Washington Commanders Coach Ron Rivera Turning Focus to 'Win Now'
The Washington Commanders have a fairly clear organizational message these days with new managing partner Josh Harris in charge.
With Harris, gone are the days when the Commanders were willing to be the punch line on NFL jokes around the water cooler.
No franchise has done more damage to itself over the past two decades than Washington, and that includes the debacle on Thursday Night Football against the lowly Chicago Bears who appeared ready to take the duntz cap away from the DMV for a while.
Instead, the Bears are celebrating their first victory in nearly a full year and the Commanders are left with no patience for developing young talent in the name of future wins.
"I think doing what we did with Emmanuel [Forbes] was kind of the indicator that we can't go through this anymore," coach Ron Rivera said when asked about separating the need to develop players and the need to win now. "Now it's time. We have to continue to put the guys out there that we believe are going to get it done the right way."
Washington Commanders head coach Ron Rivera
Rich Barnes, USA Today
There's no doubt Forbes has talent, but going all the way back to April there were a lot of questions surrounding Washington's selection of the Mississippi State cornerback who set an NCAA Football record for pick-sixes in a career.
By picking Forbes, Rivera passed on Oregon Ducks standout Christian Gonzalez, opting for production over what appeared to be the more polished prospect.
Through Week 4 Gonzalez had the fourth highest coverage grade of all rookie cornerbacks according to Pro Football Focus, and the second-highest among those with 120 or more pass coverage snaps.
Forbes was 22nd of a possible 26 rookie cornerbacks who have taken any pass coverage snaps this season.
What makes the optics there look even worse is that PFF estimates Detroit Lions rookie Brian Branch has taken 147 coverage snaps as a cornerback - not safety like some labeled him during the NFL Draft - and has graded in the 80s while doing so.
Gonzalez was also allowing just a 67.5 quarterback rating after the first quarter of the season while Forbes' opposing QBR was well over 100.
Of course, there's no saying Gonzalez's success with the New England Patriots would have been the same with the Commanders.
Just like there's no way of telling if Gonzalez would be missing Week 5 with a shoulder injury the way he is this weekend.
What we do know is that coach Rivera needs to win to prove to Harris and the new ownership group he's the man to take this franchise into the future.
Having his first-round pick torched in back-to-back weeks isn't going to help, just like the losses that came with it won't either.
It's not that the losses have been on Forbes alone, that idea alone is too ridiculous to even analyze.
But for a team that is now moving into focusing on playing the players who give them the best chance to win over the young guys with potential who might, it's an outcome many could have predicted after drafting clear backups with three of Washington's first four picks.
Because the team didn't really add rookies they'd want to see playing this season outside of the first round.
Forbes was the best shot the Commanders had at bringing on an immediate rookie contributor, and after a class that featured receiver Jahan Dotson, running back Brian Robinson Jr., and quarterback Sam Howell, there was hope he'd be a catalyst for improvement on the defense.
Instead, the defense has bottomed out to nearly the bottom of the league in most categories and only one rookie has taken more than six snaps on offense or defense.
So a focus on putting winning with veteran players above developing rookies may be new in intent, but its foundation goes back as far as the NFL Draft.
While Rivera and his staff are shining a light on the most critical target on their to-do list, fans are fed up - again - and are already calling for Harris and his leadership group to find a new coach to bring winning back to Washington.
The good news is - or bad depending on your confidence Rivera can turn it around - we're not even one-third of the way through the season.
