Pulse Of The Fan: Washington Football Team

ASHBURN, Va. -- Our view: The Washington Football Team should be anything but desperate in this year's NFL Draft ... yet the current feeling is that they'll be aggressive.

Is that a conflict in philosophical approach?

The question is, "How much of a risk will they take?'' The feeling we had after talking with Ron Rivera and Martin Mayhew on Friday is that they will be "aggressive" but perhaps not "reckless.''

They won't call it "desperate,'' even though depending on the move, it could absolutely be viewed as such.

That subject will be debated for a while and if it works out, it will be recalled as a great gamble. If it doesn't, it will be another bad bet in a long line of them for this franchise and in the NFL.

We haven't seen much positive fan fever for such a move but that's specific to Trey Lance and in most cases the No. 4 overall pick, a huge jump and price to pay.

Don’t want Trey lance!!!
— Steve johnson (@Coffeebeansteve) April 9, 2021

Some of the reaction hasn't been as fiercely against as that.

I would trade the farm for Zach Wilson... but if he’s a Jet... then Trey Lance is very enticing... no other Consensus QB for me... I wouldn’t trade the farm...but he seems to have elite skills & he’s seems very grounded/leader type... he’s got the goods.
— WeCanNeverWin (@chet1970) April 9, 2021

The problem is that most fans haven't seen Lance play and we only saw him for a few series in his one game last early October, which led to this observation and jab at Dwayne Haskins.

Not a very good start for Trey Lance & ND State.....

A wide open deep ball overthrow INC on 1st series.

A sack & FF on 2nd series for turnover.

I've seen both of those way too often around here.
— Chris Russell AKA the 🐓🐓! (@Russellmania621) October 3, 2020

READ MORE: Rivera on Landon Collins

We've been talking ourselves out of anything different for years. We're going to be right back here next year. A trade for a Qb..folks say it's too expensive. Move up to draft one, it's too much to give up. Same game for years.
— Disco (@discoque5) April 8, 2021

'Disco' isn't really wrong with his spin but that doesn't mean you should be desperate to solve the problem.

Nothing. Need to stay put.
— just_being_me (@TheBestisHere25) April 9, 2021

Then there's 'All in the Family' who is much more in-line with the conservative crowd (of which we identify with).

And Jeff Bochner takes us home with this spin.

It almost never works out to move up. It’s what desperate GM’s do to shown fans/owner that they’re smart/creative/trying. They know if it doesn’t work they won’t be there having been axed already. Sucker bet
— Jeffrey Bochner (@jaboch) April 8, 2021

In years past, Washington fans were much more willing to move up. After seeing several shots at the prize go terribly wrong, they increasingly seem to understand that a team has as good a chance at success by staying patient as it does by gambling hard on a hunch.

READ MORE: Trading Up For Trey

But also increasingly, the vibe is that the WFT might be edging toward the gamble ... while fans hope the move toward that edge doesn't teeter into recklessness.