In his weekly online chat, columnist Thomas Boswell was asked whether the Washington Redskins should trade the No. 2 pick for additional selections later in the NFL draft.
A. Almost everything Redskins Coach Ron Rivera has said has worried me in one way or another. He has been quoted as saying, “[Winning has] got to happen soon.”
No, it doesn’t. That’s ridiculous. If that is just placate-Daniel Snyder talk, then okay. If he really means it, then he hasn’t done a good job of realizing that this is a very badly broken roster that needs major improvement.
Rivera has said he believes in the philosophy of “Make your strengths stronger.” That’s a tip that he’s leaning toward or has already decided on picking Chase Young.
He also has said that you would trade down from the No. 2 pick only if you thought that the first-round pick you got as part of the package in return was going to be roughly as great a monster as the player you would have gotten at No. 2.
This also makes no sense. You can get three or four players for that one pick. Just to illustrate, the No. 2 pick is worth more than the Los Angeles Chargers’ picks in the first four rounds combined — sixth, 37th, 71st and 112th overall.
Rivera’s personality is very easy to like. But as far as the draft goes, I think he’s in a box: Young is from Ohio State, the same as quarterback Dwayne Haskins and wide receiver Terry McLaurin. They would love to play together. But the Redskins have no second-round pick and, I expect, will not get Trent Williams back in 2020 — come on, he hates them. There’s no “welcome home.” They’re probably going to have to accept a poor-value trade for him unless they are so stubborn that they just play standoff with each other for another year.
The Redskins need help at wide receiver, tight end and linebacker and on the pass rush and the offensive line. And I think at defensive back, too.
There is one positive way to look at all of this. Accept that this is a three-year rebuild. Draft Young (if you think he is great), go 3-13 or 4-12 again next season, and hope to get another top-five pick in 2021. And continue to be pretty lousy in 2021 while gathering more pieces to go with Haskins, McLaurin and Young, etc.
Here’s the problem: The Redskins are trying to put together a 3,000-piece jigsaw puzzle, but they don’t seem to realize that they have only 2,000 pieces in the box. In other words, what they have is an Incomplete Picture of Nothing.
Until you understand clearly where you really are, you just can’t ever get to where you want to go.