The Washington Commanders’ offense will be different in one big way because Kliff Kingsbury replaced Eric Bieniemy as coordinator, and running back Brian Robinson Jr. knows how.
Robinson explained how Kingsbury’s offense is “going to be a little bit faster as far as comparing it to the offense we had last year. I just know the tempo will be faster compared to last year. We had a huddle-type offense. This offense will be more no-huddle,” per The 33rd Team’s Dan Pizzuta.
Those comments fold in with Pizzuta’s prediction the Commanders will be more about “pace” offensively with Kingsbury on the headset: “There are many questions about what Kliff Kingsbury’s offense will look like with the Washington Commanders, but the one that is known is the pace.”
Huddling less and executing plays faster sounds great in theory, but there are reasons to believe the Kingsbury blueprint will need to be adapted to best suit Washington’s personnel.
Kliff Kingsbury Scheme Has Positives and Negatives for Commanders
History endorses Pizzuta and Robinson’s prediction about how Kingsbury’s unit will attack defenses. Notably, the coordinator’s time as head coach of the Arizona Cardinals from 2019-22.
As Pizzuta detailed, “During Kinsbury’s tenure with the Cardinals, Arizona was second in situation-neutral pace. The offense’s basis was getting to the line quickly and using that tempo to catch defenses off-guard.”
There were two drawbacks to this approach, according to Pizzuta: “Often that meant receivers stayed static in the same alignments and did not move around often, which limited the menu of plays that could be called.”
Predictability and a deficient number of plays would make things harder for rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels to inspire the kind of turnaround the Commanders are expecting. Defenses being able to quickly zero in on Kingsbury’s tendencies wouldn’t just harm the No. 2 player taken in the 2024 NFL draft.
It would also diminish the effectiveness of a playmaker like wide receiver Terry McLaurin. The latter is an underrated target who could become the go-to option in a Kingsbury-schemed passing game.
What McLaurin should guard against is falling into the static role DeAndre Hopkins once played for Kingsbury in Arizona. Hopkins usually lined up as the outside receiver, a trend that began when the All-Pro “aligned on the left side on 34 of 40 routes (85%) in his #Cardinals debut in Kingsbury’s Air Raid offense” against the San Francisco 49ers in 2020, per Next Gen Stats.
This type of usage became familiar for Hopkins, who led the league with “109 targets” from left wide receiver, according to Jake Tribbey of Fantasy Points.
Kingsbury will need to be more creative with his skill players for the Commanders. Fortunately, Pizzuta has the solution: “In a best-case scenario, Washington mixes in the tempo and doesn’t rely on it to be the base of the offense with more modern motions that can change the picture for the defense while relying on a well-schemed ground game that can use the backs and quarterback Jayden Daniels.”
Taking this approach would be good news for running backs like Robinson. It would also represent a marked difference from how Bieniemy called the offense in 2023.
Eric Bieniemy Ignored Commanders’ Running Game
The Commanders ranked dead last in rushing attempts on Bieniemy’s watch, with just 359. Not only did this lopsided play-calling put too much on inexperienced quarterback Sam Howell, it also wasted Robinson’s talents.
Using Robinson more often in specific situations can make him a breakout player in Kingsbury’s system. Yet, there’s also room for versatile veteran Austin Ekeler to take on a heavy workload.
The 29-year-old is prolific catching passes out of the backfield, having snagged 465 career receptions. Ekeler also has a nose for the end zone, evidenced by 39 rushing touchdowns, including this one against the New York Jets in Week 9, highlighted by 98.7FM ESPN New York.
A double act of Ekeler and Robinson can be the perfect complement to Daniels’ dual-threat skills. Last season’s Heisman Trophy winner rushed for 1,134 yards during his final year at LSU, so it will make sense for Kingsbury to lean on a varied ground attack, rather than a scheme that’s up-tempo and pass-first.
