TAKING STOCK: WASHINGTON COMMANDERS

BY ADAM GREENE

For the Washington Commanders, the last ride under Daniel Snyder’s ownership spoke for itself. Snyder had, inconceivably, hired a worthy head coach. It’s not something Snyder was good at, as his team has shot through 10 different head men since he purchased it back in 1999. Rivera has taken one of the worst overall rosters in the league and gotten them to the playoffs in 2020-21 with an NFC East championship and, in his three seasons, never won fewer than seven games.

The fact that Rivera got last season’s squad to .500 is an accomplishment I don’t think any of us truly appreciate. And he did it all with the worst, scummiest owner in the league. An honor now held by the Cleveland Browns’ Jimmy Haslam.

Rivera has made it happen with whatever quarterback that the team scooped up from the sidewalk, turning the leavings of a Carson Wentz, Taylor Heinicke, and Garrett Gilbert into competitive performances. It still shocks me to write that out.

Last season opened predictably, minus a win over the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 1. The Commanders lost their next four games to begin 1-4 and we all nodded our heads thinking, this was it. This is the year Washington can finally commit to a rebuild under Rivera. But Riverboat Ron is too good and the Commanders won six of their next seven, including monster victories over the Green Bay Packers and Philadelphia Eagles. That victory over the Eagles was that team’s first loss of the season and their only defeat in the regular season with Jalen Hurts starting. They followed that with a tie with the New York Giants, but mercifully lost their next three games to keep any possibility of a playoff appearance off the table. A win in the season finale over the Dallas Cowboys just proved, once again, that Jerry Jones screwed around too much and should have hired Rivera while he had the chance.

Carson Wentz, now unemployed, went 2-5 as a starter, completing 62.3 percent of his passes for 1,755 yards, 11 touchdowns and nine interceptions. Taylor Heinicke, now with the Atlanta Falcons, was 5-3-1 as a starter with a 62.2 completion percentage, 1,859 yards, 12 touchdowns and six picks. Rookie Sam Howell was 1-0 with a 57.9 completion percentage, 169 yards, one TD and a pick. Brian Robinson, Jr. led the team rushing with 797 yards and two touchdowns. Terry McLaurin caught 77 passes for 1,191 yards and five scores.

Daron Payne led the defense with 11.5 sacks to go with 64 tackles, 18 for a loss, five passes defended and a fumble recovery. Jamin Davis had 104 tackles, nine for a loss, three sacks, one pass defense, and two fumble recoveries. Derrick Forrest had four picks, 88 tackles, one for a loss, nine passes defended, two forced fumbles and one fumble recovery.

WASHINGTON COMMANDERS

2022-23 Record: 8-8-1

Playoffs: N/A

2023 Super Bowl Odds: +8000

2023 NFC Championship Odds: +2800

2023 NFC East Odds: +1200

NOW WHAT?

First, the great news. Dan Snyder is gone, exiled from the NFL and big time professional sports for good. He’s replaced by a new ownership group led by Josh Harris that includes Magic Johnson, of all people. So you’ve replaced a sentient pile of dog turds that a wicked witch brought to life with something fantastic. Who doesn’t want Magic Johnson owning part of an NFL team?

Still, we have a season to play and, oh man, is it tanking time.

It’s difficult to tank in the NFL. Coaches’ jobs are constantly at stake and players are grown men, playing with pride, and contract incentives, if not just to keep their job in a league that has seven rounds of replacement players entering it every single April. The NFL makes it clear that actively trying to tank is a no-no and will punish a team and its owner if it’s busted for it. So how can a team “tank” without looking as if they’re actively trying to tank? By forming a quarterback room with Sam Howell, Jacoby Brissett and Jake Fromm.

You could argue that Rivera, with the new owners, is taking a real gamble here to try to max out at three wins, but I don’t see it that way. If they did fire him, and they’d be stupid if they did, Rivera would likely be hired by another team almost immediately. Hell, the Cowboys and Jones could fix their Mike McCarthy error if that happened. Plus, you’d think the owners would be super stoked to land the top pick in the April 2024 NFL Draft and turn in the Caleb Williams card before the clock even starts.

Looking at their schedule, I don’t feel as if .500 or even close is in the cards right now. They could conceivably lose the season opener to an Arizona Cardinals team also in tank mode, and that game could haunt the winner all season. This could easily be an 0-17 team, but Rivera’s too good for that and I feel it’s just as tough to go completely defeated as it is to go undefeated. There are too many good players and good coaches involved. I think this team tops out at four wins, but to secure that top pick, they need to limit it to two.

THE DRAFT

With multiple shots at upgrading their QB room in the draft, the Commanders used none of them. Instead, they selected Mississippi State cornerback Emmanuel Forbes in the first round, Illinois safety Jartavius Martin in the second and Arkansas center Ricky Stromberg in the third. All these guys will contribute this season, but none will make a difference in the “win” column, so Washington got a C+ grade.

FREE AGENCY

To further seal the deal on the tank job, the Commanders hid their wallets in free agency, adding just a few players, starting with tackle Andew Wylie from the Kansas City Chiefs, guard Nick Gates from the New York Giants, linebacker Cody Barton from the Seattle Seahawks, guard Trenton Scott from the Pittsburgh Steelers, defensive end Abdullah Anderson from the Atlanta Falcons, wide receiver Byron Pringle from the Chicago Bears and kicker Michael Badgley from the Detroit Lions.

NFC EAST

The Eagles are the NFC East favorites for pretty much every reason you can come up with. Roster-wise, the Dallas Cowboys should be No. 2 and the New York Giants probably three. The Commanders have made no effort to catch any of these teams and won’t, unless Rivera can pull off some kind of coaching miracle that’s not in the team’s best interests.

Follow Adam Greene on Twitter @TheFirstMan.

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