OT: 2024 Washington Commanders off-season thread: change we can believe in!

[sycamore]

Keep an eye out for the Chargers this year. Decent team with a great QB, and their schedule is an absolute joke. Could push KC in their division.

 

[Chokingdogs]

The tackling today was comically atrocious at times. Too early to call out the new players, but I wouldn’t mind if every defensive player from last season, not named Payne, got waived.

On a lighter note I checked a couple other box scores…

Young 0/0/0
Dotson 0/0/0

 

[Nogatco Rd]

Lack of any semblance of a downfield passing game is concerning. Not crazy about Kingsbury. Give him points for creativity though on the fake double pass to McCaffrey. On the replay you can tell he wasn't actually meant to throw it back -- the left side of the OL sprints out to form a wall for him while he buys time with the pump fake and gets the defense to turn back towards the middle of the field. Haven't seen that one before.

 

[g00n]

I think some people might need to lay off the sauce or put down the pipe when posting.

G1 for a rookie QB and basically new team full of new coaches going up against a TB squad that's mostly been intact for years, on their turf.

The offense is about what I expected at this stage: continuation of last year's ~20pts/G, or about middle of the pack, only now with a lot of room to improve. The OL is still at least partially butt no matter what the stats people say and the ceiling for this offense may lie there. JD was decent and will get better.

The defense was worst in the NFL in 2023, allowing 30pts per contest. They added another TD on top of that yesterday. This probably won't be an elite squad and the issues on the secondary are going to nag them all season. The best we can hope for there is "average".

But yes, GLERM N DERM is more fun. If you're into that sort of thing.

 

[Jags]

A relatively light schedule in their first nine games do give them a decent opportunity if they can get their act together.

That's all I'm saying, and that'd be the process regardless of the difficulty of the schedule. The offense and defense have never played together before, and lots of the coaches have never coached together. "Putting it together" is just figuring out how this team is built to respond to adversity.

This is why Peters brought in so many very established vets that ooze leadership and assembled a stable of coaches that are so highly respected. It's also a factor in drafting versatile character guys like Sainristil, Sinnott, and McCaffrey -- growing the next crop of leaders to create and maintain the right type of locker room.

We have no reason not to give them the benefit of the doubt. KK and the D showed an extra level of WTF yesterday, so those're particular areas to watch out for, but I think DQ will lean on his OC to be better, and guys like Wagner, Payne, Luvu, Allen, and Sainristil can help elevate the D.

But they're further behind than I anticipated

Maybe. I think it's equally fair to say that we may have gotten ahead of ourselves or overexcited and that they might be right on schedule. This wasn't just a 4-13 team last year. They weren't even in a lot of those games, especially in the second half of the season, meaning they got worse instead of better.

If we only win 6 games this year but are competitive and show improvement, that's lightyears better than last season. 2 more wins ain't much, but trending upward across the board will be a big step.

First priority is protecting the kid, and getting him to protect himself better. The playcalling was bad in that regard, and his decisionmaking was problematic a handful of times.

Whatever few strengths they have still seem very mitigated by their patchwork holes.

Sure, but also give credit to the opposition for recognizing and exploiting those holes. Having a weakness is one thing, and not gameplanning to minimize it is a problem, but both things are way worse when a good team sniffs it out and hits you over the head with it.

The only thing that really matters is that Daniels passed the test.

He did look good by comparison to the other rookie starters, but that's not saying much. It's great that he had his eyes downfield, but there's zero chance there weren't open receivers with all the trouble TB had with their secondary yesterday. So whether it's nerves or he's gun-shy or he's just not processing, his lack of attempts to wideouts was concerning.

Lack of any semblance of a downfield passing game is concerning. Not crazy about Kingsbury.

Agreed. I think part of it was on JD, but KK was definitely heavily at fault as the game wore on. TB was decimated at CB coming into the game and lost guys in their secondary as the game unfolded. That KK didn't have us going after that weakness immediately (or really at all) was terrible. He needs to be better for sure...

 

[g00n]

It's not that kind of a league. You either know or you don't based on internal evaluation. It's not like this is their first time around the block as coaches. It's their first go round with these players but they know the league. They internally must realize they don't match up that well against average or better teams, at least not yet. They lack primary dominant carrying talents. They also at least early on crucially lack much of any schematic brilliance or overachievement potential. They also would seem to lack obvious breakout candidates aside from the readier-than-usual #2 pick.

It is early and maybe against some of their earlier weaker competition they can grind out Ws and build off of it but...it's still a pretty weak roster. It's one game against a pretty solid team but the prep didn't obviously look superior to anything else we've seen recently. This season is really about development, planning and trying to compete, sure, but also resisting foolish shortcuts. How they're using Daniels does seem pretty shortcut-ish, though. That maybe keeps Their Guy confident and playing to his strengths and that's great. But not having a functional passing game seems like the same old dysfunctional non-sense we've become accustomed to. The OL in the run game still seems unimpressive. The less said about the secondary and defense in general the better.

They have a real GM in place finally. Now it's on him to put his stamp on the team day-to-day in a way that's on the upswing. That's not happening right off the hop in a way that's immediately refreshing I don't think. Thinking that finding their identity and strengths are just going to be the result of trial and error on game day seems pretty idiotic, though. It's early, early days but if those answers aren't more abundantly clear based off of how they prepare and self-assess before game day then it's going to be another season of largely getting taken to the cleaners. It's not like they're supremely skilled to the point where things can be allowed to fall into place. That's got to be more determined in their detail beforehand.

Take out a few proper names or football-specific terms and this is basically a carbon copy of 90% of your posts about the Caps.

Calling experience and development through game reps "idiotic", and thinking you can just fix all problems with internal evaluation by/of default "dysfunctional" front offices and locker rooms, doesn't track with how competitive sports really works.

Watching from afar and practicing =/= live fire. Even the best coaches/players/orgs adjust and evolve. That's part of what makes them great.

Or are you trying to take some nuanced position that they don't practice well enough, when all reports so far have suggested their practice has a new level of rigor?

"Now it's on him to put his stamp on the team day-to-day in a way that's on the upswing."<--what exactly does something like this mean? How would that manifest in a way that's "refreshing"?

What's the specific benchmark for success in your view? After one week? After X weeks?

Not trying to get personal or be an ass, but these types of posts seem like a horoscope that can easily be copied and pasted nearly anywhere. I'm genuinely not sure what they really man. They just seem like a longer version of the gloom and doom pessimism some others trade in with their venting and coarse hyperbole while you opt for indirect and vague aspersion-casting.

 

[Jags]

Not sure if this belongs in the TV/Movie thread, but since it figures to feature JD a lot, it probably fits best here. Amazon Prime docuseries about last year's LSU season focusing on their star athletes and NIL. There should be some good content in there for folks that want to get to know Daniels a little better.

All 6 episodes drop at midnight tonight according to Trakt.

 

[Langway]

They just seem like a longer version of the gloom and doom pessimism some others trade in with their venting and coarse hyperbole while you opt for indirect and vague aspersion-casting.

On the mark I guess. In the past anyway. It's not learning from the early going that's idiotic, it's not having a sense of who they are or what they're good at that seems questionable. Maybe they are just super limited on both sides and not knowing is a cover for 'We may be pretty bad.' New regimes are at a disadvantage, esp. early on. There's no carryover momentum established. They don't 100% know who is reliable and who will flake out. It's going to be a long process sorting that out and seeing who responds to coaching and elevates and who isn't going to work out. We'll see if they figure some things out but it was yet another pretty dysfunctional outing.

I didn't expect Daniels to have league-low yards per completion. That's the main shocker for me. Everything else looked just about as you'd expect given their limitations. It's just disappointing to have new decision-makers and then...give up 37, not be all that competitive and not have some pretty basic components in place. Maybe they figure some of it out but hard to believe they're not set up for another long year without quick substantial improvement.

 

[Jags]

Maybe they are just super limited on both sides

On D, definitely. But I think leadership on and off the field can help shore that up. Forbes was the one glaring thing that seemed pretty hopeless to me. But there are strengths on both sides that I think they're plenty aware of. It's just a matter of leveraging those elements and doing what you can to bolster the rest. With huge weaknesses at both edge and CB, the much-improved LB corps can't really shine. But if those units can step it up with more reps/continuity/chemistry, everyone else can take a step forward, too. That'll take time.

I didn't expect Daniels to have league-low yards per completion. That's the main shocker for me.

Could be as simple as butterflies. The upside is that we know for sure he can throw to every level with precision. It just feels like he's reluctant to pull the trigger. The analysts quoted him saying how shocked he is at how gifted NFL DBs are, so he might just be a little scared of making mistakes. Tampa's secondary was obliterated yesterday and we weren't even trying to exploit it. KK and JD aren't that dumb, so there's something hampering the process there.

There were clearly a lot of designed runs for him, but a lot of them were obviously his call, and you can't tell me there weren't any open targets (or targets he could throw open) on some of them. He's either not seeing them or not pulling the trigger. His work ethic suggests he wants to be super prepared; wants to be perfect. That might make him gun-shy early. He'll get over it.

Might just need to tell him, "Interceptions aren't the end of the world. We'd rather see you miss than never chance a throw we all know you can make. Sling it, dude. We'll let you know if you take it too far."

not be all that competitive

It came apart late. We were in it. A couple missed FGs, a bad drop ending a momentum drive early, etc. Even the defense held them to multiple field goals early, bending but not breaking. Small things had us down a couple scores that could've been overcome. Then we shit the bed late, mostly on D.

So we were hanging in against a good team. Anyone selling low on Tampa this year is overlooking some things. They're pretty damn good, and the NFC isn't crazy stacked. TB could make some real noise this year.

not have some pretty basic components in place.

They were the Keystone Cops all offseason on the Kicker position for sure. That was an important one and they blew it. They wanted a left tackle bad but couldn't find one. Same with edge and CB. Given all the other drastic improvements it's hard to blame them for not getting absolutely everything on their wishlist. That was always going to take longer than one year. Ron left us a shitshow.

 

[John Price]

Giants aren't a must win game but they are terrible and there's no excuse losing to them.

a loss to them would really piss people off. I hope we wreck them by double digits. should be a very solid favorite

lol only 3 pt favorite

 

[AlexBrovechkin8]

The offense put up 20 and at a minimum it should have been 27 if we had an NFL kicker and didn’t have to go for two at the end. Might have been 30+ if not for that insanely bad block in the back call that killed their drive inside the red zone and led to another missed field goal.

The WRs were as bad as advertised but to be able to score like that and keep the game competitive for a while when the defense forced one punt and zero turnovers the entire game isn’t a bad first showing.

It’s early but it looks like this team really just lacks playmakers again on both sides of the ball. No one at edge, CB, or WR looks like a game breaker.

Honestly the only surprise for me was how poorly the defense looked. The line got good penetration but couldn’t figure out a way to keep Baker in the pocket or make him uncomfortable and the secondary was painful to watch.

 

[Roric]

I think Daniels was just nervous, and with the better coverage of NFL DBs he felt more comfortable taking off rather than throwing the ball. KK will have to work with him this week on being more confident in himself to sling the rock. Luckily the giants don't boast an elite secondary so we should see a better game from the receivers like mclaurin in week 2.

I'm also glad to see he was getting down rather than taking hits but they need to work on him properly sliding as well

Also, get a new kicker for gods sake

 

[kicksavedave]

It's almost as if not playing the starters for any meaningful time in the preseason left them being out of sync, poor timing, making silly mistakes, etc. That would have been a better idea of this was a veteran team that has been together in the same system for years. But since this was an almost entirely new roster and all new system, they played like no one knew each other at all. The first play from scrimmage highlights that perfectly. Poor timing on a simple screen pass, leads to an 18 yard loss.

Give them time. This team is in compete rebuild. Maybe by the end of the season we'll see some progress. Not week one.

 

[Beef Invictus]

The only thing that really matters is that Daniels passed the test. He looked ok running a NHL offense against a pretty good opponent, and his run game could be elite.

He outperformed Caleb and maybe Nix.

Nix and Williams looked like they'd never even practiced at this level.

It was Daniels' first time seeing an actual NFL defense in action. It is a quantum leap in difficulty. The trick will be to see how he evolves with experience, and it may well take an off-season of digestion. Lamar-type is kind of the dream goal, and that's what he needed.

He is where he should be right now.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

NFL Week 1's big questions, takeaways: Huge days for Sam Darnold, Kenneth Walker, Jameson Williams

NFL Nation reporters react to all the action, answering the biggest questions coming out of each game. Here's what we learned from Week 1.

www.espn.com

Commanders​

Does Washington have enough talent around Jayden Daniels? The Commanders had one offensive play for more than 30 yards, and it came off a short pass to Brian Robinson Jr. The receivers struggled to get open and the running game had a few holes. Washington made a big deal of not wanting Daniels to do too much, but he'll have to continue to do more than desired if those around him don't improve. It's a bad formula.

Describe the game in two words: Rough start. The vibe was better this offseason under coach Dan Quinn. But the play was the same as 2023. The Commanders, with only 21 holdovers from last year, struggled to run (50 yards from the backs); the defense was bad on third down (9-for-13); kicker Cade York missed two field goals. The game was all-around bad.

Biggest hole in the game plan: The inability to get receiver Terry McLaurinmore involved. McLaurin had two targets until late in the third quarter -- including a deep ball that was overthrown and should have resulted in a touchdown. He caught his first pass with 3:35 left in the third. The offense is better when he's involved early. -- John Keim

Next game: vs. Giants (Sunday, 1 p.m. ET)

 

[trick9]

Holy doom and gloom.

Rookie QB's often struggle out of the gate, and Daniels has a lot of positives to take from here. Was it pretty? No.

I can imagine how this thread would look like if JD was as bad as Caleb. He'd already be in the trade block.

 

[qc14]

It’s early but it looks like this team really just lacks playmakers again on both sides of the ball. No one at edge, CB, or WR looks like a game breaker.

This to me is the key. They still need at least what - 1/2 OL starters depending on how Coleman looks, 2 guys at edge, 2 CBs, and 1/2 WRs? Maybe a TE, LB? Definitely a kicker. And you probably need not just better players but 2 or 3 elite guys to be a truly good team. Not happening overnight, and holes everyone knew about going into the season.

Once again the fact that Daniels to me looked competent -- especially compared to a lot of the absolutely awful QB play yesterday from his immediate peers (Nix, Caleb, Fields, Young ...) -- is basically all you want to see this year IMO

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

Holy doom and gloom.

Rookie QB's often struggle out of the gate, and Daniels has a lot of positives to take from here. Was it pretty? No.

I can imagine how this thread would look like if JD was as bad as Caleb. He'd already be in the trade block.

If you look closely, it’s mostly the pre-draft Drake May guys freaking out….it was so easy to predict lol….

 

[marcel snapshot]

JD for sure was the only bright spot. What's a downer is that the remains of the ancien regime are finally purged, we got a QB who can play, and . . . nothing else was different, really. Can't protect the QB, receivers can't get open, O coaches refuse to try to establish a run game, tackle poorly, can't cover, can't get to the QB, but can make another average opposing QB look like a superstar, and have a FG kicker who's most reliable trait is deflating misses. I get that losing culture is like a stench or a mold - once it takes over it's hard to get out. But, other than JD (whose future health looks like a risky bet), it's hard to take much encouragement from this game.

 

[Neil Racki]

About what was expected .. still disappointed a bit

Jayden - good footwork, command of huddle, no pre snap confusion, no delay of games .. man he accelerates up field fast .. good feel for the game, down/distance etc .. can he throw guys open? throw with timing and anticipation? Who knows, probably wont be asked to do that for a few months

Kliff - kept it simple stupid? maybe? To make it easy on the rookie, seems like we went spread so JD could see the field, 1 read look then let him run it up field bc there room bc we spread

Terry - we have to call and throw at least 4 slants a game. He will get inside positon and its an easy route win for a rookie Qb to see and throw.

Secondary - god awful. They were able to motion and find 1 on 1 matchups and exploit at will. 9/13 on 3rd downs .. Whitt might need to go quarters or something 24/7 and give up the 10 yarders underneath bc you cant leave anyone of CB alone with no help

------------

Season prediction: 5-12, JD doesnt finish the season, injuries and attrition of DL = wheels completely falling off the D

I was "doom and gloom" before this game.

 

[Neil Racki]

Every single snap is shotgun .. except the kneel down at 1st half

This is our offense .. a college spread em out, which makes sense for our QB skill set

Gonna take time to get used to this

 

[Beef Invictus]

If you look closely, it’s mostly the pre-draft Drake May guys freaking out….it was so easy to predict lol….

As a Drake guy I'd like to point out that I am not in that party lol

 

[EroCaps]

Daniels has talent, played alright at times but is very raw. He needs significant work to be considered a franchise QB.

He missed multiple short passes and must protect himself.

I’ve got a horrible feeling about Kingsbury. His offense in Arizona was figured out and he basically ran the same shit yesterday. Predictable. Predictable. Predictable. It’ll kill McLaurins production and get Daniels hurt by Week 5.

 

[Ridley Simon]

Didn’t see the full game. Doesn’t look like I missed much?

I expected the team to be mediocre — at best — but I was still partially “hopeful” for more. Didn’t happen. Least not yet.

I don’t think anything I saw yesterday, persuaded me into thinking JD5 was a bad pick. He was pretty good, considering.

 

[Neil Racki]

JDs talent matches KK scheme
JD has a good feel for game/pocket/pressure
JD has some elite wheels

Pick top 10 = pick a franchise LT
Ton of $$ in Cap and FA

--------------

We got ourselves a QB fellas

Hard parts over