2020 was a breakout season for the Washington Football Team's defense as a unit, one that saw every healthy pass rusher prosper with the arrival of Chase Young, who often commanded double teams from opposing offenses, freeing up other defenders to feast.
After only adding in the offseason, Washington's defense is primed for another banner year in 2021, expected by many to be one of the best units — maybe even the best — in the NFL.
Though he's not much for self-promotion, Tim Settle — coming off a career-high five sacks last season — does hope to double that production this season.
"Double what I did last year. Help us win," Settle told 106.7 The Fan's BMitch & Finlay Monday when asked to share his personal goals.
"You had a big year last year," Finlay noted.
"Nah, that's something slight. I'm trying to tell you I've got something in the tank, for real," Settle said. "But just being able to dominate and, for real for real, just go out there and just be able to play as a unit and just dominate as one. It's always gonna be beneficial to all of us at the end of the day if we go out there and just dominate every game."
Settle, 24, is heading into a contract year, his fourth NFL season since Washington made him a fifth-round selection out of Virginia Tech in 2018. With 19 tackles, 5 tackles for loss and seven quarterback pressures in addition to his sack total last season, doubling those numbers in 2021 could make Settle a very rich man.
Also consider that Settle, who played all 16 games last year, is proving himself to be a dependable rotational piece, someone who played 33 percent of Washington's defensive snaps in 2021 and who's only missed one game in his three-year career.
"Five sacks last year," Finlay said. "If you double that, that's double-digit sacks, perhaps going into free agency. That bag could get quite large, as the kids say."
"Well, shoot. We're gonna see how it works. Hopefully," Settle said. "I'm a man of my word. I can back it up. I ain't gonna do too much talking, but y'all heard it first."
Washington's defense dominated as a group in 2020, finishing second in yards allowed per game (304.6), behind only the Rams, and fourth in points allowed per game (20.6). Settle doesn't believe last year's success will put any added pressure on the unit to perform in 2021.
"No, I feel like it's easy to block that out," said Settle. "We know how to play. We know what we've got to do. It's only up to us to execute it. I mean we put a lot of accountability on ourselves, not just one person. If one person's behind, we're all behind. With that mindset and the leadership that we've got, the sky is definitely the limit and it's gonna be a positive. It's gonna be a good year."
With a new signal-caller in Ryan Fitzpatrick, Washington's offense has had to find its training camp groove against one of the league's best, a true test, Settle agrees, that should only serve to better prepare the offense for the upcoming season.
"We definitely gotta get it right," said Settle. "I feel like they're adapting and adjusting to it well as far as, if you're going against us, you're going to get the best of the best. And I feel like it's giving them definitely good comp. When you do competition, you go good on good and you want to get better and the sky's the limit for them too."
"Definitely, you know, as far as effort and work, and as far as grit and just straining, it's part of it," he continued. "Us getting to the ball, them just going until the ball's out, it's just all one thing. They're doing something; we've got to stop them from doing something. They've got to stop us from doing something; we're trying to do something. I mean it works hand in hand."
You can listen to Settle at the 26-minute mark below.
