The Washington Football Team took a big step in the right direction in 2020. Ron Rivera won the NFC East in his first season as head coach, and while Washington went just 7-9, it proved to the NFL world it could have one of the best defenses in the league. It's the offense that's going to have to improve in 2021 if Washington wants to repeat as divisional champions, however, and there's reason to believe it will.
Washington's offense was the third-worst unit in the league last year, as it averaged just 317.3 yards per game. This offseason, Washington went out and signed veteran quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick in free agency, and also added several wide receivers such as the versatile Curtis Samuel, Adam Humphries and Dyami Brown in the draft. Now that Washington has more weapons to work with and a quarterback who refuses to slow down, things could be very different in 2021. Fitzpatrick recently said that he thinks this offense is going to be tough to defend.
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"The biggest thing with his offense, is we're able to spread the ball around to everybody and get everybody involved. It's going to be a tough offense to defend just because of all the pieces we have," Fitzpatrick said, via NBC Sports Washington.
Washington's passing game last season at times felt like it was Terry McLaurin and Logan Thomas against the world. Now with the additions of Samuel, Humphries and Brown, that promises to be different. Washington also returns an intriguing wideout in Kelvin Harmon, who missed all of last season with an ACL tear. He caught just 30 passes for 365 yards during his rookie season in 2019, but is an athletic weapon with a ridiculous catch radius. Washington found a gem in running back Antonio Gibson, who rushed for 795 yards and 11 touchdowns in 14 games last season, and also have receiving back J.D. McKissic, who caught 80 passes last season.
Washington will have a better offense in 2021, but how much better is up for debate. Fitzpatrick predicts the offense will be able to get the most out of the new additions made in the offseason which put the Football Team in good position to make the postseason for the second year in a row.
"I felt the rapport with the guys, not necessarily just on the field X's and O's, but just getting to know guys, starting those relationships up. It's a good team and a lot of great guys, and usually when you can build that off-the-field chemistry, it continues to trickle over onto the field, as well," Fitzpatrick said. "I really like where we're at right now, with a lot of work to go, but I really like the guys we have on the roster."
