3 goals for Washington Football Team in second half of 2021

OK – the Washington Football Team is not going to the playoffs in 2021. Even the most diehard fans recognize that by now. At 2-6, with a battered, anemic offense, this just isn’t the year. But that doesn’t mean there are not things to left to accomplish in the second half of the 2021 season.

Here are three goals that Ron Rivera, et. al. should have which could make 2021 a little less disastrous than it currently may seem.

3 rest-of-season goals for the Washington Football Team

3. Identify a kicker

Whether the team should or should not have parted with Dustin Hopkins is a moot point. I would assume that WFT phones started lighting up the moment Hopkins’ replacement, Chris Blewitt, had his first kick blocked against Denver. Blewitt has had three kicks blocked in two games and that has every free agent kicker’s agent sending Edible Arrangements to Martin Mayhew.

The beauty of being out of playoff contention is that the Washington Football Team does not need to consider signing a retread veteran. Those guys might be the right choice for a team that needs more of a sure thing as crunch time approaches. But in Washington, the goal should be to find a long-term guy. Bring in every young, talented leg you can identify and make your best guess. I assume this is what they did with Blewitt, and I want to offer a little kicker caveat here.

Sometimes, it takes a kicker a season or two to – forgive the pun – find his legs. Fans here in DC remember the dark days before Hopkins arrived when there was a revolving door of kickers – both young and old. We also recall that a couple of those young guys – David Akers and Graham Gano come immediately to mind – flourished after there were cut. Akers became a Pro Bowler for Philly while Gano is currently flirting with that status for the Giants.

You remember who Washington chose over Gano back in 2012? The 32-year old Billy Cundiff. He lasted about six weeks.

Now, the logic I am suggesting here could be used to hold onto Chris Blewitt. Emotion can easily overtake you when you see three blocked kicks in two weeks. If Ron Rivera and Nate Kaczor truly believe that Blewitt is the type who will blossom once he gets through this adversity, so be it. It will just be a hard sell. A young guy nervously shanking a couple of clutch kicks seems more pardonable than a guy who can’t consistently elevate the ball. At least, it seems that way to me.

So find a young guy, and if he can elevate the ball over his own linemen, let him kick the rest of 2021. Maybe Sam Sloman is ready to step up. Or maybe Dominik Eberle can move into the German wing with David Bada. Maybe Justin Rohrwasser has put his personal baggage behind him and can use an audition (though that’s a bit of a longshot.)