Washington preseason wrap-up: the good, the bad, and the unknown

August 30, 2023

by Steve Thomas

Well, folks, the preseason of year one of the new era in Washington football is now over, and the verdict is . . . pretty darn good so far.  Of course, preseason results mean absolutely nothing – we’ve seen teams go undefeated in the preseason and then be terrible when it counts, and teams have also lost every preseason game and made the Super Bowl.  So nobody should read too much into these past three weeks.  Still, though, Washington seems to have its act together in a way that hasn’t been the case in the nation’s capital in a while.  It truly does seem like the dark cloud of Snyder being lifted has had a positive impact on both the franchise and the fanbase.  Who knew that getting rid of an incompetent, selfish dictator would engender good feelings.  Since we now have two weeks before the start of the regular season, and we are waiting for the team to make final roster cuts, I thought I’d take some time to do a run through of some of the good and bad that we’ve learned about the Redskins the Washington Football Team the Commanders Washington over the past month.

THE GOOD

Sam Howell looks like he belongs

In total, Howell played 7 drives in 3 quarters over two games, and went 28 for 37, for a 75.7% completion percentage, 265 yards, and 3 touchdowns.  I don’t have his overall quarterback rating, and I don’t feel like going through the effort of calculating it on my own, but he earned ratings of 119.1 against the Browns and 123.4 against the Ravens.  That would presumably equate to a total rating of somewhere around 122.  That’s an outstanding rating, one that is almost certainly unsustainable over the course of an entire season.  For context, last year, Tua Tagovailoa led the league with a rating of 105.5 over 13 games.  Patrick Mahomes had a 105.2 rating in 17 games.  The highest quarterback rating in NFL history over the course of a single season in which the quarterback started at least 13 games was Aaron Rodgers with a rating of 122.5 in 2011.  For those wondering, the best season in Washington history under that same criteria, i.e. at least 13 games started, was Robert Griffin III with a rating of 102.4 in 2011.  So, Howell won’t keep up his 120 rating pace, but anything remotely close to that would mean a Pro Bowl.  That’s not a reasonable expectation, but I think there’s hope for solid, plus-level quarterback play, which to Howell’s credit is more than I expected going into this preseason.

The wide receiver group is better than we thought

Everyone in the NFL already knew about Pro Bowler Terry McLaurin, who’s been mostly great over the course of his career.  McLaurin had 4 receptions for 46 yards in 4 targets over 3 quarters of play in two games.  Jahan Dotson was a 2022 first round pick who showed promise last season, so he’s not a surprise either.  He had 7 receptions for 106 yards and 1 touchdown in 9 targets over 3 quarters in two games.  Both of those players are already known quantities.  It was the next tier down who impressed – Dyami Brown looked much better this preseason than he had in either of his first two years.  You have to think that his collegiate relationship with Howell is a large reason why, although simply having two full years of NFL experience under his belt is probably the main cause of his improvement.  He had 4 receptions for 48 yards and 1 touchdown in 4 targets over three games.  Those aren’t fabulous stats, but his total playing time is more like 1 full game.  Stats don’t always tell the tale, though – in my view, Brown looked like he belongs this preseason in a way that he previously didn’t.  The guy who impressed the most, at least in the final game against the Bengals this past Friday, was undrafted free agent rookie Mitchell Tinsley.  In total over three games, he had 6 receptions for 129 yards and 1 touchdown in 10 targets, and was the star of the Bengals game, with 3 receptions for 89 yards.  Admittedly, his longest reception was courtesy of badly-blown coverage, but still: Tinsley probably saved himself from being cut thanks to this game. Brycen Tremaine and Byron Pringle also showed promise; only Pringle made the cut.  Washington had a good problem on their hands this preseason, which was that they had more quality receivers on than they could keep on the active roster.  This is the strength of the offense.

Chris Rodriguez

Rodriguez, a sixth round pick, unexpectedly impressed this offseason, and I anticipate that he’s earned a spot on the active roster.  In total, he had 17 carries in three games for 122 yards, for an average of 7.2 yards per carry.  That obviously isn’t sustainable over the course of a regular season, but it’s an amazing performance even considering that it mostly came against backups.  Rodriguez appears to be in the mold of a quality traditional, straight-ahead running back, which is something Washington may lack if Brian Robinson Jr. doesn’t pan out.  Rodriguez is an example of someone who made the most of a limited opportunity.  At least one player rises above the fray every preseason, and this year, it was Rodriguez.

Secondary Depth

Yes, Ron Rivera overspent on the secondary in the draft, and Jartavius Martin in particular has had his ups and downs – more negatives than coaches would want to see – but some folks in this group who are farther down the depth chart made plays this week, starting with Jace Whittaker, the 2020 undrafted free agent signed just three weeks ago, even though it ultimately didn’t save him from being cut.  Christian Holmes, who was a 7th round pick for Washington last season, also excelled, and he made the roster as a result.  From the players at the top, including corners Forbes and Benjamin St. Juste, and safeties Kamren Curl and Derrick Forrest, to depth guys like Holmes, Pro Bowler / All Pro Jeremy Reaves, and others, the secondary might be in decent shape this season.  Oddly, the highest paid player, Kendall Fuller, seems like he should probably be on the outs, as his production to cost ratio isn’t exactly the best on the team.

Attitude

This is an intangible category, but Washington just seems to have a much better, more positive attitude than it did in years past.  The franchise clearly cared about winning these three games and seems to generally be much more competitive this season.  As I said above, this may mean nothing in terms of regular season performance, but it’s at least a good sign.

THE BAD

The offensive line is . . .  

. . . still probably not good.  The starters did very little in the preseason to alleviate anyone’s fears of a substandard unit.  They weren’t a total trainwreck, but they didn’t face serious, game-planned and motivated regular season starters, either.   The unit as a whole wasn’t up to snuff, but at this point, there’s nothing that can be done but hope for the best.  Howell is fairly mobile, so that will help, but it’s reasonable to expect that he’ll be under a significant amount of pressure at times this season.  The starting running game wasn’t good either – for all of Rodriguez’s positives, his play was against backups.   If something is going to hold Washington’s offense back in 2023, it’s going to be the play of the offensive line.

Help wanted: linebackers

We’ve talked and written quite a bit on The Hog Sty this offseason about the status of Washington’s linebacker group, and as it turns out, those fears were justified, particularly at the top of the depth chart.  The starting quarterbacks of both the Browns and the Ravens had good room to run, and in my view, this was mostly due to the linebackers failing to secure the second level.  After watching Washington’s three preseason games, I still don’t think Washington has even two legitimate starters, much less the three needs to field a legitimate 4 – 3 defense.  As was the case with the offensive line, nothing can be done at this point except to hope for the best.

Jacoby Brissett

Brissett was bad for two games and better against the Bengals.  In total, he was 23 for 36, for a 63.9% completion percentage, 218 yards, with 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions.  He struck me as – wait for it – an inconsistent journeyman-level NFL quarterback.  Shocking.  Brissett is a quality backup who can play at the NFL level, but I came away from the preseason with the same thought I had going in: he’s okay, but he isn’t the future here.

Chase Young

He played and showed very little, coming off of an ACL tear and a negative 2022 campaign.  He needs to do more, much more, this season.  Enough said.

THE UNKNOWN

The return game

Kazmeir Allen had the punt return job locked up heading into the Bengals game, and then the Bengals game happened.  He did have a kickoff return for 31 yards, which was great, but he also fumbled and nearly lost a punt reception, and dropped a couple of passes.  Washington should have kept keep him, because he was definitely the best kick returner on Washington’s roster, but the Bengals game certainly didn’t help.  My hope was that that one negative performance wouldn’t cause the coaches to overreact and cut him in favor of Dax Milne, who is a terrible returner.  It’s Ron Rivera, though, so in typical fashion, he made the wrong decision.  Offensive linemen, linebackers, and returners just aren’t important to the guy.

The future

I have this list here just as a quick reminder that, despite the quality preseason, we don’t know what’s going to happen in the regular season.  The NFC East is a very tough division this year, and parts of Washington’s schedule are pretty brutal.  Washington is significant behind the top teams in the league in terms of talent level, but I suspect this might be Ron Rivera’s best season as Washington’s head coach.  That isn’t saying much, mind you, so how far they can go is open for interpretation.  Hence, the unknown.

That’s it for me for this offseason.  Welcome to the 2023 regular season, at least fairly soon.  Let me know what you think in the comment section below.