Poor QB play limited Commanders WR Jahan Dotson in 2022. Still, he flashed true Round 1 talent with 14.9 yards per catch and 7 scores. He did so despite missing five games with an early-season hamstring injury. Year two brings a QB change with Sam Howell likely to start. Washington will also break in new OC Eric Bieniemy. “Exciting. … A lot of down-the-field plays," Dotson said of Bieniemy’s offense, per The Athletic. “We’re going to stretch the field, make the defense really work.” Dotson should see plenty of downfield opportunities alongside Howell, who wasn’t shy about throwing deep at North Carolina. The 23-year-old sits just outside WR3 range in our 2023 WR rankings.
Commanders HC Ron Rivera said QB Sam Howell has “shown us [the coaching staff] what we want to see.” Howell will enter training camp as the team’s starter. “He's young, we know he is young,” Rivera said. “There was a lot of room for growth, and we know that, but he's got a good skillset. He's mobile, he’s got good foot movement, he's got quick twitch to him, good decision maker. He is still learning to make those decisions, but he's also got the arm talent and that's the thing that that excites us.” Howell’s learning a new system under OC Eric Bieniemy, one that utilizes a word-based play-calling system -- not the numbers-based one Howell learned in 2022. So far so good on that front, though. We’ll learn a lot more about Howell’s progress when training camp arrives. He remains a QB3 in best ball drafts.
The Commanders are "all in" on QB Sam Howell as their 2023 starter, ESPN's John Keim writes. The team has been talking up Howell all offseason -- and then did not add a QB in the draft. Per Keim, Washington had a 2nd-round grade on Howell coming out last year but didn't take him on Day 2 because they had already made the trade for QB Carson Wentz. The Commanders couldn't pass on Howell when he slipped to Round 5, though. He made just one start last year, but the team liked how he developed as a rookie. Howell will need to hold off veteran QB Jacoby Brissett this summer, but he sounds like the heavy favorite to open the season under center. See where Howell sits in the 2023 QB Rankings.
QB Jacoby Brissett is reportedly expected to sign a deal with the Commanders. The terms of the deal are unknown as of this writing. The journeyman signal-caller adds some veteran competition into the mix to battle with incumbent QB Sam Howell. Newly-minted OC Eric Bienemy will have an effective bridge option in place should Howell not win the starting QB job outright in training camp. Brissett spent last season as the Browns' starter in the absence of suspended QB Deshaun Watson, tallying 2,608 passing yards with 12 TDs and six interceptions. Though he doesn't offer a ton of fantasy appeal, Brissett exceeded 15 fantasy points in five of his 11 starts in four-point per passing TD scoring last season. We'll have to keep an eye on how this potential training camp battle shakes out over the summer to get a good idea of how much Brissett will matter for fantasy purposes. He maintains modest superflex league appeal in dynasty leagues if nothing else.
UPDATE: Brissett's contract is a one-year deal worth up to $10 million (with $8 million guaranteed).
Commanders HC Ron Rivera clarified Tuesday from the NFL Scouting Combine that QB Sam Howell is "not our starter," according to FOX Sports' Ralph Vacchiano. Rivera added that the second-year player does open the offseason as the lead QB but said the team plans to import a veteran QB to compete with Howell. Consider this a reminder that Washington wants the former fifth-round pick to earn the 2023 starting job. Howell makes for an OK late third QB in early best-ball drafting but isn't a player you must get shares of.
The Commanders announced on Monday afternoon that they've parted ways with QB Carson Wentz. The former 2nd overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft appeared in only 8 games in his lone season with the Commanders, completing 172 of 276 attempts for 1,755 passing yards with 11 TDs and 9 INTs. The structure of Wentz's contract made it so that he wasn't guaranteed any money beyond 2022, so this is a clean break for the franchise after a 1-year trial. Wentz struck out in consecutive seasons with the Colts and Commanders and may struggle to find another starting job in the NFL. It's likely we see him go the veteran backup route on the open market.
QB Sam Howell will open the offseason as the Commanders' starter, HC Ron Rivera said on Wednesday. “The biggest thing we decided is he will start out as QB1,” Rivera said of Howell. “He will most certainly get the first opportunity. We go into OTAs and minicamp, he’ll be QB1. He’ll fight for that position. We’ll give him every opportunity to earn it, and we’ll see what happens when we get into training camp and through it.” Howell didn't hit the field as a 5th-round rookie last year until Week 18, finishing that one with a 169-1-1 passing line and 35 yards and a score rushing. QB Carson Wentz is an obvious cut candidate, with no dead money on his contract. And QB Taylor Heinicke is set to hit free agency next month. But Washington will obviously be adding competition in the QB room, via free agency, the draft or both. We'll see how the situation shakes out, but we'd only consider Howell as a QB3 in early best-ball drafts.
According to Michael Phillips of the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Commanders HC Ron Rivera said this week that he'll play WRs Terry McLaurin and Curtis Samuel for "at least a portion of the game" Sunday. The notion here is that the coach will give rookie QB Sam Howell some time to work with the team's top options in his NFL debut. Of course, the fantasy read is that Rivera likely doesn't plan to play McLaurin or Samuel the entire game. That could change if Howell delivers and the team stays tight with the Cowboys. But the uncertainty -- including that brought by a 5th-round rookie QB in his 1st pro action -- should make you wary of starting McLaurin in Week 18 fantasy football lineups. We'll keep updating our Week 18 fantasy football rankings for anything else we learn on this and other situations.
Commanders HC Ron Rivera announced rookie QB Sam Howell as the Week 18 starter vs. Dallas. It’ll be the 5th-round pick’s first career start. Howell's a poor bet to perform as a useful QB2, but take note that he posted 828 rushing yards -- 69 per game -- in his final season at UNC.
ESPN's Jeremy Fowler reports that the Commanders are expected to start QB Taylor Heinicke against Dallas in the season finale. But he adds that rookie QB Sam Howell "is also slated to play." Take this news as an admission from HC Ron Rivera that he was wrong to start Carson Wentz in the Week 17 loss to Cleveland. With Washington now eliminated from playoff contention, though, it would seem to make more sense to just play the rookie the whole way. The reported plan, of course, makes both QBs unusable in fantasy football lineups. And the whole situation adds risk to Washington pass-catchers. We're not changing our outlook for RB Brian Robinson Jr., though. Check out the adjusted Week 18 fantasy football rankings.
Commanders QB Carson Wentz is expected to miss "roughly" 4-6 weeks with the fractured ring finger on his right hand, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. We'll see if Wentz lands on IR, but he can be dropped from all rosters in 1-QB fantasy leagues. Wentz hasn't been great through 6 weeks, completing 62% of his passes for just 6.4 yards per attempt. He sits 24th among 32 qualifiers in Pro Football Focus' passing grades. Washington will now turn QB Taylor Heinicke, which might just be a lateral move. We'll see if Heinicke can get more out of WR Terry McLaurin, who's seen just 16% of Commanders targets so far. 5th-round rookie QB Sam Howell is also on this roster and might hit the field at some point if Heinicke struggles.
Commanders QB Carson Wentz suffered a fractured finger on his throwing hand in Thursday night's win over the Bears, per NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. Wentz will visit a hand specialist to determine next steps. "His availability moving forward is up in the air," Rapoport adds. QB Taylor Heinicke is listed as Washington's backup, but 5th-round rookie QB Sam Howell is also waiting in the wings.
The Commanders grabbed North Carolina QB Sam Howell with the 1st pick of Round 5. Howell started all 3 years at Chapel Hill, opening his career impressively with 3,641 passing yards and 38 TDs as a freshman and 3,586 yards and 30 TDs as a sophomore. He took a considerable step back this past season, though, finishing with 3,056 yards and 24 TDs. Losing Javonte Williams, Michael Carter, Dyami Brown and Dazz Newsome to the NFL certainly played a part, but Howell also set a 3-year low in Pro Football Focus passing grade. Howell did set career highs with 828 rushing yards and 11 TDs in 2021, though. He has plenty of arm strength and might be the best deep-ball thrower in this year’s QB class. Howell is also entering the NFL at just 21 years old, so there’s upside here. He’ll compete with Taylor Heinicke for Washington’s backup job behind Carson Wentz at least to open this season. But Howell has the potential to develop into the Commanders’ starter down the road.
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