The Washington Commanders seemed to hit rock bottom last year at the end of the tail-spinning Ron Rivera era, winning just four games and earning the second-overall pick.
But one analyst thinks the worst might be yet to come.
Over at SB Nation, Joseph Acosta outlined five teams with the best chance of finishing with the No. 1 pick in next year’s draft. There, the Commanders sit alongside the likes of the Carolina Panthers and New York Giants:
“The offensive line still has a lot of question marks, especially at left tackle if rookie Brandon Coleman is set to start. There’s a logjam in the middle of the OL, and if Andrew Wylie is still set to start, I don’t know how long they can keep rookie QB Jayden Daniels upright. Oh, they also employ Kliff Kingsbury as offensive coordinator. So there’s that.”
Washington’s offensive line is a question mark, and the Kliff Kingsbury-directed offense will need to rely on short passes, creative usage of options, and similar tactics to keep Jayden Daniels upright.
But to his credit, Daniels has been very impressive for a rookie and the Commanders anticipated some of these hurdles. The onboarding of a reliable veteran tight end like Zach Ertz and the tandem of Brian Robinson Jr. and the versatile Austin Ekeler in the backfield should create some insulation.
The writeup also stresses concerns with the defense and it doesn’t help that hyped rookie pass-rusher Jer'Zhan Newton is dealing with another injury. But Daron Payne and others should still be able to generate pressure consistently and frankly, there’s no place to go but up after last year’s unit coughed up a league-worst 30.5 points per game on average.
A deep playoff push probably isn’t realistic for the 2024 Commanders, which fans understood. But putting forth a strong developmental year for Daniels while overhauling the entire program should be enough to avoid the No. 1 pick.
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