NFL.com put out a post-draft edition of the NFL Power Rankings this week, with the Commanders ranked 30th, and sportsbooks have the team’s over/under win total at 6.5 wins – technically, two shy of where they finished in 2022 at 8-8-1.
Come Thursday, the Junkies just had to weigh in on those rankings.
“If you’re a Commanders fan, that has to concern you that your season win total is 6.5, and you’re being lumped in with the dregs of the league,” Cakes said, but it seems not everyone agrees.
“I don’t think it’s unfair given that you have Sam Howell as your starting quarterback,” JP chimed in. “You’re going with someone who is completely unproven, and you have a head coach that hasn’t had much success here in Washington.”
The wonder is why they went down from 7.5 after the draft, JP saying that perhaps it’s because they were considering trading up into the Top 10 to select a quarterback.
“The odds are skewed to the over, but yeah, the big question is the quarterback,” Bish said. “You assume three rookies are starting in Houston, Carolina, and maybe Indy, but the big question mark is that, plus the draft just wasn’t sexy.”
As for the Power Rankings? CBS Sports sent the Commanders down from 18 to 19, but NFL.com at 30?
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“On one hand, I can see it blowing up and Sam Howell getting benched, but on the other hand, could their QB and offensive line play be any worse?” JP asked.
“We know the teams, but don’t know the schedule yet – but with the parity in the league, and all these backups winning games, I still think there’s enough talent, especially on the defense, to win games against teams you’re not expected to beat,” Bish said. “They’ll be underdogs a lot, and they’ll win some of those games. I don’t think they’re going to the playoffs, but I’d be surprised if they only have five or six wins – and Brissett, if he plays, is a capable backup who went 4-7 in Cleveland last year, and can win you some games. If Sam Howell is terrible out of the gate and they’re 0-4 before Brissett steps in, then you have issues.”
“You have huge issues, and the new owner is in place and they start off 0-4, he’ll embrace the tank, because he did it with the 76ers,” JP said, with Cakes adding this: “He won’t actively tell the coach to lose games, but in the back of his mind, he’ll be hoping they lose and move up the draft board.”
JP still doesn’t get how the Commanders are at 30 when the Falcons are at 23 when both teams have the same questions at quarterback, and all Bish could say was “good question.”
“I might just split the difference and put them at 23 and 24,” Cakes laughed. “They’re not as good as 19, but they’re not that bad.”
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“You finished .500 last year with bad quarterback play and a bad offensive line,” JP said. “I don’t know if they truly upgraded the line – on paper they have – and we’ll see who they’ve added and how they contribute, but it can’t get much worse than last year when they still managed to scrape out eight wins!”
That said, JP believes the Commanders will still be under .500, but 7-10 is absolutely doable as opposed to “a two or three-win team which you’d expect being ranked that low.”
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