Ron Rivera has been living off the drafts from the 2016-2019 period before he came to Washington.
The team's best players in Allen, Payne, McLaurin, Sweat, etc. all came before Rivera showed up with his coach-centric system.
Look at the top picks since - Emmanuel Forbes, Jamin Davis, Jahan Dotson, Chase Young.
Both Forbes and Davis have been fairly slow to acculturate to the NFL after being taken at #16 and #19 in Round 1.
Jonathan Allen was drafted #17 and Payne was taken at #13 and they came in and started right away and contributed.
What I saw missing in Chase Young was the humility and burning desire to improve that if paired with his natural physical ability would have produced a top tier NFL player.
Instead I have been watching a player that is a lot like LaVar Arrington. An arrogant athlete that has a following and feeling that he is the straw that stirs the drink. Listening to coaches or playing within a scheme? That's for 'regular' NFL players that don't have his talent.
And at the back of every discussion regarding or involving Chase there was always the talk about the BIG CONTRACT he would ultimately sign, even before he proved on the field he was a top player, which he still has yet to do.
Unfortunately, I saw the same kind of 'I am destined for greatness' attitude from Dwayne Haskins in his years with the team, before he had proven he could go out there and consistently perform at a high level. He had his own clothing line and social media shows.
Part of evaluating talent is evaluating the MENTAL makeup and emotional maturity of the players you are considering drafting.
I don't see many players with this type of attitude being drafted by the Steelers, Chiefs, Eagles, or Ravens.
By and large these teams draft 'heads down and working hard' type players that fit into the team culture and emerge as stars based upon what they do on the field.
Even high profile draftees like a Devonta Smith or TJ Watt go to these clubs and fit into the culture. You don't hear them holding court as rookies discussing how a particular game went as if they are a team leader or captain.
Those organizations and locker rooms police themselves.
Ron didn't do that here. He and Del Rio were far too 'hands off' when it came to getting players to play the scheme and perform in a manner the team found acceptable.
But again, that is part of why Ron has not been successful here.
And the sad fact is that Ron the GM has really given Ron the Coach a series of draft choices over the past 3 years that make it almost impossible to keep up with teams like the Eagles and even the Cowboys, both of which have drafted well since 2020.
The Cowboys have drafted CeeDee Lamb, Micah Parsons, and others like Trayvon Diggs that have become pro bowlers and except for Parsons the Commanders were drafting ahead of Dallas the past 3-4 years.
Likewise, the Eagles if you run down their draft lists were getting 4 or 5 immediate contributors in a given draft of 8-9 players, with another couple of players making the team as depth/special teamers.
The Eagles have not been whiffing on picks like Forbes and to a degree Davis.
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