Analyst Slams Commanders Hire Dan Quinn: 'I Don't Understand It!'
The Washington Commanders hired Dan Quinn as their new head coach, taking over from Ron Rivera. While the change will be welcome, the move hasn't exactly gotten positive reviews.
Now, Quinn will need time to get across how he wants things done, and being one of the best defensive coordinators in football over the last couple of seasons, he could take the defensive play-calling duties for Washington.
But, with the Commanders expected to take a quarterback at No. 2 in the upcoming NFL Draft, FS1's Nick Wright thinks that Washington selecting an offensive-minded head coach to pair with the young quarterback couldn't been a better move.
“I don’t understand it for Washington,” Wright said on First Things First. “It is not the idea that you can only hire offensive-minded head coaches. I think we’ve seen a lot of defensive-minded head coaches have a lot of success. But Washington’s about to draft a quarterback at No. 2 and so the opportunity to marry that QB's growth with an offensive head coach that can be there, if everything works out, for the next decade. Whether that be you pay a ton of money to Ben Johnson, you had Eric Bieniemy in-house, that to me, from Washington’s perspective, would’ve made the most sense."
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With so many offensive-minded head coaches available, the Commanders chose to go with Quinn, who is more a defensive mind, and while some are against that idea as he is in a similar ilk to Rivera, it was Quinn's ability to build a strong culture that might have been the deciding factor.
While Bieniemy is only one year into his offensive coordinator position, he will likely now get a new quarterback to develop.
Whether that be Drake Maye or Jayden Daniels, the Commanders will be getting new blood into the quarterback room. Sam Howell's future is undecided and it remains to be seen if Washington will make him the backup or if he will maintain his current position while the rookie quarterback learns his craft.
But did Washington miss a trick here by not going with an offensive head coach like Ben Johnson? Possibly, but Quinn isn't a pushover and has the credentials behind him as a head coach in the NFL.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing and we hope that 12 months from now, the Commanders don't look back and regret their decision to hire Quinn.
