One Commanders player to benefit most from each head coaching candidate
By Jonathan Eig
Commanders could hire Bobby Slowik
- Player to benefit most: Cole Turner (TE)
Like Raheem Morris, Bobby Slowik has experience coaching on both sides of the ball. That would certainly tend to help a quarterback decipher what a defense is doing. It would also aid the tight ends, who have the most complex reads of any player apart from the signal caller.
In 2023, Slowik’s offense with the Houston Texans targeted tight end Dalton Schultz 88 times. The veteran averaged nearly 11 yards per catch and scored five touchdowns. Compare that to how the Washington Commanders made use of Logan Thomas in 2023.
Despite throwing two passes more per game, Thomas was targeted fewer times than Schultz. He averaged merely nine yards per catch.
Thomas has been slowing down for several years and John Bates is not a receiving threat. This preseason, the second-year Cole Turner caught all 10 of his targets and seemed to have a good rapport with Sam Howell. However, once the season began, the Nevada product was invisible.
He saw just 15 targets. The three tight ends drafted within 20 picks of Turner in 2022 have all been extremely productive, averaging 80 catches, 900 receiving yards, and six touchdowns over their two seasons in the NFL.
Turner has a paltry 13 catches for 143 receiving yards. He has yet to see the end zone. That has to change. Slowik could help make it happen if the Commanders went in this direction.