Biggest Surprise so far in 2024?

[Boone]

None of us knew what to expect from Washington in 2024 - how could we? Rookie QB, 60+% roster turnover, almost a completely new coaching staff and front office.

This season was, by definition, unpredictable.

What've been the biggest surprises to YOU so far in 2024?

 

[Chris]

Jayden Daniels. I thought he would be good. I had no idea that he would be so soon.

 

[DazedSkinsFan]

I knew Luvu was going to be a helpful upgrade to the roster, but this dude has been a absolute beast this year. Best off-season addition by a mile!!

 

[Boone]

Some may argue this one, but for me, the biggest shocker is how well our defensive backfield is playing. Of course, the team did spend pick #50 (2nd round) on Mike Sainristil, and that's looking like a great addition. But they did not blow up what has been a woeful secondary. And that group looked particularly worrisome early on in 2024. But here we are in Week 13 and this group is ranked 4th in passing yards. They fare far worse when it comes to scoring, ranked 22nd in passing TDs given up, and 28th in INTs. Still, their performance vs. the passing game far surpasses what our rushing D has been able to muster. Whether it's Joe Whitt Jr.'s influence, DBs Coach Tommy Donatell, or someone else who deserves the credit, the secondary is playing much more effectively than I ever imagined they would. That's one of my biggest surprises this season.

 

[formerly4skins]

Some may argue this one, but for me, the biggest shocker is how well our defensive backfield is playing.

To piggyback on the play of the defensive backfield...

I was fairly certain that this staff was going squeeze something out of Forbes....like, at least a draft pick if they couldn't get him on track on the field.

Now, I had no delusions of him developing into the CB1 he was drafted to be, but I did think this DB-friendly coaching staff would find some way to work him to his strengths as a ballhawk.

Couldn't have been more wrong 😆

 

[Boone]

I guess the silver lining is, if THIS staff can't get something out of him, it's highly likely no one can. I think the Forbes experiment ends this offseason.

 

[Commander Wraith]

Personnel-wise: Daniels and Luvu, followed by Sainristil and Fowler (and honorable mention to Chinn).

That we would be this competitive, particularly with an all new staff, rookie qb, and massive roster turnover.

The impact of ownership, Peters and Quinn. I knew things would improve obviously, but the change in facilities, upgrades at the stadium, the change in culture/accountability, etc… it’s been pretty amazing. Guys want to play here, and that alone says so much.

 

[burgold]

I'll take a different route. The biggest surprise has been seeing Redskins and Commanders caps, jerseys, and what not on the streets. It's been amazing being able to smile at a fellow fan and feel that instant kinship again. For so many years, it's been so rare to see anyone sporting our colors whether because the team was such a bad team on the field, whether it was the shame of any of the Daniel Snyder scandals, or whether it was misbegotten ick associated with the name gotten from the grumpitudinous masses.

Frankly, seeing burgundy and gold flood the shopping malls is even a bigger surprise than us winning games. It's a fine surprise, too.

 

[Neophyte]

My guess is Chris hit the #1 answer for this question with the thread's very first response. Never has a rookie QB looked like Daniels has looked this year so there just wasn't any way to predict it.

So with the obvious one stated already, I thought I'd go with my second biggest surprise - the Offensive Line.

Damn.

Granted, it helps them a lot to have a real athlete under center (although Sam was pretty athletic too), but this was a position group that was concerning before the season started, especially at the Tackle position. Add to that my concerns over Quinn's hire for Offensive Line Coach and I thought Daniels might have a rough introduction to the NFL because of the 5 guys playing in front of him.

While I think we all know it can be better, color me surprised and thrilled to be so wrong this year.

 

[redskins1963]

jd and i thought this year,s team would be controlled kaos at best.

 

[Riggotoni]

I am surprised how much better the defense is than I thought it would be. Same goes for the OL, though that has begun to rapidly degrade.

 

[Chris]

I guess the silver lining is, if THIS staff can't get something out of him, it's highly likely no one can. I think the Forbes experiment ends this offseason.

The Forbes experiment didn’t make it to the offseason.

 

[burgold]

The Forbes experiment didn’t make it to the offseason.

Definitely a contender. I'll admit I was surprised when I saw the news.

 

[Boone]

The Forbes experiment didn’t make it to the offseason.

I’m not gonna lie, sometimes my premonitions freak me the eff out

 

[Canadian Hog]

I'm surprised nobody has said it given this franchise's track record of inconsistency in what seems like forever - the kicking position.

Forget the Cowboys game. Outside of that, Austin Seibert has been money all season long.

He provided stability and reliability to one of our biggest worries heading into the season opener.

When you have a kicker that you can trot out there and have full confidence in, it really sets you up well for success and makes a real difference in ball games.

 

[RedWolf]

Why did we cut Gano? 37 and still stable

 

[Boone]

NFL kickers, at least for all but the elite few, seem to have a predictable trajectory. Success.... followed by a cold streak where they miss a bunch of critical kicks, followed by replacement whereupon they are signed by another NFL team that sent their kicker packing for missing a bunch of critical kicks, followed by success.



That just seems to be how it goes for most of them. Pack lightly NFL kickers. You may be required to move on short notice.

 

[burgold]

Why did we cut Gano? 37 and still stable

Bunch of blocked kicks as I recall. Gano had a really slow wind up as a rookie. Instead of coaching him up we cut him. The weird part was that I think he was a pretty high draft pick for us. Can't really remember though.

We seem to have cut a bunch of kickers who wound up being really good. Ironically, I think I was frustrated and okay with cuttng most of them at the time of the cut.

 

[Voice_of_Reason]

Bunch of blocked kicks as I recall. Gano had a really slow wind up as a rookie. Instead of coaching him up we cut him. The weird part was that I think he was a pretty high draft pick for us. Can't really remember though.

We seem to have cut a bunch of kickers who wound up being really good. Ironically, I think I was frustrated and okay with cuttng most of them at the time of the cut.

Didn’t Gano get cut and then go to Pittsburgh with Danny Smith, who was his coach here, and then turned into a good player?

Or am I thinking about somebody else. Might have been Suisham, actually.

 

[Renegade7]

Being so good we get called frauds for losing less then we thought we would....shit, in every vantage point this team is overachieving...

But they build you up for clicks so they can tear you down for clicks, too...