The Washington Commanders are focused internally on competing and laying the foundation for what they plan to become years of winning football.
Outside of the building, everyone is trying to figure out how good - or not good - the Commanders will really be in 2024.
There’s a sense of vast improvement happening in Washington, but not everyone is sold that it’ll provide quantifiable results in year one. Especially ESPN’s Mike Clay.
In his recent projections and predictions piece Clay projects the Commanders to be one of the worst teams in the league, ranking them 30th of the 32 NFL teams.
“Washington might have the league's best off-ball linebacker room, but there are concerns almost everywhere else, including at other defensive positions,” says Clay. “Many of the roster holes will be covered up if No. 2 pick Jayden Daniels makes an immediate impact under center.”
Those who expect the opposite from what Clay projects look to Daniels as one of the main reasons they believe Washington could make some noise this season.
A lot of those supporters are pointing to what the Houston Texans did in 2023 with quarterback C.J. Stroud to support their theory that the Commanders could be that team in the NFC this year.
Behind their impressive rookie, the Texans scored 22.2 point per game last year, 13th-best in the NFL.
While Clay points out Daniels could have an impact on what happens in Washington, he does not project this rookie quarterback experience will go quite as well, projecting this team to finish third-lowest in total points scored with 320.
Only the Cleveland Browns and New York Giants projects to score less.
The Giants are one of the teams ranked below the Commanders as well, coming in No. 32, as are the New England Patriots (No. 31) who selected quarterback Drake Maye following Washington general manager Adam Peters’ selection of Daniels with the No. 2 pick in the NFL Draft.
