The Washington Football Team won the NFC East and snuck into the playoffs with an abysmal seven wins last season. Even though Ron Rivera won the division and made the dance in his first year as a head coach, the WFT had a large question mark at the QB position. The reigning NFC East champs answered this question mark by adding a unique legend and fan favorite, Ryan Fitzpatrick. 

Fitzpatrick is joining a team that is giving him a better opportunity to start than his most recent past squads (Miami, Tampa Bay), despite his electric performances. The journeyman signal-caller will likely not only start, but he could put up explosive numbers in year one. Here are a few reasons why the 38-year-old could hold up to his “nickname” on a consistent basis and make his first-ever Pro Bowl appearance.

NFC East competition 

This isn’t a sexy reason, but Fitzmagic could stack up his numbers by virtue of playing in four games where the opponents feature dreadful defenses. These opponents would be the Philadelphia Eagles (19th ranked in 2020) and Dallas Cowboys (23rd ranked in 2020). 

The outlook for the Philly defense and Boys defensive unit doesn’t appear to provide reason for massive swings of improvement. The Eagles defense improved on the backend with adding Anthony Harris in free agency, but their CB position continues to be worrisome after Darius Slay on the depth chart. The Eagles will also have a new scheme to learn with Jim Schwartz out of the city of brotherly love.

The Cowboys provided little reason to believe the 2021 model will be more efficient than the 2020 defensive unit. The Cowboys drafted big-time playmaker Micah Parsons, so the rookie should be a spark and long-term solution since Jaylon Smith/Leighton Vander Esch have mightily struggled to regain their 2019 form. Nonetheless, the same inconsistent secondary looms and the pass rush took a blow with the loss of Aldon Smith. 

Top weapons in his career 

Believe it or not, Fitzmagic is entering a situation where he doesn’t only appear to be the favorite candidate to start, but a scenario where he will yield the best skill players he’s seen on the same practice field. Terry McLaurin will be the top wideout he’s played with since Andre Johnson. I believe McLaurin can be at the level of Mike Evans and he’s been near that caliber with some of the worst possible QB situations. WFT also added Curtis Samuel to the offense — one of the most explosive players in space and in the vertical passing game.

The WFT also exhibits two of the most underrated skill players in the league: J.D. McKissic and Logan Thomas. McKissic caught 80 passes and notched 589 yards last season. Thomas was a consistent mismatch while recording the third most receptions by a TE last season. 

Fitzmagic carries more than a strong chance to run away with the starting gig in 2021. The bearded QB that continues to be like fine wine at his position, could oust a Pro Bowl like campaign with the combination of pedestrian battles and explosive pieces around him.

The post Why Ryan Fitzpatrick can make his first Pro Bowl appeared first on Pro Football Mania.

By: Adam Hulse (Twitter: @AdamHulseSports)

After two successful years with the Miami Dolphins, the man they call Fitzmagic hit the free agent market once again. He received interest from several different teams, but the 38 year old quarterback out of Harvard decided to sign a one year contract with the Washington Football Team. He did not join his now ninth different NFL team to just be a back up, but instead he has every intention of winning the job and being the starter for week one of the upcoming season. Here are three reasons why that is exactly what will happen.

Playing Better Than Ever

His game has showed no signs of declining in recent years. In fact, it could be argued that he is even better now than he ever was. The “prime” of his career and also where he spent the longest stretch of his career was with the Buffalo Bills. He started 53 total games for the Bills over 4 seasons between 2009 and 2012 where he accumulated over 11000 passing yards and threw 80 touchdowns. Over these last two years in Miami, he started 20 total games and threw for over 5500 yards and 33 touchdowns. Though a smaller sample size of course, his per game averages break down to being more productive as a Dolphin.

The one major negative to his gun slinger style of play is that he does throw a good amount of interceptions. In his defense, his interception rate has improved over time and, most importantly, it did not stop him from winning games in Miami last season. He was one of the main reasons why the Dolphins were so competitive last year and almost even made the playoffs. In addition to just the statistics, he is an excellent leader and a very well respected veteran in the locker room, as demonstrated by his efforts to lift a young and rebuilding team to far exceed their expectations last season.

Ready to Win Now

After an encouraging 2020 campaign where they won the NFC East division and made the playoffs, head coach Ron Rivera and the rest of the Washington organization believe this team is built to be a true contender this year. Their defense is already one of the best in the league, fueled by a dominant front seven and a fierce pass rush lead by Chase Young and Montez Sweat. It is a defense that is more than capable of keeping Washington in every game, and a shot to win whenever the offense performs along with them.

The offense has a very young and solid core, lead by a promising running back in Antonio Gibson, a rising star wide receiver in Terry McClaurin, a reliable tight end in Logan Thomas, and a newly acquired weapon in Curtis Samuel. The only thing missing here to complete the team, and it’s a very big missing thing, is the answer at quarterback. This is where Fitzmagic comes in. He was able to perform, and win, with less weapons on offense last year in Miami, so logic would say he should be even better in Washington this year, if he can win the starting job.

QB Competition

The quarterback position was basically a disaster for Washington last season. Alex Smith and Dwayne Haskins got the majority of playing time, but neither of them were particularly good and both threw more interceptions than they did touchdowns. The unimpressive performances resulted in both of them being released, leaving Kyle Allen and Taylor Heinicke as the other two remaining quarterbacks on the roster. Allen appears to be nothing more than a backup, while Heinicke is the big unknown in this equation. He has very little experience in his NFL career but he did start a playoff game last year where his dual threat talent was on display against a very tough Tampa Bay Bucs defense.

Heinicke and Fitzpatrick will both be fighting for the starting quarterback job this offseason. Though Heinicke is younger and more athletic, he does not have anything that compares to the proven leadership and ability to win that Fitzpatrick has. With Washington being a team that is looking to get back to the playoffs this year, and hopes of advancing even further than they did last year, Fitzpatrick has a clear edge to beat out Heinicke for the job as long he looks himself in camp, because they have a much better idea of what they are getting with the veteran.

It appears to be his job to lose, and Heinicke would have to do something really special in camp to take it from him. While that is still a possibility, it’s unlikely that Washington would have signed Fitzpatrick in the first place if they didn’t believe he would come in and win the job. He has said he wants to be on a team where he can be the starter, and it looks like he may have found that in Washington.

The post 3 Reasons Why Ryan Fitzpatrick Will Start appeared first on Pro Football Mania.