Ron Rivera chose Redskins because of young talent and string of great drafts

Rivera took the job with the Redskins because he recognized the young talent on the roster, and he hopes to turn it into something great.

It might have come as a surprise to many back at the end of 2019 when Ron Rivera chose to accept a job with the Washington Redskins after getting fired by the Carolina Panthers. As one of the more respected coaches in the NFL, Rivera seemed to have a wide array of teams that would be willing to bring him in, had he waited to see which jobs were available.

But nonetheless, he chose to come to Washington, and the talent that they have on the roster, coupled with the youth of the team as a whole is a major reason why, according to NFL.com’s Mike Silver.

“Ron Rivera potentially had his pick on many jobs, and when he first started watching Washington’s film early in December when he was fired in Carolina, his first reaction was ‘God, this is terrible,'” said Silver. “But as he started to see their later games and some of the young talent out there, he got excited and said ‘some of these guys can play.'”

It’s not a shock that any coach would look at some of the players on Washington’s roster and get a bit pumped up about what could come with the right management. With players like Terry McLaurin, Derrius Guice, Chase Young, Jonathan Allen, Daron Payne, and Antonio Gandy-Golden on the squad, the sky seems to be the limit.

“He told me that he believed coming in that in the previous three drafts, Washington had the most productive drafts of any team in the NFC East. He hopes they built on that this year, obviously with Chase Young as the centerpiece. He said ‘Look, Carolina, year three, we emerged and people said ‘who are these guys?’ That’s what I hope, ultimately, can happen.'”

What’s important to make note of is Rivera’s alleged comment about emerging in Year 3 in Carolina. For impatient Redskins fans, they may want all of the success to come in 2020, but that’s a bit unrealistic. There will likely be an improvement, but as the culture is set, the real seeds will start to germinate a bit down the road. That’s when the major victories will hopefully come.

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