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The Washington Commanders, formerly known as the Washington Football Team, are well into the 2022 NFL Offseason. They fell short of the playoffs for the fifth time in the last six seasons with a losing record of 7-10. Even worse, Washington hasn't had a regular-season record above .500 since they went 8-7-1 in 2016.
Clearly, the franchise has been a bit of a mess the last two decades or so. There have been seven different head coaches since 2002 and even more starting quarterbacks. Moving forward, the Commanders need to solidify their name and find a quarterback to lead them to some titles. Here are the three main reasons why Washington needs to find their franchise quarterback right now.
3. Rebranding is a perfect time for leadership change
The Washington franchise announced that they were rebranding with the name “Commanders” on February 2. Their season ended a few weeks before, so the team practically started off the offseason with a brand new identity.
Typically, the quarterback is the leader and face of any NFL franchise. Now would be the perfect time to find a star franchise quarterback to be the new face of the Commanders.
2. The rest of the NFC East is struggling too
The Commanders aren't the only team in the NFC East responsible for the division's nickname of “NFC Least.” The New York Giants finished the 2021-2022 season in last place in the division with a deep losing record of 4-13. The Philadelphia Eagles just finished the first year of their rebuild, and the Dallas Cowboys are always too optimistic for their own good.
There is one thing that has crippled all of these teams the past few years and hindered their success: none of the NFC East teams can hold on to a legitimate franchise quarterback. Both Daniel Jones and Dak Prescott are supposedly the guys for the Cowboys and the Giants, but there aren't any championships to prove it.
In fact, the last team out of the NFC East to win a Super Bowl was the Eagles in 2018, and they have switched starting quarterbacks multiple times since then. The struggles of the rest of the division only give the Commanders more reason to get the franchise quarterback of their future. If they can figure out the position this offseason the Commanders basically have six divisional wins in the bag.
1. They have a good opportunity in the 2022 NFL Draft
Since the Commanders had such a disappointing season, they made out pretty good in terms of draft selections. Washington has the eleventh overall pick in the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft.
A few of the teams ahead of the Commanders already have franchise quarterbacks, including the Jacksonville Jaguars (first overall) and the New York Jets (tenth overall).
According to Pro Football Network, the top three quarterbacks in the draft are Kenny Pickett from Pittsburgh, Matt Corral from Ole Miss, and Carson Strong from Nevada.
If a quality quarterback sneaks through the rest of the first few picks, the Commanders should capitalize on the opportunity. With the right leader, the Commanders could be the hottest team in the NFC East next season.
