Why the Washington Football Team should not tank in 2020

Why you don’t tank

Clever PR departments will never call it “tanking.” We’re just looking at the young kids to see what they’ve got. That’s a common line. But the players know. Hell, sometimes even us fans know. They know there is a better option sitting on the bench but isn’t in the game because we are not doing everything we can to win.

Because we don’t want to win. Because we need Trevor Lawrence. Trevor Lawrence may be a Hall of Fame pro. Or maybe Justin Fields will. Trey Lance is all the rage right now. Maybe a month from now it will be Mac Jones.

I know – you watch a lot of college football. Been doing it your whole life. You know. You know which of these guys is the real thing, and which is the pretender.

But here’s the thing. You don’t. You absolutely positively don’t. You do what every team does. Nobody does. You take your best shot. You hope and pray you are right. If you aren’t, you do it all over again a couple of years down the road.

But you do not tank.

You don’t tank because it breeds a losing mentality. You don’t tank because it brands you as a loser. You don’t tank because it doesn’t work.

You don’t tank because it is an insult to the game. To the players and coaches. It is an insult to the fans. I will root for a team that is overmatched and likely to lose. I will not root for a team that is not even trying.

I will not root for a team that tanks.