If Washington loses to the Giants, it’s time to talk Trevor Lawrence originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
By just about any metric the New York Jets rank as the worst team in the NFL. After the Jets, however, comes the Washington Football Team.
Point differential is arguably the simplest and most effective statistic to measure a team’s success, and the Jets are by far the worst in the NFL at -86 points through five games. Not surprisingly, the Jets are also 0-5.
The next two teams at the bottom of the point differential list are Washington Football (-53) and the New York Giants (-52). Those two teams play this weekend, and despite both squads picking a quarterback in the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft, it would be impossible not to think about Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence while watching this game.
The Giants drafted Daniel Jones sixth overall last year, and even as he struggles with turnovers this year, the organization is sticking by him.
Washington drafted Dwayne Haskins 15th overall last year, and despite starting the first four games this year, the team already benched him and moved Haskins to third-string.
There’s one giant difference between the Giants and Washington when it comes to handling their second-year passers: New York general manager Dave Gettleman drafted Jones and is still in charge. Thus, Jones stays on the field.
Former Washington team president Bruce Allen and team owner Dan Snyder drafted Haskins. Allen is gone and Snyder has ceded football control to new boss Ron Rivera. The new coach doesn’t have the same investment in Haskins, and in turn, is able to bench him and move on to Kyle Allen.
But let’s be clear: Allen isn’t the long-term answer at quarterback for Washington.
Download and subscribe to the Washington Football Talk podcast
Alex Smith isn’t either. Haskins obviously isn’t.
That means Washington could absolutely be looking at a new quarterback in the first round of the draft, and given the -53 point differential or the fact that Washington has lost four straight, the future No. 1 overall pick in Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence could be a real possibility in Washington.
Could be.
If Washington wins this weekend, the distance between the Giants grows larger. New York is 0-5 and Washington would move to 2-4. For bad teams, it’s hard to make up a two-game gap with just 10 games remaining, and the Giants would undoubtedly be a bad team at 0-6.
If Washington loses, then things get interesting.
Maybe the Burgundy and Gold have opportunities for wins later in the year when Detroit or Cincinnati come to town, or another date against the Giants. But at 1-5, Washington would be undeniably a bad team.
Going into this weekend Ron Rivera can honestly talk about chasing an NFC East title. The team is just one game behind Dallas and already has a division win over the Eagles.
But if Washington loses this weekend, the conversation changes.
At that point Washington would be 1-5, obviously in search of a franchise quarterback and firmly in the hunt for the No. 1 overall pick.
That could mean Lawrence.
It’s too early right now to talk about it, but next week, the vision should be much clearer.
