The storybook of a 2024 season for the Washington Commanders has come to an end. On January 26, Saquon Barkley led the Philadelphia Eagles to a win over the Washington team at the NFC Championship game with a final score of 55-23. The Commanders had a phenomenal season, making what seemed impossible, possible. However, the success of this season did not come without work and a lot of change.
This past year, following a 4-13 season, the Commanders had choices to make. Being holders of the second overall pick, parting ways with Head Coach Ron Rivera the day after the season ended, and having surrounding issues on both sides of the ball created many questions regarding the future of the franchise. As a result, newly appointed General Manager Adam Peters and first year owners Josh Harris and Magic Johnson got to work finding answers. Their first order of business was to find people to lead the Commanders in the coaching positions.
February 6, Harris and Peters interviewed the former Cowboys’ Defensive Coordinator, Dan Quinn. It took two more interviews before he was appointed the head coach in this new look of Commanders football. Senior Declan Forrest, a devoted Commanders fan and host of the “Hear Me Out” podcast, thinks this move was great. “Dan Quinn has been the cornerstone of defensive coaching in the NFL for the past decade,” Forrest said. “When Washington handed him the keys, it was clear the focus was not only turning around a defense that often ranked near last in yards and points allowed, but entirely overhauling a failing culture and replacing it with a winning one.” Following the hiring of Quinn, they would also hire another former Cowboys coach, Joe Whitt Jr., as the defensive coordinator. They also signed Kliff Kingsbury, former NFL and University Of Southern California coach to lead the offensive side of the ball.
Once the front office had their leaders, they needed to level up the players on the team so that they could win games. At first, they focused on defense. After allowing over 30 points nine different times during the season, Fox Sports had ranked the Commanders with the worst passing defense, the sixth worst rushing defense, the worst scoring defense, and in total the worst defense in the NFL. Adding role players and weapons like linebackers Bobby Wagner and Frankie Luvu, defensive end Dante Fowler Jr, safety Jeremy Chinn, and others that would help the defense immensely. With the additions of the free agent defensive signings that helped fill the holes in the pass rush, secondary, and overall defensive scheme that had been left after the 2023 season, the front office started pushing for more offensive minded signings.
The offense was also recovering from major struggles. In 2023, the Commanders struggled to score and push the offense downfield against better teams. One of the outlying issues being the terrible offensive line that, according to “StatMuse”, allowed 65 sacks during the season. Another issue in Washington’s offense was the quarterback Sam Howell. “Pro Football Reference” showed that Howell only made 388 completions on over 600 attempts and threw as many interceptions as touchdowns in the course of the season. That interception total that led all quarterbacks in the NFL. His future in Washington was over. The Commanders traded Howell to Seattle for draft picks. However, they were still trying to make more offensive progress“Fox Sports” ranking them 9th worst overall on offense, with an 18th ranked passing offense, and 24th ranked rushing. Due to these factors, the Commanders took the time and worked to improve. Adding some names like Running Back Austin Ekler, Tight End Zach Ertz, Center Tyler Biadasz and long time veteran Quarterback Marcus Mariota. These additions brought more depth into key roles on the entire offense. Overall, the moves they made had fans excited. A Commander’s fan fan, special education teacher Mr. Ryan Dyke, had nothing but great things to say. He said, “I loved that we brought in veteran players with a long track record of production. Particularly Bobby Wagner and Zach Ertz. Both were one-year contracts for a reasonable salary. I thought they would provide veteran leadership which they did. I didn’t have a problem with any off season moves.”
Even after the free agency acquisitions, the job still was not fully finished. The final step was The NFL Draft. The Commanders were owners of the second overall pick, which meant that the decision at the draft in Detroit would have a great impact on the trades and pickups the front office made before the draft. Washington needed a quarterback after getting rid of their last starter and only having a veteran backup who had not started a game in a year. The question was, which quarterback? Washington would have many options to pick from the quarterback position in the 2024 NFL Draft Class. Some notable options were Caleb Williams out of University of Southern California, Drake Maye from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Louisiana State University’s very own Jayden Daniels. Washington drafted Daniels with their pick and before selecting the rest of their class. This included cornerback Mike Sainristil out of Michigan, wide receiver Luke McCaffery from Rice, and defensive tackle Jer’Zhan Newton from Syracuse. Daniels would be the most notable drafted player in Washington.
Forrest loved the pick of Daniels, and he explained how great of a player he was while also comparing him to the first overall pick, Caleb Williams. He stated that, “Jayden is a star. I watched him for years at LSU and ASU and also was very attentive to Caleb Williams. I could never understand why Caleb was ranked above him. Just turn on the tape and watch both of their senior seasons, Jayden was all around better. Nothing against Caleb, he’s a ridiculously talented player himself, but it just seemed in games [against] UCLA or Utah, he continued to struggle and turnover the ball in big moments. Jayden was no drama, quiet, got in and out and while getting the job done. The perfect leader for this football team.” Daniels would win the prestigious Heisman Trophy in 2023 and have notable stats like being the only FBS player ever to throw for over 12,000 yards and rush for 3,000 yards in a career according to the Associated Press.
These choices have led to the 2024 Commanders season being their most successful since the last time they won a Super Bowl. The Commanders finished the regular season with a 12-5 record, the first time in 33 years that they had a 11+ win season, and the 6th seed in the playoffs. Jayden Daniels had a standout season, throwing for over 3,000+ yards and 25 touchdowns plus completing over 60% of his passing while he rushed for over 1,000 yards and had 10 touchdowns of his own according to “ESPN”. These accolades would garner praise of one of the best rookie quarterback years of all time, which in turn helped him win the Offensive Rookie of The Year Award to cap off his season. Overall, the Washington Commanders left fans with much to look forward to.