Washington Commanders 2023 Offseason Preview
Nick Mensio recaps the 2022 Commanders' skill players and looks ahead at Washington's notable free agents, potential cut and trade candidates, and team needs.
In perpetual quarterback purgatory, the Commanders flipped two third-round picks to the Colts for the right to pay Carson Wentz his $22 million salary last season. Wentz opened the season as Washington’s starter before suffering a Week 6 thumb injury that landed him on injured reserve. Wentz had a 10:6 TD:INT mark through six starts, but Washington was a miserable 2-4 and playing from behind most weeks. Taylor Heinicke took over as QB1 from Weeks 7-16, but Wentz was reinserted in Week 17 with Washington needing a win over the Browns to stay alive in the playoff mix. Wentz responded with 143 yards and three interceptions in an embarrassing 24-10 home loss. That was the end of his tenure in D.C., and the Commanders released him last month, saving $26.2 million in cap space. Heinicke has always proven to be a short-term spark plug in Washington, but he was exposed the longer he was under center last year. His 44.5 QBR was 25th in the league, and Heinicke will join Wentz in free agency. A fifth-round pick last April, Sam Howell started the Week 18 finale against Dallas, going 11-of-19 passing for 169 yards, one touchdown, and one interception, adding 5/35/1 as a rusher. Howell is expected to get a chance to be the 2023 starter if Washington can’t find a significant upgrade. Third-round rookie Brian Robinson was shot in the leg in an attempted robbery in late August and missed the first four weeks of the season. Robinson averaged 18.6 carries per game in 11 appearances but found the end zone just twice and averaged 3.9 YPC while contributing just nine catches. He was as TD-or-bust as they come. The coaches never seemed to trust Antonio Gibson as a lead back, and his carries were dialed back to 9.9 per game after 16.1 the year before. With J.D. McKissic (neck) out for most of 2022, Gibson played the pass-catching role alongside Robinson, catching a career-best 46 passes for 353 yards and two scores. It’s worth wondering if Gibson could be traded this offseason as he heads into the final year of his rookie deal. Terry McLaurin never jived with Wentz, catching just one touchdown from him in seven starts. McLaurin had three 100-yard games and three touchdowns with Heinicke and caught another one from Howell in Week 18. McLaurin produced at least 50 yards in 13-of-17 games and went over 1,000 yards for the third straight year, finishing as fantasy’s WR21. It was first-round rookie Jahan Dotson who had the early connection with Wentz, particularly in the red zone. Dotson turned 22 targets from Weeks 1-4 into a 12/152/4 line before going down with a hamstring injury that cost him five games. Dotson caught another three touchdowns over the final five weeks but topped 75 yards in a game just twice all year. Five of Dotson’s six red-zone catches as a rookie went for a touchdown. After playing just 84 snaps in a lost 2021 season, Curtis Samuel returned to play in all 17 games last year and finished second on the team with 92 targets. Samuel also registered 38 rushing attempts, totaling 843 yards and five touchdowns as a gadget guy. The Commanders’ quarterbacks could barely support more than one pass-catcher in this anemic offense. Coming off a torn ACL, Logan Thomas appeared in 14 games as a 31-year-old but saw his yards-per-catch average dip to just 8.3 yards with only one touchdown. Thomas was 38th out of 42 qualifying tight ends in yards per route run. It’s time for Washington to upgrade.