Philadelphia Eagles: NFC East Power Rankings heading into Week 1

Philadelphia Eagles fans get to see this Washington team early.

Ever since Dan Snyder bought the Washington Football Team, the organization has made more headlines because of their actions off of the field than what they’ve done on it. Nevertheless, this offseason felt different. After being heavily pressured by sponsors, Snyder finally caved on what was an insensitive nickname, and with the hiring of Ron Rivera, a transition is underway in D.C.

This isn’t the first time Rivera has been asked to bring an irrelevant franchise to respectability. In 2011, he was hired to take over a dull Carolina Panthers team. It took him a few seasons, but he was able to take them from irrelevance to Super Bowl 50. They’d lose, but the makeover was noticeable. Now, he’s expected to do the same for Washington.

Rivera inherited some talent from the previous regime, so he isn’t working with nothing. Second-year quarterback Dwayne Haskins will have a clean slate and will have plenty of help from his surrounding cast. Wide receiver Terry McLaurin had a surprisingly solid rookie season and he should be even better in 2020. First-year running back Antonio Gibson looked spry in training camp, but among the headlines were the decision to release veteran running back Adrian Peterson.

On the defensive side of the ball, Washington’s front four will give the rest of the NFC East fits. Rookie Chase Young will join Jonathan Allen, Matt Ioannidis, Ryan Kerrigan, and Montez Sweat. In the back, safety Landon Collins should shine under defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio’s tutelage.

Rivera has some ingredients to bake a heck of a team with the ingredients he feels will help him navigate in his rebuild. Still, it’s too early to tell how things are going to play out so he gets the third place in this list for the time being.