Head coach Dan Quinn took a massive risk by promoting David Blough to replace Kliff Kingsbury as offensive coordinator. This is all part of his master plan to take quarterback Jayden Daniels' game to even greater heights.
There was no longer alignment between Quinn and Kingsbury about how best to take the offense forward. The head man wanted more pro-style concepts, and the play-caller thought the system in place would suffice. That made his departure inevitable, and the Commanders are banking on Blough to make the adjustments required for Daniels and his playmakers to flourish.
Blough and Quinn came to the same conclusion about Daniels. There needs to be tweaks in his style. The Commanders will also do their part schematically, which all starts by using the former LSU standout more under center.
David Blough outlines the clear benefits of Commanders using Jayden Daniels more under center
This is something Kingsbury was extremely reluctant to move forward with. He mostly had Daniels in the shotgun with more Air Raid concepts. Blough is going the other way, convinced that Daniels' skills and Washington's rushing attack can be much more effective operating under center.
"It opens up some different schemes in the run game, some things that I believe in. It opens up different play actions and keepers and getting him on the perimeter in different ways. I think there's a level of communication that happens under center. I think there's different ways to go about things, and it's something that I'm convicted about that with his skillset, his fundamentals, the things that we absolutely loved about him when he first got here still ring true."David Blough via Commanders.com
Daniels won't spend all his time under center, but there will be much more balance. Kingsbury's offense was very one-dimensional, which became easy to figure out. The injuries didn't help, but it's been a concerning trend throughout his coaching career. And the unwillingness to alter his thought process left Quinn with no option but to remove him from the equation.
Blough hasn't called plays before. He's got two years of assistant coaching experience and a few weeks as a quarterbacks coach to call upon. However, this has led to a relationship with Daniels, who is also becoming more vocal about how he wants the offense to run this time around.
The Commanders will be more innovative, more creative, and more focused on explosive plays. If Daniels can make the desired adjustments to limit the risk of injuries while also keeping his dynamism intact, it's all systems go.
Quinn believes he is getting ahead of the game by hiring Blough, who has already been tipped to be a future head coach. And if the offensive coordinator provides the nuances to reignite Daniels, he'll get a lot closer to achieving this objective.
That's a win-win for everybody.