Commanders senior advisor Doug Williams sure sounds like he stated the Commanders are going QB at No. 2 overall in the draft
Did one of the Washington Commanders brass tip off what the team is going to do with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft? It sure seems that way.
Commanders senior advisor Doug Williams, a former starting QB for the franchise, might have let the cat out of the bag before the bag was even finished. In an interview on the NFL Network, Williams appeared to give away the Commanders’ plan to take a quarterback with the No. 2 overall pick.
“The good part about it is we’re sitting in a great position because we got three great quarterbacks that are out there,” Williams said. “One, two and three.”
Williams quickly tried to veer back on course, talking about the potential for the Commanders to select an offensive tackle or a defensive pass rusher. After some playful pushback from hosts Andrew Siciliano and Bucky Brooks, Williams acknowledged,
“Nine out of 10, there’s a good chance that we might pick one of the quarterbacks.”
It’s generally a popular notion that the Commanders are looking to upgrade from Sam Howell, who led the NFL in both INTs (21) and sacks (65) in 2023 while also throwing the most passes (612). Williams sounds like he’s validating the speculation.
The whole exchange is available at Siciliano’s post on X (formerly Twitter).
Smokescreen? Slip of the tongue? You be the judge…
Have the Commanders talked to the Bears yet about the #1 pick?
The second major concern for Peters (behind his hiring a head coach) will be those in the front office personnel. Of those currently present, whom will Peters retain and whom will he not keep, only one is a certainty. Eugene Shen (Senior VP of Football Strategy), recently hired by Harris, will remain.
Thus, the future is uncertain for Jason Wright (Team President), Martin Mayhew (General Manager), Marty Hurney (Vice President of Player Personnel), and Rob Rogers (Senior Vice President of Football Administration).
Doug Williams is certainly a question mark. Williams, during the Bruce Allen administration, possessed a couple of titles, yet even Williams talked of how he was not even involved in something as major as the 2018 trade that brought quarterback Alex Smith to Washington.
Williams was given a vague title of a personnel executive, which was the first red flag. Then Williams, in 2017, was promoted to the position of Senior Vice President of Player Personnel. But again Williams often provided vague answers when before the press, which sometimes were more revealing than informative.
When Ron Rivera became the coach-centric administrator of football operations, Williams was moved out of player personnel entirely into player development. After one season, he then became a “senior advisor to Jason Wright.”
The entire player personnel department might be in question. 11 scouts and a player personnel assistant are currently employed, while the department is headed by Eric Stokes (Senior Director of Player Personnel), Chris Polian (Director of Pro Personnel) and Tim Gribble (Director of College Personnel).
Washington must get three positions right this offseason.
It is no secret the Washington Commanders are going for a complete renovation this offseason.
There will be many players released and not invited back for 2024. There will be a new draft class and several new free agents signed to join the Commanders.
Josh Harris is going to hire the franchise’s next general manager any day now. Whomever he is, he will become the first Washington general manager to possess authentic general manager power since Charley Casserly was Washington’s general manager (1989-99).
Then Harris and the new general manager will embark on hiring the team’s next head coach. He will follow Ron Rivera, who failed to achieve a single winning season in his four seasons as Commanders’ head coach.
Quick question: which is most important, your general manager, your head coach, or your starting quarterback? Before you reply, consider the answer might just be “yes.” As important as a general manager and head coach are, today’s NFL might also require you to have a winning quarterback as well.
Which makes the accomplishment of Joe Jackson Gibbs even more significant. Gibbs won three Super Bowl championships for the Burgundy and Gold, and his quarterbacks for those championship seasons were Joe Theismann, Doug Williams and Mark Rypien. Three guys who will never be in the Hall of Fame, and only one was an NFL-leading quarterback (Theismann in 1983), and that team did not win a Super Bowl, though they did play in Super Bowl XVIII, falling to the Raiders.
An NFL team’s starting quarterback can mean so much to your franchise. For instance, the last time Washington had a winning season, Kirk Cousins was the starter. Washington’s last two winning seasons 2015 (9-7) and 2016 (8-7-1), it was Cousins leading the team.
Cousins was criticized heavily by much of the fan base in those days. Yet, how many winning seasons has Washington achieved since Cousins’ departure? Not a single one.
The Commanders will need to land a quality quarterback this offseason as well.
In honor of Tampa Bay’s return to the creamiscles on Sunday, here are some of the best players of the creamsicle era in Tampa Bay from 1976 to 1996:
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are bringing out their throwback “creamsicle” uniforms on Sunday, and they’ll be looking to win in a uniform that doesn’t have a whole lot of history of seeing many.
The orange and white era of Bucs history is far more often dire than not, but that doesn’t mean that every player on those teams was bad. There were actually quite a few contributors who donned a helmet with Bucco Bruce on the side, with some of them earning a spot in the Bucs’ Ring of Honor and beyond to the Hall of Fame.
In honor of the Bucs wearing those uniforms against the Lions on Sunday, we compiled (in no particular order) six great Buccaneers players from the “creamsicle” era of Tampa Bay football:
The New Orleans Saints will be well-represented at the 2023 Ozzie Newsome General Manager Forum and the Quarterback Coaching Summit, what’s become an annual offseason event for coaches and front office personnel around the NFL: offensive assistant D.J. Williams will be in attendance at the league’s Los Angeles office, participating in seminars and panels alongside other current and former coaches.
This three-day symposium works in partnership with the Black College Football Hall of Fame to offer “peer-to-peer professional development and networking opportunities” for candidates for promotion in coaching circles. The Saints have been involved with similar events before; last winter, football administration vice president Khai Harley (best known for his work managing the salary cap) participated in the NFL Front Office Accelerator program to help raise his standing around the league.
Williams, a former standout quarterback at Grambling State and the son of Washington Commanders executive Doug Williams (who won Super Bowl XXII as Washington’s starting quarterback) who joined the Saints back in 2017 as a coaching staff intern. He was promoted to a full-time position in 2019 and has worked closely with the quarterbacks ever since. This is a great opportunity for him to get more experience from his peers in the NFL.
Commanders Wire continues a countdown to the Commanders season opener for 2023 in 83 days. Who was Washington’s best player wearing number 83?
Overwhelmingly the answer can only be one player. One former U.S. President once passed a ball to this Washington receiver after asking the celebrating audience, “Where’s Ricky Sanders?”
Former President Ronald Reagan surprised the fans gathering in DC, celebrating the 1987 Super Bowl Championship season, which included a huge 42-10 romp of the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XXII.
— Old Time Football 🏈 (@Ol_TimeFootball) June 3, 2023
Washington actually trailed 10-0 early in the second quarter when Sanders beat Mark Haynes, who was up on Sanders in press man-to-man coverage. Sanders badly beat Haynes down the right sideline, and Doug Williams’ pass was hauled in by Sanders for an 80-yard touchdown.
🗓️ Jan 31st, 1988 🏟️ Jack Murphy Stadium 🏆 Super Bowl XXII ⏱️ 2nd Quarter 🤯 5 TDs in 18 plays covering 5:47 🏈 Doug Williams 9/11 for 228 yds & 4 TDs 🙌🏿 Ricky Sanders 5 RECs for 168 yds & 2 TDs 👟 Timmy Smith 122 rushing yds & 1 TD 🔥 SB record 35 points#WashingtonFootballTeampic.twitter.com/aEjCLvUNK9
Later in the quarter, with Washington now leading 21-10, Williams again found Sanders deep for a 50-yard touchdown, giving the then Redskins a 28-10 lead.
Sanders would set a then-record 193 yards receiving in a Super Bowl game. Sanders had a huge game collecting 9 receptions, including the two long touchdowns from Williams.
Playing his college ball at Southwest Texas State, New England chose Sanders 16th overall in the 1984 NFL Supplemental Draft.
Following two seasons in the USFL (Houston Gamblers), Sanders signed with Washington in 1986. His best seasons were the 1988 and 1989 seasons. In ’88, Sanders caught 73 passes (1,1489 yards), including 12 touchdowns. The following season Sanders collected a career-high 80 receptions for 1,138 yards and four receiving touchdowns.
In his eight seasons for Washington, Sanders collected 414 receptions for 5,854 yards averaging 14.1 yards per reception and 36 receiving touchdowns. Sanders was one-third of the famous Washington receiving trio of Art Monk, Gary Clark and Sanders, affectionately referred to as “the Posse”.
In Super Bowl XXVI, Sanders caught one pass from Mark Rypien for 41 yards in the Redskins’ 37-24 win over Buffalo.
Remember the question Doug Williams was asked ahead of Super Bowl XXII?
Remember during Super Bowl week when Washington QB Doug Williams was asked by a reporter, “How long have you been a black quarterback?”
It was Jan. 1988, and Washington had defeated the higher-seeded Chicago Bears in freezing Soldier Field, then came home to RFK, beating the Vikings to advance to Super Bowl XXII.
That week, Doug Williams was hit with a plethora of questions regarding his being the first black quarterback in a Super Bowl.
But the one question we continue to hear about to this day was, “How long have you been a black quarterback?” Williams himself, to this day, has commented on it many times.
Williams, in the front of the room, apparently misunderstood the question because he replied with his own question to the room, “How long have I been a black quarterback?” Before the week was completed, it had been reported all over the country as a fact but was not a fact.
Williams got it wrong that day regarding what he was asked, but Washington fans can enjoy recalling that he certainly had a great Super Bowl XXII and was voted the MVP in Washington’s 42-10 romp over the Denver Broncos.
In an interview with Harold P. Kuntz of FOX4 News Kansas City, Doug Williams, the first Black QB to win a Super Bowl (22 with the Commanders in 1987), was so thrilled to sing the praises of players like Mahomes and Hurts. Williams clearly loved seeing Black QBs continue to gain prominence as faces of the league.
And he doesn’t see that ending any time soon:
Interviewed Super Bowl XXII MVP Doug Williams, the 1st Black QB to win a SB. He's incredibly impressed with Patrick Mahomes ("He's not about Patrick, he's about the #Chiefs"), very high on future of black QBs and "the biggest fan" of the QB that build on his legacy. pic.twitter.com/qL5wsn1exD
You know you’ve won a legend over when they happily talk about how talented and selfless you are.
In an assertion in line with Fields’ thoughts, having more multi-faceted passers in the game — guys who can make defenders pay with their arms and legs — will only give offenses more options to succeed. As defenses get more innovative and more athletic, the days of the “statue” signal-caller seem numbered.
And it’s thanks in part to trailblazers like Williams.
It’s not a mistake that it took 57 years for two Black quarterbacks to meet in the Super Bowl.
For the first time in NFL history, two Black quarterbacks will start in the Super Bowl.
Let me say that again.
When the teams of Patrick Mahomes and Jalen Hurts meet on Feb. 12, it will be the first time in NFL HISTORY two Black quarterbacks are starting in the same Super Bowl — a game that was first played in 1967. For those who need a count, that’s 56 times the sport’s most important game was played without two Black players at its most prominent position.
That it took so long was by design, a reason to both lament missed opportunities and celebrate the moment finally arriving. Make no mistake, this is a big deal.
This year's Super Bowl will feature two Black starting quarterbacks for the first time ever. pic.twitter.com/DcI2R3W3A9
For years, racism and prejudice was at the root of Black football players not receiving opportunities to play quarterback. The position was thought to require a level of intelligence that Black people didn’t possess. On top of that silly notion, the issue of white owners allowing Black men to be the faces and de facto leaders of their franchises was another barrier.
Progress has been slow, and those sentiments are only recently beginning to fade. It was just six years ago that another Black quarterback to start in a Super Bowl, Colin Kaepernick, was banished from the league for protesting police brutality against Black people. A year later, the New York Giants started a Black quarterback for the first time in franchise history, becoming the last NFL team to do so. (That player was 2022 PFWA Comeback Player of the Year Geno Smith, who the league had all but written off as a starting quarterback.) A few months after that, so-called draft analysts tried to convince the public that a future MVP-winning quarterback named Lamar Jackson was better suited as a wide receiver.
We aren’t that far removed from the same type of thinking that once made Black quarterbacks rare to see. So, I repeat, Super Bowl LVII between the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles and the quarterbacks who lead them is a big deal.
It shows that if NFL decision-makers aren’t actively being anti-racist, some are at least willing to suppress their prejudices to win football games. From the heart or not, the trickle-down effect can help remove the biases of fans and decision-makers in other areas and levels of the sport. Which is necessary, because there’s so much more progress to be made. Just last year, USA TODAYand The Washington Post rolled out projects on the NFL’s continuing poor track record hiring Black coaches.
That’s why a Super Bowl with two Black starting quarterbacks is so important, no matter how many “race doesn’t matter” warriors try to tell you otherwise. Too many people have and continue to actively work against moments like this to allow that type of thinking to exist.
“I’ve got such a smile on my face right now, but I’ve got water in my eyes, too,” Doug Williams, the first Black quarterback to win a Super Bowl, told Andscape’s Jason Reid. “I’m talking, but I don’t think I can even explain what this means. We have come such a long way. It has been so hard, so many barriers, but we did it. Two Black quarterbacks in the Super Bowl!”
Like Williams’ triumph 35 years ago, Mahomes and Hurts have the potential to open even more doors. They have already. Mahomes, who became the third Black starting quarterback to win a Super Bowl in 2020, is setting a new standard for what an elite quarterback looks like. Hurts employs a Black woman agent, Nicole Lynn, who is now the first Black woman to represent a quarterback of any race in the Super Bowl.
Nicole Lynn of @KlutchSports will become the first Black female agent to represent a quarterback in the #SuperBowl
So, yes, we should celebrate this one. It means a great deal to a lot of people who thought they’d never see the moment. It also means a lot for a generation of people to come.
The greatest decade in franchise history. We share some of the most incredible memories from RFK Stadium in the 1980s.
Joe Gibbs (1981-1992) and his teams were 124-60 (.673) which is slightly less successful than George Allen’s tenure in Washington. However, in the 1980s, Gibbs produced four NFC Championship games, three NFC Championships, three Super Bowls and two Super Bowl victories. Joe Gibbs was an astonishing 11-3 in the playoffs in the ’80s.
Gibbs in 1981, lost his first five games and not one was a single-score game. Gibbs later said he feared he may not win an NFL game before he was fired.
I recall little Joe Washington having big games in RFK wins over the Patriots and Lions. In that Lions game, the lead changed hands six times when Mark Moseley won it with a field goal 33-31. Some may recall Mike Nelms with a 75-yard punt return touchdown in that Patriots win as well.
Washington turned it around in that ’81 season winning their final five games in RFK, finishing the season 8-8. RFK was buzzing as fans excitedly anticipated 1982.
From 1982 I’ll always recall Joe Theismann going deep to Charley Brown in the 13-9 win over the Eagles. I was present at RFK when Joe Theismann executed a great block, allowing Joe Washington to score. RFK went crazy on that play! Moseley kicked the game-winner in the snow in the 15-14 win over the Giants.
The ’82 playoffs at RFK were magical. Art Monk was injured, but Alvin Garrett was awesome, hauling in three Joe Theismann touchdown passes in the 31-7 victory over the Lions.
The next week, John Riggins rushed for 185 yards and bowed to the RFK crowd; Washington defeated the Vikings 21-7, and late, fans started chanting, “We want Dallas.”
The ’83 season saw Washington down 35-20, comeback to beat the Raiders 37-35 when Theismann found Washington in the end zone. The season finale at RFK was ugly when fans booed the Redskins, trailing the Giants 19-7. But the team recovered to win 31-22.
The Rams came to town for the playoffs and were crushed 51-7, and the 49ers were down 21-0. Washington held on to win 24-21 earning a trip to Super Bowl XVIII.
In 1984 at RFK, Washington crushed Dallas 34-14; Art Monk broke the single-season reception record (106) in one of the most exciting season finales, I recall, a 29-27 win over the Cardinals.
Joe Theismann on a 1985 Monday Night Football game brought RFK to a stilled silence when he suffered a career-ending compound fracture of the lower leg. Jay Schroeder’s first pass was a bomb to Art Monk as Washington came from behind to defeat the Giants 23-21.
The most exciting 1986 win at RFK came when Washington trailed the Vikings 38-26, rallied to tie at 38-38, and then Gary Clark caught a short pass and ran down the left sideline for a thrilling 44-38 win. The most anticipated RFK game was the Giants game with both teams at 11-2, but the Giants won 24-14 and went on to win Super Bowl XXI.
In the 1987 NFC Championship game, Doug Williams had his worst day as a Washington quarterback. But Williams did find Gary Clark in the end zone for a 17-10 lead. The Redskins defensive stand inside the ten to end the game was epic as Joe Gibbs, knees on a towel, actually turned pale, later saying he thought he was going to pass out.
In 1988, Washington trailed Pittsburgh 29-20 late, but then Williams rallied the team with two scores for a 30-29 win as Williams passed for 430 yards. Later in the season, the Saints led at RFK 24-17, but Williams again led and Washington won 27-24.
What I have always remembered about RFK games in 1989 is the heart-breaking losses in the season’s first two games. Raul Allegre kicked a 52-yard field goal as the Giants won 27-24. The next week Washington led the Eagles 20-0. Gerald Riggs rushed for 221 yards, yet the Eagles rallied for a 42-37 win.
