Washington Football Team’s “next man up” philosophy evident in 2020

The Washington Football Team has benefitted greatly from the “next man up” mentality all season long and according to Chase Young, that’s something that he got instilled in him at Ohio State.

Nothing epitomizes a “next man up” philosophy as much as a game where starting running back Antonio Gibson did not play and starting quarterback Alex Smith left midway through. That’s what the Washington Football Team experienced in Week 14.

The fact that Dwayne Haskins was able to come in, after not having played in 10 weeks, and do enough to hold on for the team’s fourth straight win, was not lost on his Ohio State teammate, Young.

"I was cheering Dwayne on. I’m definitely a Dwayne Haskins supporter. But competitive excellence is something Coach Meyer had taught us in college. Competitive excellence means when your number is called, you got to be ready. And I feel like today his number was called and he performed."

And you wonder why Ohio State produces the number of NFL players that it does. It’s because the little things like competitive excellence are preached and ingrained into the players.

Coach Rivera has mentioned players needing to be ready to step up when given the opportunity and reiterated that again the day after the win against the 49ers.

"A guy gets hurt, somebody steps up and does their job like the ‘next man mentally.’ …That’s all part of coming together and being a team."

Not only did Haskins step up against the 49ers, but this Washington Football Team has seen plenty of examples of this “next man up” mentality throughout the season.

Let’s take a look at some of the different players that have stepped up throughout the year when their “number was called.”