Washington Football Team: Buy, sell, or hold after Week 3

Sell

There have certainly been some things that we’re selling even at this early point in the season. Here they are.

OL Wes Martin. I really thought Wes Martin was going to step up and be a solid starter for a while here in Washington. And he may end up being that. But so far this season, he’s looked lost or silly or weak or all three on way too many plays. He doesn’t look like the answer at left guard.

Not Trying to Win. Rivera has tried to explain his bizarre decision-making late in halves and games with a combination of “trying to avoid injury” and “building long-term”. I think it’s possible he’s just not particularly good at clock management. I also think it’s possible that he’s showing us just how little confidence he has in Haskins and the overall offensive unit.

But in either case, it sure seems like there would be massive value in the additional reps they would get if he were to manage the clock according to best-practices (or just hire any number of people to do it for him). Even if the end result of games hadn’t changed and their record was still 1-2, the team might have learned something about themselves that could prepare them for later this season or sometime later in the rebuild process.

Call me crazy, but I think trying to win games should be pretty high on the game-day priority list for NFL head coaches. They can work to develop and teach and protect their players the rest of the week. They can decide who to keep, cut, sit and start based on the long-term direction and priorities of the franchise.

But during games, they should be coaching to win every game. They owe that to their players and fans. Period.