After an undefeated preseason where quarterback Sam Howell looked terrific at times, there is a lot of optimism surrounding the Washington Commanders.
While win/loss records in the preseason mean absolutely nothing, the reps — especially for a young quarterback — mean everything. After working as the “QB1” all offseason and through training camp, Howell worked into the second quarter of the preseason opener and played the entire first half of the second preseason game.
He was excellent but far from perfect. Howell acknowledged this, mentioning how he was responsible for sacks in the two games. But overall, the combination of Howell and new offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy, paired with Washington’s skill players, has fans excited.
The Commanders had one of the NFL’s best defenses last season, and just an improved offense should be enough to push them into the postseason, right?
Why can’t Washington be better on offense in 2023? After all, there’s no way an inexperienced Howell can be worse than the combination of Carson Wentz and Taylor Heinicke in 2022.
ESPN fantasy expert Mike Clay recently made projections for the 2023 NFL season, and he isn’t too keen on Washington’s offense. In his projections, Clay has the Commanders finishing as the NFL’s lowest-scoring team with 310 points. That would mean Washington averages 18.2 points per game in 2023.
Washington has finished bottom-10 in scoring each of the past five seasons and will now turn to Sam Howell — a 2022 fifth-round pick who attempted 19 passes as a rookie — as its starting quarterback. Perhaps the Commanders have found a diamond in the rough (Howell has looked good during the preseason), but he’s obviously an unknown, and the team’s fallback plan is journeyman Jacoby Brissett. Also shaky along the line, this offense will hope to be bailed out by its terrific WR trio in Terry McLaurin, Jahan Dotson and Curtis Samuel (though McLaurin could miss some time to open the season while dealing with an injury).
Maybe Clay ends up being right. We disagree. Could it happen? Sure, if Washington’s offensive line struggles and is hit by injuries. Howell has already started to turn around some non-believers slowly. There will be some struggles because he has one career start, but Bieniemy has built an offense that caters to Howell’s strengths.