Washington Football Team Studs or Duds: Ryan Fitzpatrick

Will Ryan Fitzpatrick be a stud or a dud for the Washington Football Team in 2021?

The Washington Football Team is one team that everybody should be looking out for in 2021.

The team is pretty balanced with young talent and veteran journeymen, which is exactly what most legitimate contenders are; just look at the Super Bowl champions. With several moves on offense happening during free agency and the NFL Draft, the team has improved greatly and now has a formidable roster that can compete for playoff spots instead of just squeaking by.

While determining a “stud” or a “dud” for this season, it’s not a label of the player’s skill or ability. A “stud” is going to be a player who will most likely improve based off their 2020 season. A “dud” is a player that will probably regress, or just won’t see a significant jump in play or production.

The highlight of the offseason for the Washington Football Team was the improvement made on offense. A huge free agency and solid draft has brought several new faces to FedEx Field. The biggest focus of the offense, however, is the quarterback.

Ryan Fitzpatrick is the definition of an NFL journeyman. Finally finding his way to Washington, he puts the team one step closer to competing for a Lombardi Trophy. While it’s, theoretically, an upgrade over Taylor Heinicke, Fitz definitely is not the answer.

Fitzpatrick will probably end up being a dud for the Washington Football Team in 2021. Again, this isn’t saying that he’s bad or is going to have a bad season. This is saying that I don’t think he’s going to be good enough.

As of late, we’ve seen Fitz be a quality quarterback, when coming in to relieve the lackluster play of the starting quarterback; Just look at the Tua situation. While he isn’t bad by any means, he just isn’t the real difference maker that you want your quarterback to be. He’s had great years in his career and there’s no argument there, it’s just that he’s 38 years old and most likely won’t be able to recreate the success he had in Buffalo, Houston, New York, or even his first season in Miami.

Again, I want to emphasize that this is not saying that he’ll have a bad season. This is saying that it’s hard to expect him to go in and make any real improvements, especially at this point in his career.

With how loaded this team is, Fitz can be just a league average NFL quarterback and the Washington Football Team will have a legitimate shot to make the playoffs. Learning another new system after coming off the uninspiring season he had with the Dolphins, it doesn’t look like him making a jump is in the cards.