The Washington Football Team is coming off a sort of interesting season, but they hung tight with the Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the playoffs and have one of the best defenses in the league. They've already added the fan-favorite journeyman Ryan Fitzpatrick and speedster wideout Curtis Samuel, but they still have some areas where they improve. Washington is looking to be the first team since 2004 to repeat as NFC East champions. Here’s how they can do it.
Trade for Jimmy Garoppolo
The 2017 Jaguars, the 2018 Bears, the 2019 49ers, the 2020 Washington Football Team. Four teams with amazing defenses, but only one got to the Super Bowl. Jimmy G might not be one of the dominant quarterbacks in the league, but he’s an effective starter, hitting a mark of 7.8 yards per attempt every year he’s seen significant playing time. He’s shown that he can bring a team deep in the playoffs, something that Fitz hasn’t been able to do in over a decade in the league. The Washington Football Team owns the 19th overall pick in the draft, and doesn’t have the firepower to trade up far enough and snag one of the top-rated rookies. The 49ers might be looking to trade up, and trading away Garoppolo would save them a ton of money. It makes sense for both sides.
Draft an offensive tackle
Washington has one of the better offensive lines in football. Wes Schweitzer, Chase Roullier, Brandon Scherff, and Morgan Moses were all top 20 at their respective positions, according to PFF. There’s one glaring weakness though, left tackle. Geron Christian Sr was PFFs 60th ranked tackle in 2020. This draft is full of great tackles though. Christian Darrisaw, Samuel Cosmi, Rashawn Slater, Teven Jenkins, Dillion Radunz, Liam Eichenberg, and Jalen Mayfield are all players who have been mocked in the first round. With the QB being a relative weakness, it would be wise to invest in the offensive line and focus on the running game.
Sign Kareem Jackson
The Washington Football Team defense is elite, but they are weak at free safety. Landon Collins and Kamron Curl can rotate as LB/SS hybrids, and play a little fit of free safety, but Washington usually has one guy who plays almost exclusively free safety. Last year that role was filled by Troy Apke and Deshazor Elliott, two average-at-best players. Kareem Jackson played over 500 snaps at free safety last year, and played it effectively. Washington has over $20 million in cap space, 8th most in the league. They have the room to fit in another contract, and filling a big need with a great player at this stage of free agency would be a home run.
Draft a coverage linebacker
The other weakness of the Washington Football Team defense is its linebacking core. Jon Bostic and Cole Holcomb aren’t terrible, simply average. Washington was below average at defending tight ends, which signifies a weak coverage linebacking core. If Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah is there at 19, they should forego tackle and take him. But if not, they should target a coverage linebacker on the second day. Jabril Cox could be a target in the second round, Chazz Surratt, Baron Browning, and Justin Hillard could be other targets. In this hypothetical scenario, we got Cosmi round one, traded the second-rounder for Garoppolo, and then snagged a coverage linebacker in the third. This could really help the Washington Football Team's aspirations for a deep playoff run.
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