Let’s be fair: last season is a low bar to clear baseline, but no one really knew what to expect from the 2024 Commanders until the new regime took over and started the league year.
We’re about a week into the latter, and given the Commanders’ free agency moves, have your expectations changed for the team? JP Finlay said that after hearing Austin Ekeler speak to the media Monday, ’it’s hard to not feel some sense of a growing excitement for the players that have signed up with this team,’ and BMitch agrees.
“Yes, and I think the thing of it is a lot of these guys are guys who have done it in other places. I think the ultimate thing for me is a lot of these guys still have a lot left in the tank,” Brian said. “I believe this team needed some level of leadership, where it's about the players helping to run this football team, not just coaches. When you have leaders on the field, you get stuff to the people that are not paying attention a lot quicker. Leadership that's in your locker room, that's trying not to do the stuff that's needed to get to become successful, that takes you completely away from it. And that is what was going on; we all knew it. This time, they are changing it up; most of these guys are guys that they know will work and be the right type of people, and having that level of leadership inside the locker room.”
And that’s the hallmark of a truly great coach, Brian says.
“I don't know a great coach in the history of this game that has not allowed their team to help them run their team,” Brian said. “A lot of coaches are afraid of it though.”
“You can't be scared of big personalities, people that are willing to change, and I think you saw it,” JP said. “If your expectations were just based off last year, hell yeah, they should be different, because last year was an abject disaster.”
This year may still be not great, but it doesn’t have to be, as the Texans showed just last year.
“You don't have to take forever to get back the way you want to be. If you got the right players, the right guidance, people can become competitive,” Brian said. “All you need to get to a Super Bowl is be in the playoffs, right? So I need you to be competitive enough to where we don't think the game is over in the first quarter, which we saw some games last year, and I also need you to be so competitive that you are competing enough to where you're winning some of those games, and you're there in the end where you could go into the playoffs. We can't discuss Super Bowls without that, so getting into the playoffs consistently is where you want to be; only two teams go to the Super Bowl every year, but if you are constantly in the playoffs, you're giving yourself a chance.”
“So much of that is gonna hinge on what happens at quarterback, but there's two different ways to look at this,” JP replied. “One is if the rest of the roster is good enough and you have a quarterback – look at the first Super Bowl Ben Roethlisberger won, or the only one Russell Wilson won; their job was to not turn it over, hit a couple of big passes, and play action, and let the defense carry you. I don't think Washington has that defense yet, but I think that's where Dan Quinn certainly has the expertise, and I think this year the roster could be good enough to compete for a wild card spot.”
All that said…
“Has free agency changed my expectations for this season? Sure, but I believed Quinn and Adam Peters when they said no matter what happens on the field this year, we're gonna compete,” JP said. “I believe that, but still thought they were probably a five or six-win team; now, I think they're a six or seven-win team. I think they're probably a year away from really competing, but I feel much better…and hey, you never know.”
Listen to the entire conversation above!