By: Jake Rajala

Ryan Fitzpatrick, who is also known as the Gandalf of quarterbacks, is lacing his cleats for his 16th Week 1 appearance in the NFL. “Fitzmagic” is arguably now being given the best opportunity to show he can be a quality starting QB on a competitive team in the entirety of his career. I believe that the bearded veteran QB will do career wonders and complement his ferocious defense very well. Here is why the journeyman QB and fan-favorite can lead his team to glory and put a pin on the divisional hopes of the Philadelphia Eagles, New York Giants, and the prized Dallas Cowboys.

• WR Terry McLaurin

Ryan Fitzpatrick has had the pleasure of being a QB in an offense with Mike Evans, but his new WR in Washington will be the best weapon he’s had yet. For starters, he’s not living and dying by the sword with a WR1, whereas he was in Tampa with Bruce Arian’s vertical, passing attack. He will not only be allowed to be more conservative with his top WR, but his top WR matches his own skillset quite well.

McLaurin’s gift is his deep speed and ability to torch defenses on the backend. Mike Evans and the former Texans great WR Andre Johnson were big body, big-play WRs, but they didn’t have 4.31 speed like McLaurin. Fitzmagic truly can stretch the field and he showed that last season as he was ranked sixth in the league in YPA. The former Dolphins QB also had highlight-reel plays that showed off his arm strength and talent (see below).

McLaurin suffered from playing with the ultra game manager in Alex Smith last season, but he should be back to scorching secondaries in 2020. The 15.8 YPC tally held by Mclaurin in the 2019 season with Case Keenum as the QB should be eclipsed this season with the exciting Fitzmagic as the signal-caller this season.

• The best defense he’s yielded

Fitzmagic may undeservedly get the recognition of a “plug and play QB”, but he truly can take care of the football AND be efficient at the same time. Fitzpatrick hasn’t been awarded a starting gig on a team over the past several seasons that could offer weapons on offense, play above average on defense, and not have to ask him to play lights out at the QB position. For example, in the past several years, he’s played two years for the New York Jets, two years for the once atrocious Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and two years for a mostly struggling Dolphins squad. The Jets were steamrolled in most of their matchups and the Buccaneers had Winston throwing the ball nonstop and learning less while doing it. However, he did play one season with a quality offensive system and defense to compliment him.

When he played with the Texans in 2014, the Texans had the seventh-best scoring defense. Fitzpatrick clocked 17 passing touchdowns to eight interceptions while recording the third-best single season QBR in his career that season. To no surprise, the sharp Texans QB with a talented supporting cast helped his team have the second best takeaway/giveaway ratio in the league. Fitzmagic helped unveil the Texans unveil their best takeaway/giveaway ratio in the “last twenty years”.

Fitzpatrick is finally in an offense where he will have numerous Pro Bowl-caliber players, a coach that hasn’t a young QB breathing down his neck, and a scary defense to allow the veteran QB to play his methodical, splash play, style of game. The best thing going for Fitzpatrick is not just that his defense is good, but his defense is VERY good. The Washington Football Team essentially rode on the backs of the team’s defense into the postseason last year, particularly on the front seven led by 2020 Defensive Rookie of The Year Chase Young. Despite having undrafted QB Taylor Heinicke at QB, this team gave Tom Brady a fight in the wildcard matchup up until the fourth quarter.

I’m not saying the Washington defense can edge out TB12 or Aaron Rodgers by themselves, but if they have a bit more juice at QB, they ought to be able to be real playoff contenders. In the past six Super Bowls, we’ve witnessed very intense defenses with reliable QBs make it to the dance four times. The Broncos garnered a ring with Brock Osweiler at QB, the 49ers play with Jimmy Garopollo at QB, the Rams compete with Jared Goff at QB, and the Eagles win big with Nick Foles calling the shots. Fitzpatrick is a well capable QB who has finally earned himself the golden situation. Expect impressive personal feats to be claimed by the legendary QB and postseason advances to occur in Rivera’s second year leading the hungry team.

The post Fitzmagic can lead Washington to the promised land appeared first on Pro Football Mania.

By: Reese Nasser

The football team in Washington is creating something worth cheering for and it’s being led by a defensive unit that is quickly becoming one of the best in the NFL. Washington’s defense is regarded as a top-five group entering this season and all signs point to them becoming even better. Second year player and defensive rookie of the year, Chase Young, is at the forefront of the defense and has become the leader of the group. Here are three reasons why Washinton will lead the NFL in sacks this season. 

Best Defensive Line in Football

Washibgton has crafted a defense line full of stars. Chase Young, Jonathan Allen, Daron Payne, and Montez Sweat lead the front four. Each has quickly become one of the best at their position and the group as a whole is held in high regard. The other component that they have is youth. The oldest of the four is Allen, who is just 26 years old. Between this group, 21.5 of the teams 50 sacks were recorded. With an extra year of working together, the unit will only work better together. The four of these players alone could account for potentially 30 sacks if they are able to take yet another leap next season. 

Bringing the Defense Back

The fact that a majority of this defense is returning, with the addition of high-profile rookies, this unit will become even better. Nine of Washington’s eleven starts from last season will be returning. This should be room for excitement. As much of the team relies on the front four, the rest of the group should be able to build off of that. While the linebacker core only accounted for a few sacks, that should be expected to change as well.

The expectations will be high for the first round pick. His athleticism and all around ability to play the position will bring an extra dynamic to this defense. While Davis accounted for only 1.5 sacks in his final season at Kentucky, he still racked up 102 tackles. In Washington’s defense, it can be expected that Davis’ speed will be utilized in a way that it wasn’t in college. His 4.37 40-yard dash shows that he is fast and has top end speed. Bringing that type of speed off of the edge or on blitz will result in either Davis getting a decent amount of sacks in his rookie season or one of the star defensive lineman getting the reward.

Chase Young.

Chase Young’s stock continues to go up and up. In his rookie season, he was one of the best defensive players in football. The Ohio State standout is just another great in a long line of star defensive ends coming out of the school. Young’s impact was nearly instant in Washington. He led all rookies in pressure. 

His 7.5 sacks were hard earned as Young was often double teamed. Teams quickly realized how much of a threat he was. He is expected to take yet another leap in his sophomore season and will remain the focal point of this Washington team. Young will be expected to rack up double digit sacks and nobody will be surprised when he does. 

This unit will look to expand on the 50 sacks that they had last season. With the defense that has been assembled, that goal is possible. There is a chance that they could add at least an extra ten to their total from last season. 60 is manageable and will be well within reach for the players out in Washington. 

The post 3 reasons why Washington will lead the NFL in sacks appeared first on Pro Football Mania.