Two weeks ago, we began preliminary discussions concerning who were the most disappointing Washington players in 2021. Today, we continue the countdown of the top five.
No. 2 Ryan Fitzpatrick (QB)
Winning the NFC East in 2020 while having to play four quarterbacks, Ron Rivera and the Washington front office, went looking for a veteran quarterback to bring leadership and carry them back to the NFC playoffs.
Rivera had been very direct insisting Kyle Allen would have performed just as well, if not better than Alex Smith in 2020, had injury not prematurely ended Allen’s season. Rivera cut Dwayne Haskins and played Taylor Heinicke in the playoff game against Tampa Bay.
Washington desperately needed a quarterback who could play right away, providing leadership, guiding the team to the playoffs again in 2021. The front office announced on March 15, 2021, they had signed 16-year veteran quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick.
The Washington staff told us how Fitzpatrick had performed better his last three seasons than he had earlier in his career. Indeed, Fitzpatrick had thrown 50 touchdowns to 33 interceptions. He had completed 65.7% of his passes, could throw the long ball, as he averaged 8.1 yards per attempt and had earned a QBR of 68.7.
We were sold Fitz was a good fit for the short term while they tried to further develop and educate Kyle Allen and Taylor Heinicke, learning behind Fitz.
Week 1, brought the LA Chargers to FedEx Field for the season opener. Fitzpatrick suddenly was down on the turf, having suffered a hip subluxation.
Fitzpatrick received $10 million for the 2021 season and Washington received in return a mere 3 completions and 13 passing yards. Washington fans had last seen Fitzpatrick headed to the locker room injured in Week 1, and never saw him again until the playoff game. The only problem was, it was the playoff game between New England and Buffalo, on a freezing January night and there was Fitzpatrick in the stands shirtless!
A shirtless Ryan Fitzpatrick at the Bills game last night
(via @teeforton) pic.twitter.com/HVsbkBcDRh
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) January 16, 2022
I certainly have nothing against Fitzpatrick the person, and certainly hope his surgery was a success and his rehab successful. However, isn’t the NFL a quarterback-centered league? If you pay your quarterback $10 million for 3 receptions and 13 yards, how can your quarterback not be one of the top disappointments of your season?
So Ryan Fitzpatrick was the second-most disappointing Washington Football Team player for the 2021 season. Tomorrow we reveal the only player who disappointed Washington coaches and fans more.