Random Commanders Thoughts

[Neophyte]

Maybe I'm missing something. You keep coming back to Howell being a 5th-round draft pick like that means something while the guy you are campaigning for was a UDFA out of college.

 

[Bulldog]

I happened to be reading the previews of the upcoming NHL season and came across this quote which sums up how I feel now in Year 3 of the Rivera/Rio show here in DC:

‘Prior to Sutter being brought in as Head Coach the Flames for a number of years were viewed as a team that, despite having a talented roster, wasn’t seen as much of a threat. They often struggled with consistency and at times seemed to lack intensity’

That to me is the Washington Commanders. Outside of Allen, McLaurin, and several others one good performance is followed by a poor one. Some players make the same mental mistakes week after week and development here is proceeding at a glacial pace.

If this were any other team with a functioning ownership group Rivera would and should be on the hot seat in 2022.

Again, every decision is not a bad one. Dotson looks like a potential top producer in the league. Cosmi started from Day 1 and looks to have a solid NFL career ahead of him.

But for every move like these there is a clunker like not shoring up depth at linebacker, not coming up with a productive strategy for the defensive backfield where chaos and blown assignments are now the rule rather than the exception.

Perhaps more importantly the team has now kicked the quarterback issue ‘can’ down the road with former Panthers backups and retreads like Fitzpatrick and now Wentz over two plus seasons.

We just aren’t going to use a high pick on a qb or make a blockbuster trade, it’s as if Rivera and Mayhew are haunted by the failure of RGIII
and don’t want to stick their necks out.

The ending sequence yesterday against TENN made me as angry as II have been during Rivera’s tenure.

You simply can’t have a first and goal at the 2 against a team of similar caliber and come away with nothing to end the game.

Watching part of the Eagles and then the night game with the Ravens, in today’s NFL you have to have a qb now that can tuck the ball and get two or three yards in crunch time.

Having a slow footed pocket passer isn’t going to cut it anymore given the speed of the rush unless that player has a quick release and is very accurate.

That’s how Brady has survived and others like a Stafford in 2021 were able to copy the formula and win.

Wentz will never be an uber accurate passer, he has a penchant for making unforced mistakes and is limited in what he can run.

And he can’t run period.

A quarterback with even average foot speed and we can open up things that probably lead to a win yesterday.

 

[Theismann To HOF]

I don't think anyone HAS argued Howell is the future, have they? But the truth is, he showed some serious potential in preseason and if you may be one of the teams at the top of the draft board, it would behoove you to have some idea what you have in Howell before using a high pick. This is well on it's way to being yet another lost season, so there's little risk in doing so.

And Heinicke was fucking brilliant in that playoff game against the Bucs. What about his potential?

In fact, Heinicke played better against the Bucs than any other QB during the 2020 postseason. Including Aaron Rodgers and Patrick Mahomes. In a million years, Howell and Wentz can never play that well.

But how quickly Commode fans forget.

 

[Neophyte]

None of us have forgotten that game.

 

[Theismann To HOF]

Maybe I'm missing something. You keep coming back to Howell being a 5th-round draft pick like that means something while the guy you are campaigning for was a UDFA out of college.

I'm saying the odds are against Howell. However, Heinicke has beaten the odds.

What I'm saying is that nobody should make Howell the heir apparent without him proving that he's better than Heinicke. And I don't think that's going to happen.

 

[burgold]

I'm saying the odds are against Howell. However, Heinicke has beaten the odds.

What I'm saying is that noboTdy should make Howell the heir apparent without him proving that he's better than Heinicke. And I don't think that's going to happen.

That's why some of us are curious to see him on the field. He can't prove anything until he gets playing time. Heinike has provided sixteen games of data already.

 

[Henry]

I'm saying the odds are against Howell. However, Heinicke has beaten the odds.

Heinicke has beaten the odds in that he's playing in the league when most undrafted QBs are done by now. He has willed himself into the league and I love that about him.

But we know what we have in Heinicke. He's a great backup because he's a gamer and he's mobile, but who has a very weak arm, sails his passes and takes forever to throw the ball. He can get you about 8 wins as a starter if your team can overcome the interceptions that come with a QB that can't push the ball down the field effectively. Saying he's better than this year's Wentz is not saying much.

Howell showed promise in the pre-season. Put him on the field and see if he's got something. If not, the team is shopping for a new QB next year anyway.

 

[Theismann To HOF]

Heinicke has beaten the odds in that he's playing in the league when most undrafted QBs are done by now. He has willed himself into the league and I love that about him.

But we know what we have in Heinicke. He's a great backup because he's a gamer and he's mobile, but who has a very weak arm, sails his passes and takes forever to throw the ball. He can get you about 8 wins as a starter if your team can overcome the interceptions that come with a QB that can't push the ball down the field effectively. Saying he's better than this year's Wentz is not saying much.

Howell showed promise in the pre-season. Put him on the field and see if he's got something. If not, the team is shopping for a new QB next year anyway.

Totally disagree about Heinicke. If that were true, then Heinicke would not have outplayed both Rodgers and Mahomes in the 2020 playoffs, when all 3 of them faced the Bucs.

QBs being late on throws is what causes most INTs in the NFL...it's not the almighty "lack of arm strength". All NFL QBs have good arm strength. If they didn't, they wouldn't be in the league.

If arm strength was the most critical factor for a QB, then Mark Rypien would have been a better QB than Joe Theismann. But he wasn't.

And how has 5'10" Kyler Murray had success in the NFL? Does he have superior arm strength? I don't think so.

Howell will be given the chance to show what he can do when this season is officially over. But not until then.

 

[MikefromOH]

Once again hijacked to talk about Heinicke. Good lord.

 

[Theismann To HOF]

Once again hijacked to talk about Heinicke. Good lord.

Seriously, what else should we be talking about??

I mean, this team is 1 - 4 and Wentz is largely responsible for 3 of those 4 losses. A good coach would have made a QB change by now.

And a good GM would never have brought Wentz here in the first place. Now we're probably be going to be stuck with Wentz for several more games, due to Rivera's pride being butthurt.

 

[MikefromOH]

If the topic was anything else besides you railing on about Heinicke being the best...I'm sure it wouldn't be obnoxious.

 

[Boone]

I told you - start a thread if you want to talk Heinicke. It's not that there's not a legitimate reason to talk about Heinicke and whether they might go to him. But you're hijacking every thread you participate in. I feel like maybe this has already been asked?

 

[Neophyte]

From today's Rivera presser:

Media - What's the difference between Washington and the rest of the NFC East?

Rivera - "Quarterback".

Oh Ron...

 

[Chris]

I told you - start a thread if you want to talk Heinicke. It's not that there's not a legitimate reason to talk about Heinicke and whether they might go to him. But you're hijacking every thread you participate in. I feel like maybe this has already been asked?

 

[Henry]

Totally disagree about Heinicke. If that were true, then Heinicke would not have outplayed both Rodgers and Mahomes in the 2020 playoffs, when all 3 of them faced the Bucs.

One game is a terrible sample size upon which to base an opinion. Especially a game in which the opposing defense has literally no film upon which to game plan. Backups play very well for a game or two all the time. That doesn’t make them starters. It makes them good backups. This is a very bad take.

QBs being late on throws is what causes most INTs in the NFL...it's not the almighty "lack of arm strength". All NFL QBs have good arm strength. If they didn't, they wouldn't be in the league.

He was third in the league in INTs despite playing in a run-heavy offense where he was 17th in pass attempts. As I said, he’s a gamer and makes good decisions. Sadly his passes sail and when he tries to push into tight spots he gets picked. To complete an even mid-range throw he needs to arc it and throw it too high. His passes are very high and slow. It’s a problem that, six years into his career, probably can’t be fixed.

If arm strength was the most critical factor for a QB, then Mark Rypien would have been a better QB than Joe Theismann. But he wasn't.

And how has 5'10" Kyler Murray had success in the NFL? Does he have superior arm strength? I don't think so.

He doesn’t have Theismann’s arm. He doesn’t have Murray’s arm. “Not superior” can mean a lot of things.

Arm strength is not the only factor in a QB’s effectiveness, but when it is at the bottom of the spectrum it matters more. I love Heine and I will root for him no matter where he goes, but he doesn’t have the tools to be a long term starter in this league.

 

[Kel Varnsen]

From today's Rivera presser:

Media - What's the difference between Washington and the rest of the NFC East?

Rivera - "Quarterback".

Oh Ron...

Yeah, that's a very poor answer. Not just because he's throwing Wentz under the bus after what most would say was his best game of the year, but also look at the other QBs in the division.

Hurts - Has played really well, definitely on his way to becoming a top QB
Prescott - 0-1 this year and looked really bad before getting hurt in week 1
Rush - Has played very conservatively while dallas wins with defense
Jones - They are also winning with running and defense. Jones first 200 yd passing game of the year was yesterday when he passed for 217 yds

This isn't the AFC West with Mahomes, Herbert, Carr, and Wilson. If you are in Denver's situation and you have Wilson playing absolutely terrible, then sure you say that. But this was just a bad answer at this point. I don't think Wentz is going to play at an MVP level and at this point, he will be gone next year, but just a really poorly timed answer from Rivera.

 

[Henry]

To be fair, there’s not a lot Rivera can say that will sound good at this point.

 

[MikefromOH]

I don't remember Wentz always having such a moon shot on the deep ball

 

[Henry]

I told you - start a thread if you want to talk Heinicke. It's not that there's not a legitimate reason to talk about Heinicke and whether they might go to him. But you're hijacking every thread you participate in. I feel like maybe this has already been asked?

Sorry. I’m still talking about it too. I’ll shut up now. 🙂

 

[Lovin Cousins]

If this were any other team with a functioning ownership group Rivera would and should be on the hot seat in 2022.

And it's interesting another 1-4 Head Coach was just fired today
And he's been on the job, the same amount of time as Rivera