It’s been clear since at least February that the Washington Commanders planned to start Sam Howell at quarterback in 2023. After a strong performance in the season finale against the Dallas Cowboys, Washington wanted to build around Howell in the offseason.
The Commanders released Carson Wentz and tried to retain Taylor Heinicke as a veteran who could serve as a mentor for Howell while also pushing him. Heinicke received a better offer and signed with the Falcons.
Washington pivoted to Jacoby Brissett. He was more expensive than Heinicke but also a more proven NFL quarterback. He would also provide Howell with real competition.
Or would he?
It was clear throughout OTAs and training camp that this was Howell’s job to lose. While head coach Ron Rivera told everyone not to count out Brissett, Washington’s intentions with Howell were obvious.
The Commanders gave Brissett first-team reps on Monday in training camp. So, after practice, Rivera was asked about that.
“At some point, he’s going to have to work with them, just so he gets to know them, and they get to know him,” Rivera said.
“We started talking about that the last couple of days, trying to figure out when would be a good opportunity to do it. One of the things that [Assistant Head Coach/Offensive Coordinator] Eric [Bieniemy] and [QB coach] Tavita [Pritchard] thought, this would be a good one with the 10, 10, 10 practice today, and so we went ahead and gave ’em the last couple in each period.”
Did Rivera just tell us what we already knew? Sam Howell is Washington’s starting quarterback.
Brissett did nothing wrong here. He signed with Washington to compete with Howell, but knowing the organization wanted to give Howell every opportunity to win the job. Howell has had an up-and-down summer, but that’s to be expected for someone with 19 career passing attempts. One positive from Howell’s time as “QB1” is that he hasn’t done anything to lose the job either.
Rivera discussed Brissett’s experience if the Commanders needed him to start.
“Jacoby is a veteran guy, and him getting acclimated happens a lot quicker than younger guys, obviously,” Rivera said. “And that’s one of the things that I think bodes well for a guy like Jacoby being part of your quarterback room. He doesn’t need the total number that we’ve been trying to get Sam at.”
Now, the next question for Rivera is how does he handle the preseason snaps for his quarterbacks? Brissett doesn’t necessarily need preseason reps, but Howell does. However, as the presumed starting QB, Howell will depart when the first-team offense does.
This was never a real quarterback competition — and that’s OK. The Commanders have a young passer they like in Howell but also needed a veteran who can start and win, which Brissett has proven he can do.