Football is back. It’s been a while, and I think I owe everyone an apology for the end-of-season silence last year. Towards the end, the writing turned to a “I hope we lose and get a good draft pick” tone, which took some of the fun out of writing. I expect to have much more entertaining things to write about thanks to some recent additions from this offseason. To recap last season, it was a wash and Sam Howell proved not to be the guy, despite all the support from this blog. At the end of the day, we can say we did everything we could to make Sam Howell QB1 of this franchise. We failed but did leave it all on the field. Needless to say, we are back and ready to do the same exact thing once again with someone who will hopefully be more than just our guy.
The first thing to mention: Jayden Daniels. On this Sunday at 4:25pm. He will officially be playing meaningful football for this team. I don’t know how to emphasize the excitement I have for him to play football for the team previously known as the Washington Redskins. Gotta give one more shout-out to Greg the Leg. I had never rooted for an opposing team to make a game-winning field goal against us. It was something new for me. And it sucked. I am still not proud of myself. But, do I regret it? Not in the slightest. I am not proud of myself, but that doesn’t mean I regret it. Because when Jayden wins us a Super Bowl, I’ll remember that moment and look back on it with a smile on my face.
The second and third things to mention are Adam Peters and Dan Quinn. Thanks to Josh and Mr. Johnson. There were a lot of changes this offseason. A personal change has to do with my vocabulary. Now that we have a quarterback, the phrase “poverty franchise” will no longer be used on this blog. Franchises that align themselves with good quarterbacks don’t use that phrase so it no longer relates to us. I believe we had the most turnover on and off the field of any team in the league. Peters revamped our staff and roster with 33 new players, a new head coach, OC, and pretty much everything else in between. It’s easy to say Adam had a busy offseason. I don’t understand the people who critiqued the DQ hire. How can you hate a guy who likes doing tough shit with good people? He’s an NFC Champion and led in the Super Bowl by 25 points. Sure, he lost that game. But to put it into context, my generation has seen this team win one playoff game. One singular playoff game in 2005 when half of us didn’t even know how to tie our shoes. So I think it is safe to remind everyone how low the bar is set for DQ. It might be set so low to a point that it is nearly impossible for him to be worse than what has come before him.
Just knowing I won’t have to watch any more broadcasts pan to Ron staring into the abyss, saying and doing absolutely nothing while shit hits the fan is more than enough for me to be happy with who we hired. Literally, Wes Unseld Jr. could have done a better job coaching last year’s team, and he couldn’t even coach his own sport. I do wish Ron the best and will never question his character. However, as a football coach, it was his time to hang them up. Speaking to another needed change, Jason Wright is stepping down soon as well. He did a great job honoring one of the most influential players in the franchise’s history. Everyone was really happy about the stick figure statue commemorating Sean Taylor which looked like it was made by a group of 2nd graders for an arts and craft project. It’s his time to hang them up too.
The incompetence is on its way out. Only 2 players left on the team from last year’s draft. None from 2020. The long snapper we traded up for in 2021 is gone. I think it had to have been the worst 4 year stretch of drafting ever carried out by an organization. Eight seasons with eight different starting quarterbacks. It’s essentially nine if you count Ryan Fitzpatrick playing maybe three drives. Jayden will be the 36th quarterback in 31 years. I think everyone in DC is pretty ready for us to have a franchise quarterback. I just really hope the field is figured out before history repeats itself. We found one gem worth keeping around during that 4 year stretch. Thank you to Sam Cosmi for deciding to stick around for the long haul. To anyone looking for a jersey to buy, I would say him, Jayden, or Terry are your safest options at the moment.
It’s clear what Adam and Dan thought of the roster they took over. This new regime is wasting no time to expedite the rebuild. They brought in a lot of players on short term deals, but the bulk of the franchise pieces to come our way are most likely through future drafts. I am not expecting these guys to cook up a 10 win season out of nowhere but crazier things have happened. All I ask is that I am able to turn on the TV this year and not have already accepted we are going to get blown out before the coin toss has even happened.
To get into the roster, the cornerback situation is going to be interesting. I still haven’t written off Emmanuel Forbes. He should definitely look into deleting his socials this season. I don’t think this fanbase does him any favors despite his talent warranting it. Benjamin St. Juste will be another problem. Still not a fan of his stupid arm box celebration. I do not feel good at all going into week 1 with those two as our starters. It is unfortunate that a rookie looked like our best corner through the preseason. Also, I feel the need to mention our starting left tackle is likely going to be a rookie. That was my biggest knock on Peters this offseason: not going after a stud to protect JD’s blindside. Just saying David Bakhtiari is still available, and I wouldn’t hate us signing him even with the injury history. We’ve still got the money to go after some guys who could really help out the team. I don’t see any reason for us to not use it.
One more worry for me is the people who catch the football. The Jahan trade came as a surprise when the news broke out. The return we got for him made it known what other organizations around the league thought of our first round pick. I was pretty indifferent about us trading him. What upsets me more is the fact that we could’ve had Kyle Hamilton or Chris Olave and instead got a 3rd round pick and two 7ths. The people like myself who claim they would have done a better job drafting during the Rivera Era are absolutely right. Other than Terry, we are screwed. One of Dyami, Olamide, or McCaffrey is going to have to surprise everyone if we want our receiving group to be anything close to relevant. At tight end, Ertz is no prime Jordan Reed or Logan Thomas. Sinnott will be the guy by the middle of the season. It would rock if we found this year’s LaPorta. Also, I hope Cade York fixes our kicker situation. That looked like a disaster this preseason.
JD, Mikey, Coleman, Sinnott, and McCaffrey all being contributors in year one could be the difference between making the playoffs or not. That is a lot to ask, but recency bias from seeing the young contributors from the Lions last year gives me a lot of hope. I haven’t even mentioned our other second-round pick, who I thought was going to be off the board in the first round. Johnny’s immediate impact won’t be as crucial as the other guys I listed. I thought we were definitely taking an offensive tackle there, but all the dudes flew off the board a lot earlier than expected. In terms of value, though, this pick was up there with the best of the draft. A lot of people praised Peters for having a great draft. He even got a McCaffrey. I wish it could’ve been the other one, but I’m not questioning the athletic genes there. Time will tell.
Speaking of household names, I can’t believe Bobby Wagner and Austin Ekeler now play for us. Ekeler’s dropoff needs to be studied. He was the projected number 3 player in fantasy just last year and now for whatever reason everyone just thinks he sucks now. I don’t understand that. Loved his interview when he said he isn’t meant to be a 300 carry guy. He knows exactly the role he has stepped into. We have another guy who is there to score touchdowns and run the ball like a madman. Getting shot helps someone learn a thing or two about toughness. I can’t wait to watch the BRob Jayden combo go to work.
A position group that is hopefully leaps and bounds better than it was last year is linebacker. Even if Bobby’s old, those pregame speeches are worth every penny we paid him. He still has a lot left in the tank and will be able to run this defense better than any person we’ve had since Kerrigan. We also grabbed one of the most underrated linebackers in the league in Frankie Luvu. I am happy with literally anyone not named Cody Barton. We could see Jamin coming off the edge this season. I didn’t hate him at middle linebacker but will be intrigued to see if he can turn into something as a defensive end. We still very much need help after getting rid of Montez and Chase. We brought in Clelin and Dorance, but I don’t expect either of those two to be game changers. Adam would’ve signed them to longer deals if he thought they would be too. The offensive line is going to feature three new faces. Another “Can it really be any worse than last year’s situation?” However, having Jayden under center makes it significantly more important to put together an offensive line that isn’t going to get him killed. This organization needs to do everything possible to make sure he doesn’t get the Sam Howell treatment.
I believe Kingsbury was a great hire for developing Jayden. He will do to Jayden as he once did to Kyler. Through two games, JD has lived up to every ounce of the hype. His first drive was electric. The stones to go deep on a 3rd down during your first drive in the league is awesome. Every dude’s group chat across the DC area started blowing up. Hearing DQ say he did not have the okay to change the play call after the game was definitely an unnecessary comment. If I were him, I would’ve taken the credit and been like, “Yeah, I called that play. I knew Jayden was gonna drop a dime downfield. I wanted to show everyone in the league what my guy can do.” DQ yelling at him to get out of bounds against the Dolphins was more warranted. DQ knows he will be the coach here for a long time if JD stays healthy. There is a direct correlation between Jayden’s health and Dan’s job security. There is also a direct correlation between my happiness and Jayden’s health. So, by the transitive property, DQ’s job security is intertwined with my happiness. For those reasons, I am all about Dan succeeding.
The new kickoff rule is something I will be able to get used to. I have no problems with keeping the players safe. But what I did have a problem with was the idea of placing a chip in the ball. That was a massive win for America when they announced the chain gang wasn’t going anywhere. But actually, who thought it was a good idea to take away the chains? Whoever even thought of that should lose their job immediately. It would take away all of the suspense and just ruin so many great moments. Technology is good for a lot of things but measuring first downs is not one of them. That 30 seconds when the chains are being run out and everyone is screaming whatever favors their team is good for the sport. Just think if the Clowney vs. Michigan play at South Carolina never happened because there was a chip in the ball. Arguably the best ball don’t lie moment in the history of the sport would have never happened. A chip in the ball is bad for the sport. Goodell saved himself on that one. The league needs to do itself a favor and hurry it up with the announcement that the chain gang is never getting replaced.
To get into some heavily biased preseason predictions, I have some futures for everyone to place on our team before Sunday. I think the safest investment one can make in all of gambling right now is Terry’s over receiving yards. I got it at 900 before the Jahan trade. I don’t understand how the guy who has gone for 1000 yards in four straight seasons ends up with that number. The next bets are our wins over and to make the playoffs. These ones are musts every year. My personal favorite bet of the year is us to score a touchdown in every regular season game at +250. I have high hopes we will outperform last year as this bet was lost in week 3 against the Bills. Lastly, the most important one of all. Offensive Rookie of Year for our guy. If you need any reassurance, just go watch his heisman tape on YouTube.
To talk about Sunday, we are going down to Tampa to take on a solid team that is going to be a very good benchmark test for us going into the rest of the year. Limiting ageless Mike Evans is going to be a big deal. He does have a history of walking all over us. They unfortunately are very deep at receiver which doesn’t bode well for our below average corner situation. I do hope this take ages poorly but I do not expect it to. This Bucs defense is no joke. I expect Kliff will be hesitant to call designed QB runs but am expecting there will be a few plays where JD takes off and reminds us why he was named the best player in college football last year. When we get to the 5 yard line, I know the option is coming and JD will find the endzone. I will be taking Terry’s receptions over and JD/BRob to score touchdowns. I am introducing something new in my life and staying consistent with what I know and love.
Regardless of the outcome this weekend, it is going to be so much fun being able to look forward to watching this team. It is going to be awesome having football to watch on Monday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and especially Sunday. I’ve been waiting for some Scott Hanson in my life for too long. This is one of the best times of the year for sports. The season kicks off tonight and we are all in for a great one. This will likely be the longest blog of the season. Thank you to everyone who made it this far reading. By next week, you will be reading about how Jayden Daniels is the most talented quarterback to ever play in DC. I am jealous of all the young kids who root for this team. They are going to be able to say they grew up watching Jayden Daniels. To everyone – have a great weekend, good luck with your bets, and see you next week.
Photo Credit: Eduardo Munoz Alvarez / Associated Press