There is always plenty of change during the NFL offseason, and this offseason was no different. New teams, and new players, but perhaps the most important of those are the new head coaches and quarterbacks. This offseason saw 12 different teams either usher in a new head coach, new quarterback, or both.
CBS Sports decided to rank these 12 NFL franchises based on how promising they will be using the following parameters: the team needs just one new starting QB or head coach to qualify, any projected QB who didn’t start Week 1 or multiple games for his team the year before, and ranking the pairings of HC/QB, not the team as a whole.
READ MORE: Could Commanders Go ‘Worst to First’?
Out of the 12 teams that qualified to be ranked, the Washington Commanders duo of rookie QB Jayden Daniels and HC Dan Quinn slotted in the ninth position – coming in ahead of the New England Patriots and Las Vegas Raiders who are ushering in both a new HC and QB and the duo in Denver of Bo Nix and Sean Payton.
Cody Benjamin gave the following reasoning behind placing the Commanders where he did,
“Daniels oozes athletic upside, giving Washington arguably its most dynamic dual-threat passer since early-career Robert Griffin III. But durability is a concern, as it was with RG3, and Quinn may be an even bigger wild card: His defensive background is impressive, but he hasn’t overseen a winning team since 2017, when he deployed Matt Ryan and Julio Jones in their prime.”
It is fair reasoning to be a bit cautious with the Commanders new QB and HC duo, but they have proven themselves at their previous stops.
The teams that were ranked ahead of Washington were the Carolina Panthers duo of Bryce Young and Dave Canales, the Bears’ Caleb Williams and Matt Eberflus, the Steelers’ Russell Wilson and Mike Tomlin, the Titans’ Will Levis and Brian Callahan, The Vikings’ Sam Darnold/J.J. McCarthy and Kevin O’Connell, the Seahawks’ Geno Smith and Mike Macdonald, the Falcons’ Kirk Cousins and Raheem Morris, and the Chargers’ Justin Herbert and Jim Harbaugh.
Out of all the teams ahead of the Commanders, the only duo that will be welcoming in both a new head coach and quarterback is that of the Atlanta Falcons. Another interesting tid-bit is that potentially two rookie QB’s and their head coaches, Caleb Williams and J.J. McCarthy, ranked higher than Jayden Daniels and Quinn in Washington.
READ MORE: Coach Quinn’s Authentic Leadership a Big Part of His Role
Stick with CommanderGameday and the Locked On Commanders podcast for more coverage of the Washington Commanders throughout the 2024 season.
Follow Caleb on Twitter.
