Tag: Sam Howell QB1

Commanders’ Jacoby Brissett pleased with Friday night’s preseason debut

Jacoby Brissett pleased with Washington’s preseason opener, but realizes there is plenty of work to be done.

Jacoby Brissett was surprised Friday night in Cleveland.

He was not only observing quarterback Sam Howell but also his teammate from last season, Deshaun Watson. Following the game, Brissett was asked about what he noticed about Watson from last season.

“We obviously talk football a lot,” Brissett said. “I obviously talk to a lot of guys on the team as well, and they’re excited about how he looks compared to last year.”

“Coming out here watching him, I thought he looked really good compared to last preseason. … He looked very smooth, no hiccups and stuff like that, so I thought he did a good job.”

Washington led Cleveland 7-2 with 10:02 remaining in the first half when Brissett relieved the starter, Howell. The Browns fans cheered loudly for Brissett, welcoming him back to Cleveland where last season he started the 11 games when Watson was suspended. There was even a “welcome back” message displayed on the scoreboards.

“That was awesome,” he said. “Did not expect that. I really enjoyed my time here. A lot of the people, the players, the coaches, and the staff there, I have a lot of respect and love for that organization.”

For his time in Friday’s contest, Brissett completed 6 of his 10 passing attempts for 75 yards (7.5 yards per attempt). He did throw one interception and was sacked once, which brought his passer rating down to 43.8.

Brissett led a nice 8-play 89-yard drive in the second quarter, which concluded on a 2&10 when Brissett dropped back to pass, looked to his right and saw no defenders, so he easily jogged untouched for the 12-yard touchdown run, extending Washington’s lead to 14-2.

“I felt like we did a lot of good things, but obviously, there are a lot of things to clean up. I am sure we are going to do that when we get back.”

Last year Brissett was to fill in until Watson’s return. This season he is expected to prepare and be ready if and when called upon to spell Sam Howell. What will Brissett be doing in approach to this season?

“Just being the person that I am, day in and day out. No matter the circumstances, doing the things that got me to where I am today. Holding true to what I believe is the right thing to do. Going out there and putting my best foot forward.”

2023 Commanders given little respect by ESPN Power Index

Therefore, the Commanders select in the top 10 of a new 2024 mock draft.

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ESPN draft analyst Jordan Reid has worked on a project for the next NFL draft that has the Commanders picking earlier than they have selected in the last three NFL drafts.

The Commanders had finished 3-13 in 2019 and were thus selecting second in the NFL draft and chose Ohio State defensive end Chase Young. Since that draft, Washington has chosen 19th in 2021, taking Jamin Davis, 16th in 2022, selecting Jahan Dotson, and 16th in 2023, choosing Emmanuel Forbes.

Reid has done his film work in determining whom he feels will be first-round draft choices in next year’s 2024 NFL Draft. Reid, however, did “not” predict the order of the NFL teams selecting in the next draft. Reid relied upon ESPN’s Football Power Index.  

It is this Index that is predicting the Commanders to struggle in 2023, resulting in their being in the position to draft eighth in the first round. Looking at last year’s draft, one can see the Falcons were in the eighth position based on their record of 7-10 in 2022.

Back to Reid, whom does he see the Commanders drafting in 2024 with the eighth overall selection in the draft? Here is Reid’s prediction with the brief description he provided.

Quinn Ewers, QB, Texas

A lot of this hinges on the development of Sam Howell. But if Washington is picking inside the top 10 next year, it means the team fell well below expectations and will likely be searching for a long-term answer under center.

Ewers came to Texas with plenty of hype and looked the part before hurting his shoulder against Alabama in Week 2. He shows a smooth, effortless arm as a passer, but I’d like to see more urgency in the mental and physical parts of the game. Under the tutelage of coach Steve Sarkisian — who developed Tua Tagovailoa and Mac Jones — Ewers could be in store for a big season.

Washington has not had a winning record since the 2015 and 2016 seasons when the then Redskins finished 9-7 and 8-7-1, respectively. 2019 was the most recent draft where Washington selected a quarterback in the first round. That was when owner Daniel Snyder insisted that Ohio State quarterback Dwayne Haskins be the selection.

Eagles writer gives 10 reasons why the Commanders will be a dumpster fire this season

Reason No. 10 is an interesting observation.

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Grant and Danny from 106.7 The Fan discussed the series being written by Jimmy Kempski of the Philly Voice.

Kempski is writing about how each of the NFC East teams could be a dumpster fire in 2023. Here is the story by Kempski supplying his ten reasons.

Here is the audio of the Grant and Danny segment if you would like to hear their response to Kempski’s 10 reasons the Commanders will have a horrible season.

Finally, if you would rather simply read the very basic skeleton, without the commentary attempting to explain and support the reasoning behind the ten reasons the Commanders will have a horrible dumpster fire season, I will simply now supply Kempski’s ten reasons alone.

  1. The head coach is a lame duck
  2.  They never have a good quarterback
  3. Chase Young is nearing bust status
  4. The offensive line has three concerning spots among the starting five
  5. They always have a lot of injuries
  6. The Commanders are facing regression on 3rd down defense
  7. They’ll probably have two starting rookie corners
  8. The tight ends
  9. Why the hell did Eric Bieniemy choose to become this team’s offensive coordinator?
  10. Dan Snyder is gone, but the new guy isn’t good

Personally, I think it will not do you any harm to go ahead and read/listen to the links I provided above. Though someone is a divisional rival, yes, they may say biased foolish things. Yet, they may also say something that you would not think of on your own because of our own bias for our home team.

Kempski does, in my view, overstate reality in a few instances. I also flat-out disagree with him on a couple of his reasons. Yet, I think you will find he also made perfect sense of some valid concerns Washington fans should contemplate.