The Washington Commanders have had a quiet offseason. Outside of the big trade for quarterback Carson Wentz, the Commanders essentially sat out of free agency, signing a pair of guards and a reserve defensive end.
Now that we have moved past the 2022 NFL draft, how are the Commanders looking for next season?
CBS Sports recently released its new power rankings post-draft, and Washington jumped 12 spots from the last version to No. 13 — one place behind the Dallas Cowboys.
The addition of Carson Wentz will improve the offense, but how much? The defense has to get back playing like many expected they would last season before a disappointing showing. That means Chase Young and gang.
Improvement on both sides of the ball is what head coach Ron Rivera is counting on in 2022. Wentz will improve the offense, and CBS is correct when asking how much will the offense improve under Wentz. As for the defense, Washington expects the unit to resemble the 2020 version, not the group that was torched weekly for the first several weeks of last season.
If all things go according to plan — and that’s a big if — the Commanders are an NFC East contender in 2022.