Commanders news: Ron Rivera, Chase Young, Week 18 and rebuilding

Ron Rivera's worst Commanders move

The post-mortem on Ron Rivera's head coaching tenure has already begun. He hasn't been relieved of his duties just yet, but that's likely to arrive following next Sunday's game against the Dallas Cowboys.

It's been a disappointing four years overall. Rivera inherited a complete mess. He was working for an owner in disgrace. But looking at the current state of affairs in terms of roster building, results, and team culture, it's not reflecting well on the experienced figure.

When examining Rivera's worst moves, SB Nation listed his refusal to consider Justin Herbert or Tua Tagovailoa in favor of drafting Chase Young at No. 2 overall in the 2020 NFL Draft as the most critical. Something that led to a snowball effect of failed moves at the most important position in football.

"At the end of the day, and this day is almost finally over, I refer to the colossal mistake of the 2020 draft as Ron’s “original sin” in Washington. His failure to do the right thing with the number two overall pick in the draft was ultimately the domino that set the rest of his struggles in motion. A small, but vocal, group of fans was skeptical of using that level of draft investment in [Chase] Young at the time. It’s a virtual certainty that [Kyle] Smith, who was still around when Rivera arrived, shared the scouting staffs’ assessment of [Dwayne] Haskins’ inadequacy, with the new head coach/GM before the 2020 draft. Nevertheless, Rivera disregarded it, passing over Tua Tagovailoa and Justin Herbert when he had a shot to lock in a high-end QB during his first season in DC. The rest, as they say, is history."

- KyleSmith4GM, SB Nation

Hindsight is a wonderful thing to have. But looking at position value and the fact the Washington Commanders already had Jonathan Allen and Montez Sweat on their defensive front, Rivera would have benefitted from going in a different direction.