A lot of talk this week about Sam Howell’s future, and whether or not the new regime will look for a quarterback at No. 2, and what anyone is even playing for – but BMitch has an answer for that.
“We always talk about the last game of the season like this: what do players have to play for, or coaches have to coach for, and how do you approach this last week?” BMitch said. “I’ve been in situations like this, and you go out and play for pride. People always talk about the name on the front of the jersey, I played for the name on the back of the jersey more than anything, because I had more pride in Mitchell than I did Redskins, Eagles, or Giants. I’ve been that way since I can remember, so it’s about pride when it comes to me. If you’ve ever competed in anything, that’s the mindset you should have – and I understand the mindset in this town right now is nobody wants the Commanders to win, but I guarantee you 47 or 48 guys will be out on that field trying to win the game and have a good showing.”
That’s probably more true than we know, given it’s likely a lot of key players are simply held out and it often looks like a glorified preseason game on Sunday, but those guys will be fighting for jobs, ostensibly, whether those be here or elsewhere.
And so, as Brian Mitchell has oft said, if the right people are looking, you can find talent anywhere in the draft – and that’s why, as he reiterated Thursday, more important than the next Commanders QB’s identity is those of their next head coach and general manager.
“We talked about all the Pro Bowlers on the Ravens and Niners who weren’t first-round picks, and there’s never been a team built with all first-rounders – but guys have won the Super Bowls, made multiple Pro Bowls and the Hall of Fame without being first-rounders,” BMitch said. “I don’t want ever the mindset of we can just go through the motions, because it doesn’t make me one bit of difference how the game ends – my hope is that the person that Josh Harris hires to lead this thing, whether they have the second pick or third pick, will be a game changer, a franchise changer who will make a hell of a difference on this football team.”
Jared Goff was the No. 1 pick, Lamar Jackson was the last pick of the first round, Brock Purdy was Mr. Irrelevant, and starting QBs in the league fall everywhere in between. So, yeah, whether the Commanders pick second, third, or fourth in Round 1, what they find everywhere else is going to be just as important to the future – especially on the sidelines.
“We can go through it and find great players at the quarterback position everywhere, but you must have somebody who's gonna be able to nurture that guy and give him the proper guidance to get to where he has to go,” Brian said. “So, ultimately, what's the most important to me? The GM, the head coach, the three coordinators, and whoever's gonna be coaching the damn quarterback – that's more important than the actual quarterback in my book.”
