David Blough named Offensive Coordinator

[Chris]

For my eyes I don’t think the team ran hurry up very much at all. No huddle? Yes. Hurry up requires keeping the same personnel on the field to truly gain the advantage over defenses because they are not given the time to match.

 

[Chris]

I think if Kliff needs a bridge QB to whereever he goes, Mariota is gone. But according to Keim in an interview he said Mariota digs it in Washington beyond just Kliff. So who knows?

Mariota has a nice gig here. I’d be surprised if he sees greener pastures elsewhere, unless he is offered a starting job.

 

[skinsinparadise]

Keim

Inside Washington's quiet collapse in 2025 and the decisions defining its offseason

Parting ways with Kliff Kingsbury was a bold move that raised the stakes for Dan Quinn & Co. this offseason.

www.espn.com

But there are no banners hung for good culture. And though the vibes among the players stayed high throughout, everything else seemed to go wrong in a failed 5-12 season. Offseason contract negotiations with McLaurin dragged on longer than expected. Injuries to key players -- including three affecting quarterback Jayden Daniels -- were too numerous and severe to overcome. And poor and inconsistent play on the field, and a clash of offensive philosophies off it, set the stage for a housecleaning two days into the offseason. Washington coach Dan Quinn parted ways with both of his coordinators (OC Kliff Kingsbury and DC Joe Whitt) and another assistant -- coaches he had hired just two years prior.

Now, nearly 12 months after a magical 12-5 season led to grand expectations and optimism entering the fall, the events of 2025 have forced the organization into deep introspection ahead of what has become a higher-stakes offseason than Washington could have anticipated. The franchise must now fill two coordinator positions (it filled one of those on Friday) and restock an old roster with younger, faster talent. It also must more seamlessly negotiate a new deal with another key offensive player. And, finally, it must find a way to keep the team healthier in 2026 than it was in 2025.

"Hard decisions have to be made," Quinn said, "but if I can tell you how many lessons there are to gain [from this season]? Man, it's a crazy amount."

...The mutual parting with Kingsbury surprised many, however. Multiple people around the team and in the league said they struggled to understand the move given the success of Washington's offense in 2024, when it ranked fifth in points and seventh in yards en route to a surprise NFC title game appearance. The Commanders were 22nd in both areas this season, a decline owed largely to injuries to key contributors, especially Daniels.

But the move highlighted a philosophical rift regarding the unit. Quinn and Kingsbury didn't share the same offensive vision for the future, according to multiple team and league sources. According to multiple team sources, Quinn wanted a different offensive identity and spoke often with his staff of wanting a better run-pass balance.

If any philosophical issues existed last season, they were masked by winning. One team source said this season unmasked the divide. Washington ran the ball more down the stretch and finished the season ranked ninth in number of rushes, but it was 25th in carries by its backs. The Commanders were fifth and 19th, respectively, last season.

The speed with which Quinn moved on Kingsbury was noteworthy to some. The feeling among multiple team and league sources is that if Quinn doesn't succeed in Washington, he will likely not get a third chance as a head coach. So, waiting until it's too late to make a move was not an option. Quinn has said as much himself: When he was Atlanta's head coach, he once said he felt he didn't make some moves soon enough. He didn't want to wait in Washington.

Numerous players liked Kingsbury and his offense, including Daniels, who previously said he had developed a special relationship with his former OC. Daniels also is close with assistant quarterbacks coach David Blough, who they hired on Friday to replace Kingsbury. Backup QB Marcus Mariota, who was brought in last season to mentor Daniels, could also leave the team.

The potential rash of departures -- including the loss of quarterbacks coach Tavita Pritchard, who left the team in November to become Stanford's head coach -- could effectively remove much of the infrastructure Washington's franchise QB has enjoyed in his first two seasons. One person who knows Daniels well told ESPN he has been groomed to handle adverse situations.

"He can play for anyone," the person said.

People who know the situation, and know Quinn well, said the risk would be in keeping the staff intact when Quinn and Kingsbury did not share the same vision. One team source said the goal is for the staff to be completely aligned -- something several others said was not the case this season. Leaning on that Atlanta experience, several people familiar with the situation said Quinn's quick decision was made to avoid an even deeper schism in 2026.

..."You need to do what's best for your organization. If you feel you need to change and then don't? A year from now everyone's fired," said a source close to the situation.

They've built a strong offensive line, with only one current starter -- left guard Chris Paul -- a potential free agent. They have Daniels. They have McLaurin. They could use other contributors on offense, but they have a foundation. On defense, they have questions. One offensive assistant, whose team faced Washington in the second half of the season, said the only two players who truly caused concern were tackles Daron Payne and Javon Kinlaw.

The Commanders are encouraged by second-year linebacker Jordan Magee's growth and like how rookie corner Trey Amos played before breaking his leg in Week 10. But they have only two defensive linemen under 25 years old: Jer'Zhan Newton, a second-round pick in 2024; and Drake Jackson, a second-round pick in 2022 by San Francisco who saw limited time in 2025.

"There's a lot of spots we can look at," Peters said. "Certainly another pass rusher would be something we'd definitely be looking for. Whether that's the draft or free agency, I think we have a lot of good options in both of those areas."

 

[KDawg]

There is kind of a gray area with Jayden Daniels and a Ben Johnson-esque style offense (which I think will be what we go with for the most part).

Ben Johnson has had Jared Goff and Caleb Williams as his quarterbacks.

2022:
Goff: 587 att passing, 29 rushing (20.24 pass:run ratio)

2023:
Goff: 605 att passing, 32 rushing (18.9 pass: run ratio)

2024:
Goff: 539 att passing, 35 rushing (15.4 pass:run)

2025:
Williams: 568 att passing, 77 rushing (7.37 pass:run)

Jayden Daniels college + NFL:
2019: 338 pass att, 125 rush (2.70 pass:run)
2020: Injured
2021: 301 pass att, 138 rush (2.18 p:r)
2022: 388 pass att, 186 rush (2.08 p:r)
2023: 327 pass att, 135 rush (2.42 p:r)
2024: 485 pass att, 148 rush (3.27 p:r)
2025: 188 pass att, 58 rush (3.24 p:r)

Here are some things that stand out here:

1) Jayden Daniels has been reliant on his legs his entire career. That doesn't mean he can't pass and he is only a runner as a QB. He has great passing skills. But it's somethings he has used his entire career. I agree that we need to cut back on that. He has over 800 career carries. His body is already paying the cost for that...

• Interesting aside... Jerimyah Love in his three years at ND rush att: 71, 163, 199. Jayden ran the ball more when he was in college than Love did in college.

2) Ben Johnson (I know Blough isn't Johnson... this is just talking about style) has never had a NFL passer throw less than 539 attempts in a single season. Jayden Daniels has never surpassed 485. This means we increase throwing attempts by nearly 60 a year... which obviously likely isnt sustainable given the pass:run ratio for Jayden's career and his total throws per year and his body structure.

3) We will need to utilize some sort of hybrid scheme between KK/Ben Johnson. Maybe Quinn loved that idea. He hired Kliff because he liked his style, AP wanted Johnson based on his style. Marrying the two, on paper, sounds great.

4) Ben Johnson with the Bears has a 48%/52% under center: Gun relationship. KK in two years: 1,864 shotgun plays, 227 under center plays (9% plays under center). I'd expect this to be closer to a 33/66 split with this team and Jayden Daniels

5) The key to Ben Johnson's offense is having a powerful running game that doesn't need the QB as a run threat to open itself up. The QB can act as a bonus (see Caleb Williams) but not necessary.

• In Detroit, Ben had Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery.
• In Chicago: Swift had 1,087 yards and Monangai had 783 yards

6) That tells me that the running game will need to be a focus if we want to start changing Daniels into more of a pocket passer. We need his p:r ratio to get closer to 4/5:1 next season at minimum. To do that, we need a strong running game. To that end, it becomes incredibly obvious we need a stud running back. Where/who that is can be debated later. But to transition to a Ben Johnson style offense, and transition Jayden out of his career use of his legs, we need to add a high end back that can be a bellcow at minimum to our current stable to make this work. If we don't target a high end back, we are playing Russian Roulette.

I imagine Blough being here allows us to transition to this style a bit better than if he were coming in from elsewhere. So that is a positive. I also love this on paper. But it needs to be executed. And Blough's biggest challenge may not be his inexperience... but what Washington is willing to/decides to do with our personnel. That is the key. We need a strong running game.

Blough can definitely help in that transition. But it's not going to be easy to shake Jayden of his career usage, get him under center (which he has not done and likely is very uncomfortable doing - it's harder than you think from the couch) and get the personnel needed.

But if it works... Blough could be amazing. He just doesn't have a ton of chips on his side right now. But that can change.

 

[KDawg]

For my eyes I don’t think the team ran hurry up very much at all No huddle? Yes. Hurry up requires keeping the same personnel on the field to truly gain the advantage over defenses because they are not given the time to match.

Yes.

Many here don't understand the difference between no huddle and hurry up offense.

 

[SkinsNumberOne]

I want to talk about another factor that has barely been raised.

I think Jayden Daniels was really pissed that they let Kingsbury go. He was trying to avert it with public praise for Kliff just 24 hours prior, even Mom chiming in. He wasn't happy. This franchise (not regime, but franchise) has a long history of it's best players not wanting to re-up for a 2nd contract in DC.

Daniels may be a 'team guy' and 5x the professional than RG3 was, but I think there is still the concern that if his rookie tenure in Washington becomes a clown show/disaster like it sort of looked like in 2025, that he would look for greener pastures. I absolutely could see that happening. The kid wants to be a HOFer and he's not going to risk derailing those kinds of aspirations by hitching his wagon to a franchise that can't figure out how to put together a consistently winning organization.

Setting aside all of the 'pro-Blough' arguments folks are making, this may have been a choice largely designed to make Jayden Daniels happy. Making Jayden Daniels happy is a big, big deal.

Yeah, personally I think it is a mistake to go too far in that direction, and I hope they didn’t but my trust in DQ’s organizational structuring is very low right now.

To your earlier point, I thought of that too, Blough will likely “listen” more (and there is a very different power dynamic with him). We know DQ is getting at least some of what he wanted if we agree on that. I think it is really logical to say these checks are hit uniquely with Blough:
- organizational consistency (mot definitely schematic but verbiage and some scheme will likely stay) : only Kliff and Blough feature this as options
- already gets along with Jayden and others: only Kliff and Blough feature this
- will collaborate with DQ (but what level? Does he listen and discuss? Does he bend too much? If he doesn’t have the right sense of his own voice, this could be a big problem): Kliff did not have this, maybe other options would, but Blough had this I am sure because this is why Kliff was let go

While I am soured on DQ hiring practices and vision, I am not sour on his collaboration in general. Since Blough is sooo green though? It could be an issue but this is one place that I think DQ could be ok (though not sure). I guess we will find out.

Btw, I have to say: I am pretty concerned with Jayden’s comment on wanting to be “comfortable” with the offense. To me it sounds surprisingly lazy. I have always heard that amazing innovation and advancement comes from striving to be “comfortable with discomfort.” I don’t mind JD saying it, but following that with this rushed Blough hiring- to me it is again DQ and his poor concepts of organizational planning.

It could all work out still, but it doesn’t mean the road taken was always right.

 

[skinsinparadise]

6) That tells me that the running game will need to be a focus if we want to start changing Daniels into more of a pocket passer. We need his p:r ratio to get closer to 4/5:1 next season at minimum. To do that, we need a strong running game. To that end, it becomes incredibly obvious we need a stud running back. Where/who that is can be debated later. But to transition to a Ben Johnson style offense, and transition Jayden out of his career use of his legs, we need to add a high end back that can be a bellcow at minimum to our current stable to make this work. If we don't target a high end back, we are playing Russian Roulette.

I imagine Blough being here allows us to transition to this style a bit better than if he were coming in from elsewhere. So that is a positive. I also love this on paper. But it needs to be executed. And Blough's biggest challenge may not be his inexperience... but what Washington is willing to/decides to do with our personnel. That is the key. We need a strong running game.

Blough can definitely help in that transition. But it's not going to be easy to shake Jayden of his career usage, get him under center (which he has not done and likely is very uncomfortable doing - it's harder than you think from the couch) and get the personnel needed.

But if it works... Blough could be amazing. He just doesn't have a ton of chips on his side right now. But that can change.

Good stuff. Yeah whether it was McDaniel or Blough (if he's a Ben Johnson style coordinator) a big time running back is in order.

Also Ben Johnson has had some stud TEs -- Laporta, and they drafted Loveland in the first with Chicago.

If you are going more control especially, a QB's best friend is a good TE.

 

[SkinsNumberOne]

There is kind of a gray area with Jayden Daniels and a Ben Johnson-esque style offense (which I think will be what we go with for the most part).

Ben Johnson has had Jared Goff and Caleb Williams as his quarterbacks.

2022:
Goff: 587 att passing, 29 rushing (20.24 pass:run ratio)

2023:
Goff: 605 att passing, 32 rushing (18.9 pass: run ratio)

2024:
Goff: 539 att passing, 35 rushing (15.4 pass:run)

2025:
Williams: 568 att passing, 77 rushing (7.37 pass:run)

Jayden Daniels college + NFL:
2019: 338 pass att, 125 rush (2.70 pass:run)
2020: Injured
2021: 301 pass att, 138 rush (2.18 p:r)
2022: 388 pass att, 186 rush (2.08 p:r)
2023: 327 pass att, 135 rush (2.42 p:r)
2024: 485 pass att, 148 rush (3.27 p:r)
2025: 188 pass att, 58 rush (3.24 p:r)

Here are some things that stand out here:

1) Jayden Daniels has been reliant on his legs his entire career. That doesn't mean he can't pass and he is only a runner as a QB. He has great passing skills. But it's somethings he has used his entire career. I agree that we need to cut back on that. He has over 800 career carries. His body is already paying the cost for that...

• Interesting aside... Jerimyah Love in his three years at ND rush att: 71, 163, 199. Jayden ran the ball more when he was in college than Love did in college.

2) Ben Johnson (I know Blough isn't Johnson... this is just talking about style) has never had a NFL passer throw less than 539 attempts in a single season. Jayden Daniels has never surpassed 485. This means we increase throwing attempts by nearly 60 a year... which obviously likely isnt sustainable given the pass:run ratio for Jayden's career and his total throws per year and his body structure.

3) We will need to utilize some sort of hybrid scheme between KK/Ben Johnson. Maybe Quinn loved that idea. He hired Kliff because he liked his style, AP wanted Johnson based on his style. Marrying the two, on paper, sounds great.

4) Ben Johnson with the Bears has a 48%/52% under center: Gun relationship. KK in two years: 1,864 shotgun plays, 227 under center plays (9% plays under center). I'd expect this to be closer to a 33/66 split with this team and Jayden Daniels

5) The key to Ben Johnson's offense is having a powerful running game that doesn't need the QB as a run threat to open itself up. The QB can act as a bonus (see Caleb Williams) but not necessary.

• In Detroit, Ben had Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery.
• In Chicago: Swift had 1,087 yards and Monangai had 783 yards

6) That tells me that the running game will need to be a focus if we want to start changing Daniels into more of a pocket passer. We need his p:r ratio to get closer to 4/5:1 next season at minimum. To do that, we need a strong running game. To that end, it becomes incredibly obvious we need a stud running back. Where/who that is can be debated later. But to transition to a Ben Johnson style offense, and transition Jayden out of his career use of his legs, we need to add a high end back that can be a bellcow at minimum to our current stable to make this work. If we don't target a high end back, we are playing Russian Roulette.

I imagine Blough being here allows us to transition to this style a bit better than if he were coming in from elsewhere. So that is a positive. I also love this on paper. But it needs to be executed. And Blough's biggest challenge may not be his inexperience... but what Washington is willing to/decides to do with our personnel. That is the key. We need a strong running game.

Blough can definitely help in that transition. But it's not going to be easy to shake Jayden of his career usage, get him under center (which he has not done and likely is very uncomfortable doing - it's harder than you think from the couch) and get the personnel needed.

But if it works... Blough could be amazing. He just doesn't have a ton of chips on his side right now. But that can change.

I would love for all of that to come true.

I think #4 may be where Jayden himself resists which would be very unfortunate if it comes to pass. Kliff made comments about JD preferring shotgun which I believed but wondered how adamant he was. His recent concerns on his comfort level in scheme do paint him as someone hesitant to do differently things. Hope he will adapt, what you describe would be close to ideal. Ben Johnson has Caleb Williams in the playoffs for a reason.

 

[KDawg]

Good stuff. Yeah whether it was McDaniel or Blough (if he's a Ben Johnson style coordinator) a big time running back is in order.

Also Ben Johnson has had some stud TEs -- Laporta, and they drafted Loveland in the first with Chicago.

If you are going more control especially, a QB's best friend is a good TE.

Yes. I think Blough shifts our personnel strategy (well, hopefully). I know it has shifted mine a bit - not in what we need, necessarily, but what kind of player/priority of positions.

We need a DC to really be able to sort it all out.

But if this team wants to be good we need some minimum pieces on offense (I'll keep it about offense since this is the Blough thread): Stud running back, solid tight end (Can it be Sinnott? Maybe. I think Johnson style would utilize Sinnott MUCH better than KK did... but that is a major gamble) and we need a possession receiver outside of TE. Terry can stretch the field still, and Jaylin Lane may be able to help in that department as well. But we need RB, TE and Possession receiver, imo.

 

[CuredFromBatteredFanSyndrome]

100%. But the bottom line is that just because the Ben Johnson hire ended up being pure genius doesn't mean the Blough hire will be. It is a huge gamble.

No argument from me on that. But in all honesty, I prefer this route over anyone not named Mike McDaniel. I’d rather him be unconventional and wrong than status quo and mid.

 

[heisenberg]

Listened to John Kiem's update. He sure made it sound like Blough to Detroit was a done deal if Washington didn't move. He also said that Detroit wasn't the only team wanting to talk to Blough.

It's a copycat league and everybody wants the bright young offensive minds.
It kind of sucks that we will likely only get one year with him, if he's terrible he'll be gone with quinn and if he's really good somebody will likely make him a head coach next year before anybody else does.

A good problem to have if you have a top offense but my primary reason for wanting the big name guy who's already had his chances as a head coach was for continuity, like what the eagles have right now with fangio but there aren't too many options out there like that for offense.
Really stinks we didn't get Ben johnson two years ago, would have solved all these problems.

 

[skinsinparadise]

high tempo offenses often correlate with no huddle because part of the charm of no huddle is you can of course move faster, you save 10-15 seconds, etc but avoiding the huddle. Kliff is known for running high tempo,

Whether he did less of it this year, I don't know. But per usual he ran a lot of no huddle.

 

[skinsinparadise]

Yes. I think Blough shifts our personnel strategy (well, hopefully). I know it has shifted mine a bit - not in what we need, necessarily, but what kind of player/priority of positions.

We need a DC to really be able to sort it all out.

But if this team wants to be good we need some minimum pieces on offense (I'll keep it about offense since this is the Blough thread): Stud running back, solid tight end (Can it be Sinnott? Maybe. I think Johnson style would utilize Sinnott MUCH better than KK did... but that is a major gamble) and we need a possession receiver outside of TE. Terry can stretch the field still, and Jaylin Lane may be able to help in that department as well. But we need RB, TE and Possession receiver, imo.

Am pretty much the same place. I'd want the possesion WR to be the slot guy everything being equal. I would like a Z ideally who can stretch the field.

They missed last year Zaccheus and Crowder in the slot. Neither were killer but they were reliable.

 

[DWinzit]

Yes. I think Blough shifts our personnel strategy (well, hopefully). I know it has shifted mine a bit - not in what we need, necessarily, but what kind of player/priority of positions.

We need a DC to really be able to sort it all out.

But if this team wants to be good we need some minimum pieces on offense (I'll keep it about offense since this is the Blough thread): Stud running back, solid tight end (Can it be Sinnott? Maybe. I think Johnson style would utilize Sinnott MUCH better than KK did... but that is a major gamble) and we need a possession receiver outside of TE. Terry can stretch the field still, and Jaylin Lane may be able to help in that department as well. But we need RB, TE and Possession receiver, imo.

There are a number of good possession WR's in FA and the draft.

Need to focus TE in FA, there are a few. It will be live or die for Sinnott as a receiver

If we need a stud RB we can'tt rely on Love being available at 7. Need to attack that in FA or be ready to grab a later round RD via draft.

 

[burgold]

high tempo offenses often correlate with no huddle because part of the charm of no huddle is you can of course move faster, you save 10-15 seconds, etc but avoiding the huddle. Kliff is known for running high tempo,

Whether he did less of it this year, I don't know. But per usual he ran a lot of no huddle.

I think he runs a no huddle, slow tempo offense. The no huddle is to prevent the other team from substituting, but often Kliff would still snap the ball when the playclock was around 2 or 3

At least that's what my memory says. I don't remember many snaps with 12 or 16 left on the play clock.

 

[skinsinparadise]

It's a copycat league and everybody wants the bright young offensive minds.
It kind of sucks that we will likely only get one year with him, if he's terrible he'll be gone with quinn and if he's really good somebody will likely make him a head coach next year before anybody else does.

A good problem to have if you have a top offense but my primary reason for wanting the big name guy who's already had his chances as a head coach was for continuity, like what the eagles have right now with fangio but there aren't too many options out there like that for offense.
Really stinks we didn't get Ben johnson two years ago, would have solved all these problems.

For some covering this it seems like the thought is for example of Mcdaniel comes here and kills it, he's likely one and done and moves on again. If Blough kills it, to promote a coach from QB coach to O coordinator and then HC, in back to back years is too much -- that is, that he'd likely get at least 2 years in this position.

 

[KDawg]

There are a number of good possession WR's in FA and the draft.

Need to focus TE in FA, there are a few. It will be live or die for Sinnott as a receiver

If we need a stud RB we can'tt rely on Love being available at 7. Need to attack that in FA or be ready to grab a later round RD via draft.

I'd get a FA back and Love if he's there*

You know who I want at wide receiver. It's a pipe dream, but if we had an offensive offseason (Blough thread, sticking to offense) of:

RB: Hall, Love
WR: Sarratt
LG: Warm body who can get in the way
TE: One of: Njoku, Trautman or even Moreau

This team is absolutely dangerous.

I don't think this happens. Too many variables. Too few resources. But I'd be ecstatic.

*-pending DC hire/FA period

 

[skinsinparadise]

I think he runs a no huddle, slow tempo offense. The no huddle is to prevent the other team from substituting, but often Kliff would still snap the ball when the playclock was around 2 or 3

At least that's what my memory says. I don't remember many snaps with 12 or 16 left on the play clock.

It's defiintely high tempo at times, its part of Kliff's calling card. As for them doing less of it this season because of all the new players who had to learn the offense on the fly off the street -- maybe, it sounds logical, but I wasn't charting plays so I don't know.

 

[heisenberg]

For some covering this it seems like the thought is for example of Mcdaniel comes here and kills it, he's likely one and done and moves on again. If Blough kills it, to promote a coach from QB coach to O coordinator and then HC, in back to back years is too much -- that is, that he'd likely get at least 2 years in this position.

I hope so, but teams are desperate for guys just like him (assuming he kills it of course)
There's also the possibility that he could want to wait for the right opportunity like Ben johnson did and we get 2 or 3 years.

That would be the best possible outcome.

 

[RWJ]

For some covering this it seems like the thought is for example of Mcdaniel comes here and kills it, he's likely one and done and moves on again. If Blough kills it, to promote a coach from QB coach to O coordinator and then HC, in back to back years is too much -- that is, that he'd likely get at least 2 years in this position.

It may allow DQ 2 more years too with a first year, inexperienced OC diagraming and calling his own plays.