Offseason Excitement Begins

It was a great year for the Washington Commanders.

Jayden Daniels turned out to be phenomenal. You worry about him being Archie Manning, Sonny Jurgensen, or John Elway. With the team thinking a great QB is all they need. I don't think the football operations people feel that way in D.C.

There are some in the media who absolutely feel that way. There are great Quarterbacks who didn't win championships because management placed everything on their shoulders. 

Maybe the best thing Jayden accomplished was integrating new people in the offense as they came in. And realizing who was next man up. Getting the next men up involved.

That may help take the pressure off Adam Peters in the player acquisition department. At least on offense. 

They have work to do on defense. I'm not convinced you can stop the run with two linebackers. No matter how great those two are. My bias is three or four. If you run big nickel. It should be three d-linemen and three linebackers. I thought they had enough to win with and they did win but they never improved against the run. It was a season-long struggle. If the scheme wasn't part of the problem, there would have been noticeable improvement by the playoffs.

But Peters and Quinn know what they need. And if they have a scheme in mind on defense they will have to populate that scheme with people, mentally and physically, who can execute it. 

The other thing is, a defining quality of this Commanders Defense was the effort was off the charts. I can't help but think oftentimes they ran out of gas. To some extent, playing up tempo will gas your own defense. It makes the fourth quarter hard. Unless you have excellent second teamers you'll never be out of danger. Gunning the engine did not help this defense.

They played ball control at times. And the effects of up tempo were often offset by the NFL's best two-minute offense. Regardless, the defense couldn't put their capes on for four quarters. That's depth. Scheme. And complementary football. That's all got to get better.

I'm personally going to look at good tacklers and corners good at man coverage with power on the interior offensive line, offensive tackles who have tight end speed, an edge, and maybe a receiver or running back. We'll see what's happening in mock drafts. Try to define who's who and see what magic Peters can make in free agency.

But hands down, this was an impressive first season from Josh Harris and his football guys.