After selecting Chase Young with his first draft pick as Washington's head coach, Ron Rivera tied much of his fate as the chief football decision-maker in Washington to that of the No. 2 overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft.
So it seemed curious, Rivera sounded non-committal about the Commanders exercising Young's fifth-year option that would lock him down for the next two seasons.
Listen to Kevin Sheehan's take starting at 15:18 here:
“Well, what goes into that is you get an opportunity to sit down, look at his tape with our scouts, talk about the way he played, what do we see in terms of development and growth?” Rivera said of the decision about Young, which has to be made by May 1.
Rivera added conversations must be had with team doctors about Young who sustained a significant knee injury that cost him 22 games over the last two seasons.
“We’re going to sit down with the doctors, with the trainers. ‘Where is he? How do you feel, is this something that is going to be long-term, hey, no worries — as long as nothing crazy happens, he’s going to be fine, it’s worth the risk?’ You know what I’m saying? We have to go through that process more so than anything else,” Rivera said.
For Kevin Sheehan, this sounds pretty clear: "What Ron is implying is that they haven't made up their mind... because if they made up their mind on the No. 2 overall pick from 2020, Ron Rivera says, 'Well, of course, we're gonna pick up that option. Chase is a big part of our future...
"No, that's not what he said," Sheehan continued, Rivera talked about "what do we see in terms of development and growth?"
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Last season, the Commanders’ Daron Payne played on his fifth-year option and had a career-year and Rivera pointed to Payne.
“If you look at what Daron did, why wouldn’t you think of it that way?” Rivera said. “Believe me, that would be my approach, especially looking at what Daron did and the situation he put himself in.”
The head coach added: “It cost us. But it cost us in a good way, because the young man played, he did things the right way. He didn’t sit out, he didn’t withhold, he could have done that sit-in during training camp, but he didn’t. And because he didn’t, now we’re in that position where we have to find a way to say thank you, OK, you’ve earned it.”
Rivera mentioning Payne "did things the right way" and talking about Young's "development and growth" signaled to Sheehan that the team believes Young has maturity issues and they "just aren't sure he does things the right way."
"When he talks about development and growth, he's talking about maturity," Sheehan said. "Let's not forgot what the first half of 2021 was all about with defense, it was about maturity, not doing their job, not adhering to their scheme, over and over again. Chase Young was one of the players, definitely, if not the only one they were specifically referring to... what do we see in terms of development and growth? Well nothing on the field, he was barely on the field for a year and a half.
"So, you're talking about his maturity. What have you seen that makes you believe that he's hungry enough, loves football enough, and is coachable enough to pick up a fifth-year option on? And you know what guys the answer is they don't think he is.
"They don't think he's mature enough, they don't think he's coachable enough, they don't think right now, their gut, [Rivera] told you, they'd rather not pick up that fifth-year option. They may do it, but they may do it reluctantly."
Sheehan added that Rivera saying this at the Super Bowl was another one of the head coach's public blunders when speaking to the media.
"I just don't understand, honestly, why Ron Rivera had to put that out there right now," he said, adding that Rivera may completely change his mind and say something different during the NFL Combine at the end of the month.
"I think Ron's gotta learn on these type things that less information is better. Because he created a huge story on this," Sheehan said. "And he's not [incentivizing or motivating] in February 2023 Chase Young."
Follow @BenKrimmel and @Team980 for more.
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