Reasons to be excited and concerned about the 2022 Commanders

Quarterbacks – Bit of Both

If quarterback play were all that mattered in the NFL, the teams with the best quarterbacks would always end up in the playoffs, and the teams with the true elites would always win the Super Bowl. That doesn’t happen, though the league seems determined to legislate the game into a pass-happy, touch football product in which the Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen will dazzle us with splash play after splash play.

At least as of 2022, you still need a very good team and a very good quarterback to make a run in the NFL. The three quarterbacks currently on the Washington Commanders roster constitute the most positional talent this team had had since the early days of RGIII and Captain Kirk.

Carson Wentz and Sam Howell both have plus arms and plus movement ability. Taylor Heinicke, whose arm I have constantly criticized in these columns, is ideally suited to be a quality backup in the league. If these players step up, this team takes a major step forward.

But there are questions about all of them. Wentz’s psyche, Heinicke’s arm, Howell’s inexperience. I don’t think anyone really knows what to expect from Washington’s quarterbacks this season. There is enormous pressure on Scott Turner to put them in positions to succeed, and on Ken Zampese, to develop his players. Zampese has been around forever, but his history in Cincinnati was so-so. He was a much better coach when he had a healthy Carson Palmer. Go figure.

There are plenty of other things that both have me excited and have me reaching for the Dramamine. More on that another time. Maybe after the Jacksonville game, in which we begin to get definitive to answers about how excited or nervous we ought to be about the 2022 Washington Commanders.