Ron Rivera may have made a long-term commitment with the Washington Football Team, but the honeymoon glow is fading with fans, thanks to his handling of the quarterback situation.
Like many coaching candidates before him, Rivera was brought in to unlock the potential of the existing high-draft-pick quarterback: Dwayne Haskins. That’s what owner Dan Snyder wanted to hear.
Like other candidates (see Jay Gruden with Robert Griffin III), he said all the right things to get the job, then gave up. At least in Gruden’s case, RG3 was benched for Kirk Cousins, who gave the team a better chance to win.
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For Rivera, it’s hard to make that argument for Kyle Allen.
Facing a middling Giants defense on Sunday, Allen did some things well but fell well short of Rivera’s stated goal: winning. Rivera said as much when naming Allen his starter.
“We have three divisional games coming up...so we're better off putting the ball in the hands of a guy who knows our system,” Rivera said of Allen before the Rams game. “A guy that's been in our system for three years, backed up by a guy who's been in our system before and who's a little bit of a more accomplished quarterback.”
He added: “These next four [games], based on where we are, we have a chance. We'll see what happens.”
Where they are is 1-5, riding a five-game losing streak. What happened was another loss, and this one comes without the excuse of playing a quality opponent. They certainly don’t look like the best team in football’s worst division.
Sunday’s loss to the Giants (which was New York’s first win of the 2020 season) also proves that Rivera can’t have it both ways.
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Is 2020 a rebuilding year? Then Haskins, the quarterback on the roster with the highest ceiling, should be starting until the bitter end. If he wins, then you have a quarterback for the future. If he loses, then Washington gets a high draft pick to spend on a quarterback.
Is 2020 a competitive year? Arguably, Haskins should still be starting. In six quarters of football, we’ve seen enough to know why Allen didn’t win the job in training camp. Knowledge of the playbook can’t overcome a limited skill set.
Meanwhile, Haskins is still a question mark worth defining.
By blurring the priorities among talent evaluation, player development and winning the division, Rivera stands a good chance of accomplishing none of the above.
There’s still time for Rivera to backpedal out of this mistake, but that starts by smoothing things over with Haskins. Pretend the organization didn’t leak unfavorable rumors to the media about poor preparation, gloating about stats, or seeking a trade by Halloween.
Water under the bridge, right?
Spend the rest of 2020 figuring out what talent is on the roster and what is needed to be competitive. Fans will wait for that, but they can’t be sold on “win now” with losses like Sunday’s.
Brian Tinsman has covered D.C. sports since 2011, both from the team marketing and skeptical fan perspectives. Tweet your criticisms @Brian_Tinsman.
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