Washington: A Top-10 Roster, But Also No. 1
We are, of course, all just guessing. A top-12 roster. A top-10 roster. A top-8 roster. The thing we do know: The Washington Football Team has upgraded its talent over the course of the coach Ron Rivera era - and entering 2021, the WFT is up there ... somewhere.
The ESPN exercise of ranking every team’s NFL roster meant Washington came in at No. 12. The CBS Sports gang has taken a shot at the same project, and has the WFT coming in at No. 8.
Eight. Ten. Twelve.
Who knows?
There is some sense to the CBS question marks raised and the answers collected, as they write: "Here’s another team that has a quarterback question which puts their 2021 ceiling into question, but everything else on roster looks great. Ryan Fitzpatrick has a talented running back in Antonio Gibson to work with and an improved offensive line to protect him. ... As for Fitzpatrick’s weapons, Washington spent time upgrading that core as well. Terry McLaurin is a star, but he now has a legitimate No. 2 to work with in another Ohio State player, Curtis Samuel. ...''
Oh, and on the other side of the ball: "The defense is the true strength of this club ... All they did was get better this offseason by drafting linebacker Jamin Davis and signing cornerback William Jackson III. They may have the best defense in the league this year.''
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That is really the point here, to us. It's not about some guesswork artificial ranking; it's about what a truly remarkable job Washington has done in just over a year, having gone from zero to 60 - OK, not 60 yet, but they made the playoffs in 2020 with a 7-9 record, so "zero to 30''? - in a very short time.
Rivera and his staff have nailed it in terms of personnel and development, and maybe most impressively, have no fear when it comes to cutting their losses on mistakes. And in that regard? The WFT might be pretty close to No. 1.
