redskins went (5-11) that year but that was year two of Mike Shanahan. 2020 is the first year of Ron Rivera & that spells trouble.

What’s the big deal if the NFL doesn’t have offseason camps? After all, they weren’t a staple until the past 20 years.

Spring drills are often dismissed as meaningless because they don’t include pads. Every coach says they don’t judge players in shorts and no pads.

But if they were really meaningless, why would teams bother having them?

For the Redskins, the expected loss of OTAs and minicamp could delay the team’s rebuilding efforts by one year. It prevents incoming coach Ron Rivera from truly changing the culture when not on the field and in classrooms to show the difference from years past.

Rivera is a butt-kicker, to put it mildly. Predecessor Jay Gruden was a nice guy, someone you’d like as a neighbor. But, Vince Lombardi he was not.

Gruden’s practices were a joke. There was never any sense of urgency. Zero. Players goofed off openly or at the best didn’t worry over mistakes because no one was yelling at them to get better and do it now.

Well, that’s going to change in the first five minutes under Rivera. Seen any of the past clips of him challenging players? This guy is super intense. Defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio is, too.

But it has to come on the practice field and then in games for players to truly respect the difference. Winning is an addiction and once Rivera shows them how to win, they’ll step up and make sacrifices to do so every single day. Patriots coach Bill Belichick takes the night off after winning Super Bowls and is back at it the next morning. Rivera is the same way.

Now half the roster will likely change come fall. Nobody is worried over Josh Norman, Ereck Flowers and Quinton Dunbar not returning from a 3-13 team. But those who do remain need to know Rivera will challenge them mentally and physically because that’s how winning is made.

The Redskins’ first workout was supposed to come April 6. Now the NFL will be lucky to do anything before training camps begin in late July. While some areas will surely be safe from the pandemic by June, not all of them will. Surely not New York, New Orleans and California teams. And if one team can’t practice, none can to avoid competitive advantage.

No offseason camps will definitely change the preseason. OTAs teach the playbook and while players can study it over the offseason, there’s no substitute for walking through it on the field. That means paring back playbooks early in the regular season.

Increased injuries are also possible. Unless a player has a personal gym, they’re unable to condition. The NFL will return to the days before free agency in the early ‘90s when players needed offseason jobs to survive and took two months of camp to get into shape and learn the plays. Players will be at increased risk.

The one wild card is more rookies will make teams. Normally, coaches probably have at least 51 of 53 roster spots decided entering camp. Now they’ll have none. Who knows what many of these players can do? Preseason games may just be meaningful for once.

It’s going to be a long offseason with little to no workouts. And, it’s going to lead to one of the wilder seasons in NFL history.

Rick Snider is an award-winning sports writer who has covered Washington sports since 1978. He first wrote about the Redskins in 1983 before becoming a beat writer in 1993. Snider currently writes for several national and international publications and is a Washington tour guide. Follow Rick on Twitter at @Snide_Remarks.