How did the Washington Commanders coaching staff on offense fare during a forgettable 2023 season for the franchise?
One of the stories that we probably should have paid more attention to this preseason was the turnover of the Washington Commanders coaching staff. Almost all of the attention went to new offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy. There was the common thought regarding head coach Ron Rivera that, with a new owner in place and a sub-.500 record over three seasons, he was coaching for his job.
I did write one piece about the new quarterbacks' coach, Tavita Pritchard, and what that might mean for Sam Howell. But I neglected to notice that four other position coaches were also going to be new to their roles this season.
Fans and media alike don’t pay nearly enough attention to the assistant coaches. But the players know. Heading into 2023, the Commanders had assembled a staff that included Rivera as the headman, four coordinators, nine position coaches, and eight assistants. There was also one special assistant.
That’s 22 men and one woman entrusted with getting the most out of the assembled roster. They would evaluate and motivate, teach, and game plan. They would do their best to put Commanders players in a position to win.
I don’t need to tell you, that did not work out very well. After going 8-8-1 in 2022, the Commanders staggered to a dismal 4-13 mark in 2023, finishing on an eight-game losing streak. They essentially gave up on being competitive after dealing two starting defensive linemen for draft picks at the trading deadline.
Our question today is how much of this meltdown can be blamed on the coaches. I go into this admitting that it can be very difficult for an outsider to judge position coaches in the NFL. They are layered beneath the head coach and coordinators, and they typically have little say in the drafting of prospects or signing of free agents.
Still, grades have to be given, so I’ll give some. Today, we’ll start with the offensive coaches led by Bieniemy.
Travelle Wharton - Commanders OL coach
Travelle Wharton was one of the five new position coaches, but he certainly was not new to the Washington Commanders. He came in with Ron Rivera and served as John Matsko’s assistant since 2020. As such, he had a solid reputation as a good young coach.
He helped Matsko cobble together an offensive line in 2020 made up of veterans and castoffs. That line played a big role in taking Washington into the playoffs. But there were troubling signs.
Under Matsko, the Commanders struggled to develop young talent. Only Sam Cosmi turned into a reliable starter, and he did not do it at the position he was intended to play.
Matsko was 72 years old when Rivera released him. The hope was that perhaps a younger coach like Wharton would have more success with younger players. For some never-announced reason, he was not officially promoted from assistant until shortly before the season. That may not mean anything, but I’m wondering if the Commanders may have had their eye on a different offensive line coach - perhaps one of Eric Bieniemy’s colleagues from the Kansas City Chiefs.
Regardless, Washington’s line has been a major weak spot this season. They have given up a record number of sacks and have had little success running inside. Part of this can be blamed on the players, and part on the Bieniemy’s pass-happy schemes. But when the interior of the line routinely fails to pick up stunts, some blame has to fall on the coach.
In short, Wharton may still turn out to be a first-rate coach, but he has done nothing in 2023 to show it.
GRADE: D+
Todd Storm - Commanders TE coach
Todd Storm moved up from assistant when Juan Castillo was promoted. Like Travelle Wharton, he came to the now-Washington Commanders in 2020 with Ron Rivera and initially served as the offensive quality control coach - an entry-level position.
Storm is one of the team’s youngest coaches. Also like Wharton, he may turn out to be a great offensive mind down the road,.But based on his unit’s performance in 2023, there are not many positive things to latch onto.
The tight ends as a group did not perform any worse than they did over the last two years. But with a more talented quarterback and Eric Bieniemy’s penchant for throwing the football almost constantly, it would have been reasonable to expect more.
Most disturbingly, second-year player Cole Turner has shown virtually nothing. He should be much farther along in his development. Especially given the flashes the former Nevada star demonstrated throughout Washington's summer training camp.
The fact is, the Commanders haven't had productive tight end play since Logan Thomas’ breakout season in 2020. He got hurt the next year and Washington's underwhelming position group has never really recovered.
GRADE: D
Bobby Engram - Commanders WRs coach
Bobby Engram was another new coach this season. Unlike Travelle Wharton and Todd Storm, he was brand new to the Washington Commanders, having coached tight ends and wide receivers with the Baltimore Ravens for eight years before spending 2022 as the offensive coordinator of the Wisconsin Badgers.
Engram replaced Drew Terrell, who had replaced Jim Hostler the previous season. No position has seen as much coaching turnover during Ron Rivera’s tenure. And yet, the results seem to remain the same.
Terry McLaurin is great. No one else has emerged. In 2023, Washington’s receivers should have had bigger years. They had a better quarterback and a coordinator who liked to throw. But the numbers have stayed virtually the same, and prized second-year player Jahan Dotson has seemed to regress.
If you believe in Pro Football Focus ratings, it looks especially bleak. The young players - Dotson, Dyami Brown, and little-used rookie Mitchell Tinsley - are Washington’s lowest-rated receivers. Last-minute veteran additions Byron Pringle and Jamison Crowder have largely outperformed them.
Again, this failure to develop young players cannot all be laid at the feet of individual position coaches. But Engram, like the others discussed, simply hasn’t done anything to make the situation better.
GRADE: C-
Randy Jordan - Commanders RBs coach
Randy Jordan is the Washington Commanders' longest-tenured coach, having been with the franchise for a decade. He is one of just two coaches who predates Ron Rivera.
He is also the only offensive coach who has an assistant working under him, even though he typically has only four players active for a game. Two general offensive assistants on the staff work with other position groups.
Jordan also carries the title of senior offensive assistant and the title is deserved. The respected figure is the team’s most experienced and most successful offensive position coach. His is the one unit where young players have come in and exceeded expectations.
Simply getting Brian Robinson Jr. prepared to play after his gunshot wound last year was an achievement. This year, the former third-round pick out of Alabama has improved as a pass catcher.
Antonio Gibson has been a work-in-progress but progressed as a runner. Rookie sixth-rounder Chris Rodriguez Jr. has shown a lot in limited action. Blitz pickup remains an issue, but on the whole, this unit has run behind a below-average offensive line and managed moderate success.
GRADE: B
Tavita Pritchard - Commanders QBs coach
Aside from Eric Bieniemy, Tavita Pritchard was the Washington Commanders' biggest wild card on the staff this season. He came in to mentor Sam Howell without ever having coached outside the cozy confines of Stanford University.
For the first several months of the season, Howell played very well and Pritchard deserves a lot of the credit. However, he also has to share some of the blame for the gunslinger's serious regression toward the end of the campaign.
The honeymoon period may be over for both player and coach. But I still think both acquitted themselves rather well in difficult circumstances this year.
It’s hard to imagine a new coaching regime having much interest in keeping most of the current coaches. Pritchard may be one of the exceptions. If he is retained, he will no doubt be crucial to the Commanders' success since it seems highly likely that they will take a quarterback in the first few rounds of the 2024 NFL Draft - perhaps even with the No. 2 overall selection.
GRADE: B
Washington also has had one assistant coach - Jennifer King - working with running backs, along with an offensive quality control coach Shane Toub, and a general offensive assistant, Tyrae Reid. They had former quarterbacks coach Ken Zampese in an offensive advisor role.
To be honest, I have no idea what that means. I will not attempt to grade any of them.
Then there are the coordinators.
Juan Castillo - Commanders run game coordinator
By some metrics, Juan Castillo has done a nice job in improving a running game that was not very good in 2022.
Yards-per-carry has progressed to a respectable 4.5. Some of that is attributable to Sam Howell’s off-script running, but even if you factor that out, both Brian Robinson Jr. and Antonio Gibson have significantly improved their yards-per-carry this year. Rookie Chris Rodriguez Jr. has been well above average.
However, by other metrics, the Washington Commanders have had one of the weakest running attacks in the league this year. The fact is, they simply don’t run the ball very much.
The occasional big run can have an outsized effect on the yards-per-number, but it doesn’t change the fact that Washington simply has not been able to rely on a consistent ground game all year. They have not been able to take pressure off Howell by staying ahead of the chains, and they have not been able to force a defense to crowd the line, thus freeing up deep shots.
Castillo, who was promoted into this role after serving as tight ends coach in 2022, wasn't dealt a good hand. The Commanders' running-game roster is far from coordinated. They have power backs behind a line that doesn’t power block very well. The line does move in space, but the backs aren’t particularly adept at running sweeps or reverses.
The bottom line is that the Commanders are running for about 30 fewer yards per game in 2023, and converting running first downs at a lower percentage. I kind of wish that Castillo - a veteran coach with a good track record - had been coaching the offensive line instead of having this role.
GRADE: C+
Eric Bieniemy - Commanders OC
Apart from new ownership, no arrival was greeted with more enthusiasm from the fanbase than that of Eric Bieniemy. Surely, if anyone could breathe life into a moribund offense, it would be the man who helped build the Kansas City Chiefs juggernaut.
For the first few months of the season, Bieniemy lived up to those expectations. The offense was far from perfect. Sam Howell was sacked at a record pace. But the Washington Commanders' offense kept the team in games.
They scored more than 30 points in three of the first eight games - a mark they only hit one time in 2022. And then, the wheels came off.
Since a valiant 38-31 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in late October, the Commanders have averaged just 18 points over their last eight games. Almost a quarter of the points in those games came with Jacoby Brissett at quarterback.
So how do we assess Bieniemy?
He has created a more dynamic offense. But he has not been able to build on early success, and now Howell is backsliding. This cannot be blamed on injury - Washington has been rather lucky with injuries this season. This would appear to be a case of the rest of the league catching onto what Bieniemy was doing and shutting it down.
He has not been able to right the ship. Bieniemy remains a respected offensive mind. However, at this point, the implosion of Kansas City’s offense without him bolsters his resume more than what he has accomplished with the Commanders.
GRADE: B-