In Jay Gruden’s six (!?!) seasons in DC, the Washington franchise has gone from laughingstock to irrelevance.
I guess that’s a good thing, right?
The sad part of another lackluster coaching tenure here in DC is that in the court of public opinion, no one actually cares about the team anymore.
How hard was that to accomplish in hindsight?
A city that bled Burgundy and Gold and treated its backup quarterback as saviors for decades now is so irrelevant on a national level that Fox Sports released a tweet with a promo graphic with a player of every team on it…..except Washington.
Now, is it all Gruden’s fault? Of course not.
But, let me ask you this….has there EVER been a time in his tenure, that as a fan, you felt like this was the man that could inspire, coach up, and lead a team to be atleast more than the sum of its parts?
Where is the fire? Where is the spark and spunk to make the fans feel a way about you – whether that’s indifferent or not?
Now, it isn’t like this team is talent-laden and that again, isn’t Gruden’s fault. Surely the ineptitude of the front office and ownership can take most of the blame in this instance. But man, it’s really difficult to see a light at the end of the tunnel.
Yes, the defensive line is young and full of promise. Yet, there are issues at middle linebacker and in the secondary so how good the line is will be paramount for any success on the defensive end. Hopefully, free agent pickup Landon Collins (formerly of the GIants) can bring some sort of stability into a secondary that has some talent, but just doesn’t seem the make the plays when they truly matter.
Offensively – aka Gruden’s wheelhouse – is a mess. The quarterback will be Case Keenum, who at the worst, gives the team some time to waste at the position until first round pick and DMV Native Dwyane Haskins is ready to take the helm. The receiving corps has no one currently on the roster that has ever established himself as any sort of top level contributor. The running game should be solid with the addition of last year’s second round pick Derrius Guice along with Adrian Peterson and the offensive line is in shambles without perennial Pro Bowler Trent Williams still holding out for a trade or whatever.
Six years…this team still doesn’t have an identity.
That’s on the coach.
What are we? WHO are we?
What we are, is a team that has had one playoff appearance in Gruden’s tenure. A team that is on the verge of its fourth consecutive January watching the playoffs on the comforts of their living rooms.
Before season’s end, he may be unemployed and that may not be a bad thing.
