Typically, our season previews begin by discussing a team’s offense, but for the Washington Football Team, it’s only right to talk about their defense right off the bat. Washington allowed the fourth-fewest points per game and second-fewest yards per game last season. As if that wasn’t enough, the team drafted linebacker Jamin Davis in the first round of this year’s draft. Washington’s defense is led by one of the most intimidating defensive lines in the league. Chase Young is already a game wrecker in just his sophomore season, and Jonathan Allen, Daron Payne and Montez Sweat round out the star-studded unit. There is no reason to expect a drop off in production this season from this young defense.
The questions for Washington begin with their offense, namely at the quarterback position. Ryan Fitzpatrick has the love of most of the NFL community, but he’s thrown more interceptions than he has games played over the last three seasons. Comparing Fitzpatrick to the rest of the league isn’t quite appropriate in this context, however, because, as difficult as it is to say, Washington’s quarterback room was downright terrible last season. Even if Fitzpatrick isn’t a top tier quarterback (which he is not), he’ll be better than the combination of Alex Smith, Dwayne Haskins and Kyle Allen that Washington rolled with last season.
In addition to getting a boost at quarterback, Washington also added to their skill position players. The team brought in Curtis Samuel to join Terry McLaurin, Antonio Gibson and Logan Thomas as the go-to offensive weapons. The Football Team returns Brandon Scherff to the offensive line, but the unit should not be considered strong by any means.
Washington has a lot of positives, and the list of positives is longer than the list of negatives. However, the negatives carry much more weight. Washington’s two biggest weaknesses are likely going to be their quarterback and offensive line, two of the most important position groups in football. If Fitzpatrick and the offensive line can just be mediocre, the Football Team has a solid chance to win the weakest division in the league.
Regular season record prediction: 10-7