Tag: Ken Zampese QB Coach

Commanders, Rivera, new offensive coordinator NEED to win next year

Ron Rivera needs to hire the offensive coordinator who can help him win — not necessarily who he is most comfortable with.

Ron Rivera and the Commanders are searching for their next offensive coordinator, and one name has yet to generate much discussion.

The reason might be play-calling experience. Or it might be something as simple as why would an offensive coordinator leave Patrick Mahomes for another OC job.

Calling the plays in the NFL? Don’t all offensive coordinators do this today? Not if the head coach wants to be calling the plays. Eric Bienemy has been in Kansas City now for ten years. For the first five, he coached running backs, and for the last five, he has been the offensive coordinator, but it remains Reid who calls the plays.

Apparently, the play calling of OC Scott Turner was upsetting enough to Coach Ron that Turner was sent packing after his three years under Rivera.

Play-calling is the most criticized aspect of NFL coaching.
Every fan knows the coordinator should not have called that play that didn’t work well. Actually, what most of us confuse is play-calling with execution.

The Commanders run it up the middle on 4th & 1, “Everyone knew they were going to run it up the middle! They should have out-smarted the defense and pitched it wide!”

Yet, when Washington pitched wide on a 4th & 1 early against Cleveland, “What are you doing, pitching wide when you need only one yard!? You should have sent Brian Robinson up the middle to pick up the one yard!”

Of course, those fans were completely forgetting that the interior line had trouble getting a surge in the previous game in San Francisco, missing on three plays needing a single yard.

Pat Shurmur?
Ken Zampese?
Charles London?
Eric Studesville?
Thomas Brown?
Greg Roman?

Who knows?

I certainly don’t.

One thing we do know. Coach Ron has won 7, 7 and 8 games in his three seasons in Washington. He is well aware he NEEDS to win next year.

Consequently, won’t Rivera thus hire whom he feels will best help him get over the hump and into the playoffs in 2023?

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How did Commanders quarterbacks rank in the 2022 NFL season?

Assessing all the key stats from Washington’s quarterbacks in 2022.

Who should be the starting Commanders quarterback in 2023?

That question is asked because the quarterback play for Washington during the 2022 season left much to be desired. As a result, Carson Wentz will certainly be released soon, Taylor Heinicke may or may not be re-signed and Sam Howell could be the only one of the three to remain with Washington for 2023.

Keep in mind Sam Howell only took actual snaps in the season finale against Dallas. While it is true Washington scored 26 points that day, Howell only attempted 19 passes, completed only 57.9 percent of his attempts, graded out at 83.0 passer rating and a 46.5 QBR. So, nothing stellar, but it is such a small sample size, not too much either way should be made of the performance. However, it could be accurately said that Howell displayed more ability on his feet than Wentz and Heinicke.

Heinicke started nine games, and Wentz the other seven. Between the two of them, they both had good moments but also struggled more than a few times.

Here are a few numbers exhibiting that the passing offense, regardless if Wentz or Heinicke were in the lineup, struggled in contrast with most of the rest of the league.

Completion percentage: 23rd (62.1)

Passing Yards: 21st (3,472)

Passing Touchdowns: 17th (24)

Passing Touchdown percentage: 15th (4.3)

Interceptions Thrown: 27th (16)

Interceptions percentage: 28th (2.9)

Yards gained per passing attempt: 22nd (6.8)

Adjusted yards gained per passing attempt: 23rd (6.4)

Yards per passing completion: 17th (11.0)

Passing Yards gained per game: 21st (204.2)

Passer Rating: 22nd (84.7)

Expected Points contributed by passing 23rd (0.93)

Times sacked: 26th (48).

Game Winning Drives: 14th (3)

4Q Comebacks: 8th (4)

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Commanders QB coach Zampese excited about Carson Wentz

Ken Zampese thinks we’ll see a different Carson Wentz this time around.

Not being the starter, but being asked to enter and play quarterback in the fourth quarter of an NFL game is not exactly an easy assignment.

For one thing, the starter took the majority of reps all week, and when you enter in the final quarter trailing 30-14 like Carson Wentz did last week against the 49ers, everyone in the stadium knows you are passing, so, there is not much mystery for the defense.

But Commanders QB coach Ken Zampese was pleased with Wentz’s appearance. “He looked quick on his feet. He looked like he had fresh legs and processed fast so that was encouraging.”

Zampese also liked that when Wentz planted his plant foot, he did not linger back there as a sitting target looking downfield.
“The ball came out. As we were going through earlier in the season, sometimes things got a little stuttered. This time, the ball came out faster, and that was encouraging.”

Wentz, in his first year with the Commanders, was learning the offense when against the Bears in Week 6, he suffered a broken ring finger on his passing hand, while also playing with a limited bicep and ankle.

Zampese firmly believes that Wentz was learning the offense while injured and thus prepared himself mentally for when his name would be called.
“(He) gets a chance to learn as he watches other guys and goes back in his mind, ‘Hey, we did this in the spring; this is what it looks like live.’ Just gets more mental reps at the same thing over and over again, so you come to a greater comfort level when you get a chance to come back and do it yourself.”

“I saw that when it all caved in he was able to get the ball flipped out to the back one time and then the ball came flying out of there a couple of times and we were like ‘yes, it is going where it is supposed to go, and it is going on time.’ Those things get you excited.”