4 Commanders coaches on the hot seat entering the 2022 season

3. Scott Turner, Offensive Coordinator

Scott Turner is operating under a double whammy. As the son of Norv, offensive genius of the Dallas Cowboys juggernaut in ‘90s, and mediocre head coach in Washington, Oakland, San Diego, there is obvious pressure to live up to daddy’s offensive productivity.

On top of that, he is a young offensive coordinator in the golden age of young offensive geniuses. Many of the brightest lights – the Shanahans and McVays and O’Connells – coached in Washington during the past decade. None remain. Turner is already 40 – older than two of those head coaches. When does he prove he is in that league?

To be fair, Norv’s son has been playing with one arm tied behind his back. His dad won Super Bowls with Troy Aikman. Scott has had a one-legged Alex Smith and an XFL backup arm in Taylor Heinicke. The best arm he had belonged to Dwayne Haskins, and I’m not about to blame Turner for how Haskins was mismanaged. Not when this franchise got the absolute least bang for the buck out of talents like RGIII and Kirk Cousins long before Turner was in town. This franchise has bungled talent ever since the current ownership group came into being.

Without a decent arm, it doesn’t matter how creative you are. Defenses can crowd the line. They can stop the run. They can press on 3rd & 6, forcing you to throw low percentage deep balls instead of the easy pitch & catch plays other teams constantly run against Washington in such situations. When the defense is not afraid of your QB’s arm, life as a play caller is much harder.

This year there are arms. There are new receivers, new tight ends. There was going to be a new running back, but we know what happened there. Still, this team has enough talent at running back. In fact, for the first time is at least six years, this team has enough talent on offense to score some points.

If the coordinator steps up.