Fans screamed new life into the Commanders over the past week, grabbing the burgundy and gold corpse and breathing fresh air into every corner of the DMV.
The sale is over, closed and finalized. Josh Harris and his group have taken every photo, shook every hand and kissed every baby. The bad man is gone and there’s blue skies ahead.
Harris and crew have plenty of work to do — plenty — but this week the actual football begins. All the talk of new stadiums and rebrands and fan experience is important and real, but what’s always most important is the actual football.
So, what will fans see? Let’s take a look.
Give the kid a chance
Sam Howell is 22 years old, has 11 career NFL completions and was a fifth-round pick. Those are facts. Howell also has the biggest opportunity of his life to enter training camp as the Commanders' starting quarterback. The position is his to lose, and that seems unlikely barring a total collapse.
Howell has a strong arm and quick feet; he can run and he can scramble (those two things are different). But he must make progress as a real pocket passer, understanding progressions and reading defenses. Those things are hard for young, inexperienced quarterbacks.
He showed tremendous development last season when he only got to play in two games — the preseason finale in August and the season finale in January. In the preseason he could not keep his eyes downfield and was far too reliant on his legs.
In the season finale, an impressive win over the Cowboys, he showed much more patience and vision. He also threw a red zone interception, something to watch for in camp as he learns how quickly windows close in the NFL when the field gets compressed.
If Howell’s development continues like it did last year, Washington might really have something at the game’s most important position.
What’s more real than real?
Eric Bieniemy comes to Washington with a bold reputation and sterling resume. Being part of the Kansas City Chiefs offense will do that for you. In D.C., Bieniemy gets the chance for full credit should the offense improve. There is no Patrick Mahomes, no Travis Kelce, no Andy Reid. This is Bieniemy’s show.
Washington’s offense has fluctuated between mediocre and bad since the departure of Kirk Cousins back in 2017. If EB can fix it, or even just improve things, there will no longer be questions about his role in the Chiefs machine. The question will be how quickly he becomes a head coach.
Brave new world
When the photographers train their telescopic lenses on the Commanders' ownership throughout training camp, the pictures won’t be used for news stories about investigations or allegations. The pictures will show a new ownership group full of professionalism and competency instead of sleaze and corruption.
So, what will it all mean? In the big picture, that could be tremendous. New stadiums engaged the fan base. But in the short term? Josh Harris won’t register any tackles this fall. Mitchell Rales will throw zero touchdowns. Don’t expect Magic Johnson or Mark Ein to recover fumbles or kick field goals.
But what the new ownership group will allow is the Commanders players and coaches to focus solely on football. There won’t be questions about sordid behavior. There won’t be chants in the stands loudly telling Dan Snyder to sell the team.
The toxicity with which Snyder operated, and the subsequent negativity that bred in the fan base, is gone. That will provide some level of a lift, even to players and coaches. It will, however, remove that crutch, too. If things go bad this year, nobody can blame Dan.
Turn it over, not up
Washington’s defense ranked near the top of the NFL in most meaningful metrics last season except one. The Commanders ranked third in the NFL in yards allowed, and seventh in points allowed. Washington had the best third-down defense among all 32 teams.
Ron Rivera and Jack Del Rio’s group was quite good at just about everything except creating turnovers. The Commanders created only 18 takeaways last year, 26th in the league, and as a team only grabbed nine interceptions.
So, during the NFL draft, Washington tried to fix that problem by selecting Emmanuel Forbes with the 16th overall pick. The rookie is known for quick hands and great eyes. He set an NCAA record for interceptions returned for touchdowns during his college time at Mississippi State and is certainly what coaches would consider a ballhawk. If he can create takeaways, it would be a big help for Washington’s secondary.
There's one other player that could help improve the Commanders turnover ratio. Does anybody remember Chase Young? The last two years have been a mess for Young. His play was subpar early in 2021 before a major knee injury forced him to miss more than a year of action.
But remember his spectacular rookie season in 2020? That year, Young forced four fumbles, recovered three others and tipped four passes. Young is a pass rusher by position but when his game is right, he’s a defensive playmaker. If his game is right this fall, expect the turnovers to come too.
Quick shots
There’s plenty more to consider when looking at the Commanders' upcoming season. Perhaps the biggest question mark beyond Howell is a rebuilt offensive line. That unit will have four new starters with Charles Leno the only incumbent coming back at the same position.
There’s also a difficult stable of opponents and quarterbacks on the slate this fall, but the actual schedule did Washington some favors. They’ll face no teams coming off a bye and have few scenarios of short rest weeks.
Another boost for Washington’s defense should be the return of 2022 second-round pick Phidarian Mathis, who hurt his knee last year. Offensively the skill positions look strong, but will the QB and O-Line allow them to operate in space?
The best part about Washington’s 2023 season might be the removal of Dan Snyder. Addition by subtraction. But soon the games will be here, and the city will live and die on every completed pass.
Celebrate the arrival of new owners and perhaps, even more, celebrate that the conversation surrounding Washington’s pro football team will actually be about football.
Or mostly anyway. What was it Magic said about that rebrand?
