Don't Bitch...

[Boone]

about the offense in 2023.

We have screamed bloody murder about the offense pretty much from the outset of the Rivera era.

The OL sucks.
We have no QB.
The only skill position player worth a damn we have was Terry McLaurin.
The OL sucks.
We have no QB.
The OC sucks.
The calls the OC makes suck.
The OL sucks.

Well - things have changed. A lot.

The braintrust acquired through free agency and the draft multiple offensive skill position talents.
Curtis Samuel.
Jahan Dotson.
Brian Robinson Jr.
Dyami Brown.

They've fired their OC and brought in arguably the hottest OC candidate in the NFL this offseason.
The've allowed him to clean house and bring in his own staff.

They've cleared out the largely failed QB room, sending Wentz packing and acknowledging a major miscalculation, and even letting beloved fan favorite and everyone's mancrush (some more than others!) Taylor Heinickeeeeeeee go.

And they've elected to commit to their 5th round rookie Sam Howell.

They've made some tough choices, including most recently releasing JD McKissic - a player the team and the fanbase loves - but it is the right call due to his chronic neck injuries. They may have more tough decisions ahead.

They are in the process of rebuilding their OL - our favorite whipping boy after whoever is under center this week - and are replacing the OL coach (likely because Eric Bienemy said to). The bulk of our free agency moves so far have been to begin rebuilding the OL. It's likely we aren't done and OL may be a serious draft target as well.

There are still concerns. the OL guys we've brought in so far aren't sure-fire hits. Our TE group is a weakness. Will they continue the Logan Thomas experiment or decide his one truly great season was an outlier? Are Cole Turner and Armani Rogers potential future starters? Or will we go after a dominating TE in the upcoming draft? Who amongst the few viable QBs still available is going to (presumably) be our backup QB? Too many questions here - we need some answers.

It's going to be a new day in DC on the offensive side of the ball. Who knows if we'll rejoice and frolic in bright and sunshiny days, or suffer through more cold, bleak, rainy ones ahead. It may take awhile to know if all those changes were the right changes. We'll have to try and be patient with the results and reign in early expectations.

But we can't bitch about the 'same old same old' - because literally very little will be the same in 2023 and beyond.

Change is hard, especially when you're imposing it on players you respect and love. But it had to happen. Kudos to Rivera and the Front Office for some of the pretty bold strokes we've seen so far.

The offensive times they are a changin'....

 

[DieselPwr44]

Gonna be hard to bitch when they were only putting up between 12-15 points a game.

Only one way to go......up.

 

[Boone]

I think the QB change alone is going to be revolutionary. I truly believe this. After seeing what Sam Howell can do for 6 games, no one will ever again mourn the departure of Heinicke. Just my opinion but I have a feeling Howell is going to be very good.

 

[DieselPwr44]

I think the QB change alone is going to be revolutionary. I truly believe this. After seeing what Sam Howell can do for 6 games, no one will ever again mourn the departure of Heinicke. Just my opinion but I have a feeling Howell is going to be very good.

 

[Chris]

Deadlines spur action.

 

[Boone]

You may be on to something, lol...

 

[Neophyte]

I think the QB change alone is going to be revolutionary. I truly believe this. After seeing what Sam Howell can do for 6 games, no one will ever again mourn the departure of Heinicke. Just my opinion but I have a feeling Howell is going to be very good.

The only way I will mourn Heinicke is if Howell gets injured and misses time. I'm just not convinced there is a better option sitting out there.

And I agree that the QB change to Howell is going to be revolutionary. I wish he had started following the bye week. No clue if it would have gotten us to the postseason but we would have a lot better idea of what we have in the young man.

 

[MikefromOH]

We have a rookie QB starting and a nobody backing him up.

We let Heinicke walk for $10 mil per year and are now about to realize what it's like when you have a youngster in shark infested waters with no lifesaver.

Our OL better be top priority all draft and free agency or we just wasted another QB pick.

 

[Boone]

What did all that Heinicke experience get us in 2022? Mediocre offense and our standard .500 record. That’s not bashing Heinicke - it’s just the reality. He wasn’t good enough and probably won’t ever be good enough. He can be electric in stretches but when you look at the numbers he just can’t overcome some of his physical limitations. He also was prone to mental mistakes, the same ones everyone worries a guy with 1 pro game of experience will make. So what? That’s how young QBs learn and develop, and both guys on our roster last year made a ton of them.

What, really, is there to worry about? Does anyone want to go on record with a prediction the offense will be less productive with Howell under center than it was with Heinicke and Wentz? If not, then you shouldn’t have a problem with moving on.

I advocated for keeping TH as a backup. The team may have wanted him as well. I think he’d be a great #2. He didn’t want to be our #2. I doubt the money was a major factor but we don’t know if the team made an offer or what it was.

 

[MikefromOH]

He's better than our now backup. He knows the team, he motivates the team, and he is a baller. Our pusscake OC did more to harm him than his lack of ability ever could.

We currently have a rookie starter and rookie backup. We have no vet to help talk to them and nobody on the sidelines who can calm them down when they throw a pick or get in a jam.

For 10 mil per year we should have kept him. This was a stupid move.

 

[Boone]

I guarantee you TH doesn’t view it that way. He has Scott Turner to thank for even being in the NFL.

I don’t disagree with your overall assessment of him, we all liked a lot about him, but it comes down to ability and he’s clearly not a starting-caliber QB. As far as being a great backup, I think Heinicke decided to move on - so I can’t criticize the team for that.

And not to nitpick but neither of the QBs are rookies and pretty sure they are looking for a #2.

 

[MikefromOH]

Thank? The guy who took top class weapons and made the most God awful play calls all season?

He isn't starting in Atlanta, either. He's their back up. I'm more mad we didn't think ahead of who we have on the roster and the little he was paid. He must have just wanted to get away from this organization.

 

[Kel Varnsen]

I’m pretty sure the team had no say in the decision. Heinicke gave his farewell speech after Turner was fired. The only way he was going to sign here is if Turner was still the OC. I don’t know what Bieniemy will do, but I do know I wanted Turner to be fired. If that means a backup QB doesn’t want to sign with the team, that’s fine. Good luck to him. But this team is moving on and Taylor is the one who got off the train.

 

[MikefromOH]

They named Howell starter before the lockers were even cleaned out and Heinickes contract was up. He may have gotten off the train, but it was already at the station and the bellboy had his luggage at the door.

I don't recall him having any loyalty towards turner when it comes to "if he leaves so do I" but maybe. The team screwed up here. We now have to go sign a more expensive backup who doesn't know the team, draft a rookie and have 2 rookies in the huddle, or just pray we have hit gold with Howell.

 

[SilentThreat]

I love Taylor and enjoyed rooting for him, but I'm honestly not sad to see the on-field player go. The off the field player... you can't help but root for the guy, and I'm glad he got a contract that will set himself up for the rest of his life. As far as on field, he's not any better than the majority of free agents walking the street. He created a spark, the team loved him, they played hard with him, its undeniable... but we weren't winning because of his production at QB. We won with him because of our defense. We had one of the worst offenses in the league while he was under center, and he got lucky a ton. Dropped interceptions, referees running into defensive backs, Terry McLaurin making miraculous catches... all things that helped with the legend of Taylor Heinicke... All things he got away with, that had they gone a different way.....

I think it's possible to appreciate Taylor for what he was, while not mourning the departure. I would have loved for him to be our franchise QB, he just simply wasn't capable of being that. I would have rooted for him had he stayed... but I think we're eventually going to run out of that magic...

 

[SilentThreat]

As far as the offense goes, we've been damn near dead last in every measurable category that translates to actual success (outside of Time of Possession). Somehow we've possessed the ball at an elite level, but it's produced less and less points year by year (explain that). If (when) Howell runs into some adversity... is it really going to be any different than what we've been experiencing? The difference is now we don't have a $30 mil payroll anchor (Alex Smith/Carson Wentz), the weight of a first round pick QB (Haskins/Griffin), the threat of a celebrity backup (Heinicike/Cousins), causing us all to pull our hair out because the constant pressure of all the other noise. The offense may suck.... it might not...

 

[Boone]

We all have short memories. In retrospect the decision to bench him for Wentz is a WTF!? moment. But at that time, most fans were okay with it. Lots of reasons for that. Wentz had looked good late in relief the previous game. But the real reason most fans were like ‘okay, give him another chance’ was because Heinicke had been BAD the games prior to that. I don’t know how many times he coughed the ball up in the games prior, but his QB play was bad enough to risk any chance at sneaking into the playoffs. Obviously Wentz was a disaster after getting that 2nd chance, but I have zero confidence it would’ve been better with Heinicke.

Heinicke earned that demotion and then some.

 

[Boone]

As far as the offense goes, we've been damn near dead last in every measurable category that translates to actual success (outside of Time of Possession). Somehow we've possessed the ball at an elite level, but it's produced less and less points year by year (explain that). If (when) Howell runs into some adversity... is it really going to be any different than what we've been experiencing? The difference is now we don't have a $30 mil payroll anchor (Alex Smith/Carson Wentz), the weight of a first round pick QB (Haskins/Griffin), the threat of a celebrity backup (Heinicike/Cousins), causing us all to pull our hair out because the constant pressure of all the other noise. The offense may suck.... it might not...

Everything about this offense, except for many of the core skill position players is changing. I have to expect it will look a lot different out there. And not to overstate it, but can our production even conceivably be worse than it has been? I don’t believe that’s possible.

 

[SilentThreat]

We all have short memories. In retrospect the decision to bench him for Wentz is a WTF!? moment. But at that time, most fans were okay with it. Lots of reasons for that. Wentz had looked good late in relief the previous game. But the real reason most fans were like ‘okay, give him another chance’ was because Heinicke had been BAD the games prior to that. I don’t know how many times he coughed the ball up in the games prior, but his QB play was bad enough to risk any chance at sneaking into the playoffs. Obviously Wentz was a disaster after getting that 2nd chance, but I have zero confidence it would’ve been better with Heinicke.

Heinicke earned that demotion and then some.

I was all for playing Wentz in that game... if for no other reason, than I wanted to make sure he played bad enough to warrant the release he ultimately got. I didn't want the curiosity of wentz to carry over into 2023, and he performed that task famously. Hindsight being 20/20... Howell likely 'should' have been a bigger part of the offense earlier in the season, whether that be starting, or getting more involved in practice... that's a matter of anyones opinion.

I think the bigger problem is Wentz was allowed to come back out in the 2nd half of that Browns game. At that point, Wentz had shown you enough about where he was that you could have closed the book, while still having a chance to put together enough to win the game. At that point Howell wouldn't have been an option because, I believe, he was inactive. So maybe Taylor leads us to victory, we ultimately make the playoffs, and we're having a completely different conversation about the offseason... who the hell knows.

 

[Boone]

Agree ST