There’s a circular poetry to the latest Washington Commanders’ failure. Everything is set to end in the same place it began.
During the 2020 NFL draft, when the Commanders abandoned their franchise quarterback need and selected Chase Young No. 2 overall, they aimed to create a superpower along the defensive front just as the San Francisco 49ers had done to build a Super Bowl team after drafting Nick Bosa to their already ultra-talented unit. And now, less than 3½ seasons into the project, Washington has traded Young — to San Francisco!— for a third-round pick.
Ron Rivera, as the coach and personnel czar, started his tenure by making Young his first draft pick instead of quarterbacks Tua Tagovailoa and Justin Herbert. And by the time a trade-deadline fire sale concluded Tuesday, the team had dealt Young and 2019 first-rounder Montez Sweat in moves designed to construct a future that likely doesn’t include Rivera.
Miscalculations, as well as poor player development, have backfired on the Commanders. They can’t avoid getting hit in the eyes.
The Commanders went 25-32-1, made one playoff appearance, and never won a game during what was supposed to be an era of defensive line abundance that would hasten Rivera’s effort to build a winner. During this time, their defense went from excellent to regressive, solid to miserable. They have allowed the second-most points and fourth-most yards in the NFL this season, and the Commanders (3-5) must make do without two starting defensive ends who have combined for 112 sacks in 2023 for the remaining nine games.
With a diminished pass rush, their coverage issues are about to get even uglier. When defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio had the first-round quartet of Sweat, Young and former Alabama tackles Jonathan Allen and Daron Payne, he could neither create consistent ferocity upfront nor build around them with steady play at linebacker and in the secondary. During a process that began a few years before Rivera arrived, the Commanders have used a considerable amount of their draft resources and free agency spending on the defense. The result has been a collection of mismatched talent that performs nearly every year like a collection of mismatched talent.
Look at the defense right now, and you see just three players that every team in the NFL would consider unquestioned keepers: Allen and Payne, who are on their second contracts; and safety Kamren Curl, a great success story of this regime as a seventh-round pick in 2020 who should be in line for a new deal. Under Rivera, Washington has drafted 16 defensive players, six of whom were taken within the first three rounds. Three are currently starters: Curl, linebacker Jamin Davis and cornerback Benjamin St. Juste.
The mediocre batting average on these prospects would be understandable, though still unsatisfactory, if they had been offensive prospects. You could rationalize it as Rivera, a coach with a defensive background who was given the keys to an entire franchise for the first time, making mistakes outside of his expertise. But Rivera came to Washington in 2020 after orchestrating a solid defensive-driven era with the Carolina Panthers, and he inherited the trio of Allen, Payne and Sweat. He had the No. 2 overall pick, and he hired Del Rio, who had a good resume as a coordinator and a reputation for deploying talent properly.
Rivera needed only to do a competent job to forge a defensive identity. However, Del Rio and the defensive staff seem behind the times on some days, and they appear unable to meet players where they are on others. The Commanders are aligned only in underperformance.
You may recall that I was pro-Young before the 2020 draft. I thought Rivera and Del Rio would unlock all his athletic brilliance, and he would become a homegrown face of the franchise, a kind of game-altering presence who would be so hard to block that the entire D-line would benefit. I was wrong, obviously.
But here’s the disturbing part about this failure: Young isn’t a bust. He hasn’t turned out to be Bosa with golden dreadlocks, but he’s a 24-year-old with 14 career sacks in 34 games. Injuries have cost him the equivalent of 1½ seasons, but he’s back to disruptive productivity now. Sweat, whom the Commanders traded to the Chicago Bears for a second-round pick, can really play. Allen is a star, and there are few interior linemen who play the way Payne does. Yet for 3½ seasons, they were just intriguing loose parts that never became a machine. There was rarely any imagination or connectivity in the manner that they rushed.
They didn’t make each other better, and they might thrive now that they’re apart. Washington was right to move on, and the front office did a solid job salvaging an extra second- and third-round pick out of two players scheduled for free agency after this season. But overall, the personal and organizational shortcomings are astounding. Possibility turned into a letdown far too easily.
As a rookie, Young was a difference-maker. Washington finished second in the NFL in total defense and made a surprise NFC East title run despite finishing 7-9. Then player immaturity and bad team management stalled progress. Young became the face of that disappointment. It was bigger than him, but as the last product of a star culture that former owner Daniel Snyder loved to foster to the detriment of his coaches and organization, Young became enamored with transcendence before he established himself as a football player. The injuries humbled him, and when he finally got healthy and comfortable, it was too late for the team.
In a 49ers’ culture full of star power and leadership, Young might prosper. He can play a big role in turning around a defense that needs a jolt, but on a team with Bosa, Trent Williams, George Kittle, Christian McCaffrey, Deebo Samuel and Fred Warner, he’s just another big-name player. And as the least accomplished of them, he knows he must go to work. If he does, he may get to play for a championship while raising his value before free agency.
In his hometown, a familiar word beckons: rebuilding. It will be the first major project of the new Josh Harris ownership group, and depending on how the Commanders finish, the assignment may or may not be a complete teardown. But make no mistake what the trades of Young and Sweat signal: The future is more important than scuffling through the present.
Harris isn’t interested in applying some duct tape and hiding the truth. For this to be a new era, the Commanders need a new standard.
On Tuesday, that meant stockpiling draft picks. Rivera is left with less as he tries to save his job. Then again, after reflecting on how he fared with abundance, it seems he has allowed his future to be decided.
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