After surveying his roster following the draft, new Washington coach Ron Rivera concluded that the rebuilding effort might not take as long as he thought.
Rivera said after the draft that he liked the collection of players he had enough that he sees his team competing sooner than expected.
“The turnaround can be a little bit quicker than expected, at least I expected,” Rivera said, via the Washington Post.
Rivera’s team added eight rookie draft picks including defensive end Chase Young, who’s widely expected to be an immediate impact player. So it’s easy to see why Rivera is liking what he sees.
Still, this is a team that is coming off a 3-13 season, and the Vegas odds have them as a 7.5-to-1 long shot to make the playoffs. Rivera is optimistic, but it may take more than a year before his optimism comes to fruition.