Washington Will Finish In NFC Final 4: ESPN's Orlovsky

Are the Washington Football Team 'Final Four' material? One NFL analyst thinks they are in 2021.

ASHBURN, Va. -- Dan Orlovsky, an NFL analyst for ESPN and former quarterback, is known for some strong opinions. When one does the job that way, one is going to be wrong from time to time.

That's OK. It's part of the fun.

Washington Football Team fans should hope Dan's right on this one.

Toward the end of Wednesday's edition of "NFL Live on ESPN,'' Orlovsky predicted that his final four in the NFC in 2021 would be the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Los Angeles Rams, Arizona Cardinals and yup -- the Washington Football Team.

Jump to the 30-minute mark or so for Orlovsky's full analysis but part of what he said was, "This could be the fastest offense in the NFL.''

Orlovsky mentioned that when profiling Curtis Samuel and the rest of Washington's skill players.

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Coach Ron Rivera has consistently said that increasing team speed, especially at the receiver position, was a huge emphasis.

"I am pleased with what we've done with the receiver group because one of the things that we did on purpose thinking about it was trying to increase the team speed,'' he said. "We did that through free agency and the draft with some of our guys from last year who stepped back up into their roles and did a great job.

"This is a very competitive addition. We've got some tough decisions to make as a whole and at the position in particular.” 

Many of the fortune or misfortunes of the 2021 Washington Football Team will come down to QB Ryan Fitzpatrick, and if the defense is dominant.

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However, if their speed is truly as good as they think it is and if it largely stays healthy - that could be the x-factor to make up for other inconsistencies.

As for the final four that Orlovsky predicted: with seven playoff teams and third 'wild-card' round games to open the postseason, that means one of two things.

Either the WFT are the No. 1 seed in the NFC and have a bye, or, (the more likely scenario is) they make the playoffs for the first time in consecutive years in 20 seasons.