Washington Football Team could be case study for rebuilds to come

Allow me to, perhaps irresponsibly, fuel your optimism surrounding the Washington Football Team’s 2020 regular season.

The general consensus so far this offseason is that the Washington Football Team will not be a contender in 2020. It’s understood nationally that things are looking up for the most part, and even with Dan Snyder’s lingering presence, the oft-maligned owner seems to be operating differently with Jason Wright and Ron Rivera in his ear.

With all that being said, however, it’s a widely-recognized truth that rebuilds simply take time. It takes time to restructure a talent base, and it takes time to revamp a culture, and it takes time to establish new norms in the player-coach relationship.

No amount of optimism can substitute the need for time. And because of this, it’s generally understood that, no matter how much growth the Washington Football Team’s young players show in 2020, and no matter how large a leap quarterback Dwayne Haskins takes, they’ll still need more time to put it all together and become a legitimate threat.

With that being said, the Washington Football Team has been unique in its mediocrity in recent years. There have been years where the team potentially had enough talent to compete, but coaching and off-field dysfunction kept them from reaching that point.

When Rivera was hired, one of the reasons he chose Washington was because of the talent currently stored on the roster. In Rivera’s eyes, he wouldn’t necessarily be starting from scratch. He’d have to re-train a lot of players, but the cupboard was far from bare.

With that in mind, an important question hovers, regarding Washington’s football operations: How quick of a turnaround might we see, if Washington isn’t starting from scratch. The team has a solid foundation of talent, and while no one is debating that they need more, how far can the team’s current talent structure go with reliable coaching on both sides of the ball?

Of course, the new coaches have to prove themselves within the bounds of the season. The offseason is always a breeding ground for unabashed optimism, only because the regular season provides that optimism’s only antidote.

But what if Rivera is everything he’s meant to be? What if the culture change progresses with ease? What if Scott Turner’s offense hits the ground running? What if the defense finally comes together behind a fearsome front four?

Washington’s rebuild in 2020 will be a case study for years to come, because contrary to other rebuilds, Washington isn’t necessarily starting from scratch. They’re still far from contention, but with the right change, any team can start to ascend.