Hello! I’m back this year with BGN, as always, and I’ll have two review articles and two preview articles every week. If you missed the first preview of the year, make sure you check it out here.
The same Week 1 warning applies here. Washington’s new offensive coordinator, David Blough, has never called an NFL offense, so there is no real film that tells us exactly what Vic Fangio will be preparing for. We can make educated guesses based on Blough’s background and what Blough has said publicly, but
anyone claiming to know precisely what this offense will look like is guessing.
David Blough and Jayden Daniels
It’s really hard for me not to spend the whole article comparing Sean Mannion and David Blough, but the similarities are so obvious. Blough only stopped playing quarterback recently and spent the past two seasons as Washington’s assistant quarterbacks coach under Kingsbury. Before that, his playing career put him around a wide range of offensive coaches, including Ben Johnson in Detroit and Kevin O’Connell in Minnesota. Washington has also been open about wanting to move away from some of the philosophical elements of Kingsbury’s offense, particularly by becoming more balanced and using more under-center play action. Sound familiar?!
Blough’s challenge is deciding how much to change. Daniels has already spent two seasons getting comfortable in Kingsbury’s system, particularly operating from shotgun, using tempo, and using his legs a lot. Daniels looks like someone suited to a shotgun, spread-heavy RPO offense.
Throwing all of that away would make very little sense. At the same time, Washington didn’t change coordinators because it wanted the exact same offense, so I would expect the eventual structure to keep some of the shotgun and RPO elements Daniels already excels at while adding more motion, heavier personnel, under-center formations, and a more connected run and play-action game. Once again… sound familiar?!
Ben Johnson has always done an excellent job making the run and pass game look identical. Daniels has spent most of his career seeing the defense from shotgun. It is a different world from under center. Turning your back to the defense and then having to relocate safeties and underneath defenders is a different skill.
I thought Johnson handled a similar situation intelligently when he began working with Caleb Williams. Rather than forcing every element of his offense on a young quarterback immediately, he simplified some early play-action concepts and gradually added more as the season progressed. Blough would be wise to do something similar. I expect Week 1 to be a transition to a new offense, but not something totally different.
That is what makes Washington difficult to predict. The sensible approach would be to keep plenty of consistency for Daniels early in the season and gradually layer in the new ideas. However, Blough is also a young first-time coordinator who will understandably want to put his own stamp on the offense (similar to Mannion! OK, I’ll stop comparing them now). If Washington wants Daniels under center more frequently, I expect Fangio to test his comfort level immediately by rotating the secondary after the snap and forcing him to process a different picture once he turns around from the run fake.
Daniels remains the biggest problem regardless of scheme because his athleticism can erase mistakes. He is also a quarterback who has never been shy about taking hits, which Washington will want to manage over a long season, but it can create defensive issues. From the Eagles’ perspective, Fangio cannot allow the pass rush to become reckless because Washington’s quarterback is too dangerous once the structure breaks down. Maintaining rush-lane integrity will be every bit as important as creating pressure in this game.
Skill Positions
Washington has built a fairly interesting collection of skill players around Daniels. Terry McLaurin remains the obvious focal point and is still the receiver the Eagles need to account for first. He has had success against Quinyon Mitchell a couple of years ago.
However, last year Quinyon bossed him. He totally erased McLauin out the game.
Stefon Diggs gives the offense another experienced target who can move between the slot and outside, while rookie Antonio Williams is talented but still unknown. They also have Dyami Brown, who can threaten vertically; Treylon Burks, who has a ton of physical talent; and Jaylin Lane, who gives them another speed option.
That collection makes sense if Blough wants to use more play action. McLaurin and Brown can threaten defenses vertically once the run fake pulls defenders forward, while Diggs can work underneath and in the intermediate areas of the field. Williams gives the offense another player who can move around the formation rather than being tied to one spot. The Commanders have enough versatility to make the passing game hard to predict, even if they don’t have a superstar WR1.
The tight end room also supports the idea that Washington could become heavier and more multiple. Chig Okonkwo is the main receiving threat, John Bates is a good run blocker, and Ben Sinnott has enough versatility to do elements of both. Washington can play 12 and 13 personnel without necessarily declaring whether it intends to run or pass, which is exactly what you want if the offense is trying to marry the run game with play action.
In the backfield, Jacory Croskey-Merritt is expected to carry the bulk of the early-down workload, while Rachaad White should be involved in passing situations if healthy and Kaytron Allen gives the Commanders a more physical short-yardage option. None of them are individuals I expect to create explosives consistently on their own, so I think this backfield’s success will depend heavily on the blocking structure Blough creates.
Offensive Line
This is the matchup the Eagles need to win. Washington entered the season expecting Laremy Tunsil to protect Daniels’ blind side, and losing him changes the entire look of the line. Brandon Coleman is expected to move back outside to left tackle. This will leave Chris Paul at left guard, Nick Allegretti moving to center, Sam Cosmi remaining the standout at right guard, and Josh Conerly Jr. continuing at right tackle. There is talent here, so I don’t want to make the mistake of describing the whole line as poor. Cosmi is one of the better guards in football, and Washington has every reason to believe Conerly can take a significant step forward.
Conerly and Cosmi on the right side could become a real strength. Cosmi already plays at a high level, while Conerly has the athletic traits to improve significantly after his first season. If Washington gets the expected development from him, the Eagles are not going to simply dominate every matchup across the line.
However, the issues are much more concentrated on the other side and in the middle. I’ve used a lot of Brandon Thorn’s work here, and he had Tunsil 2nd among 40 left tackles before the injury, while Paul ranked 23rd of 34 guards and Allegretti 35th of 35 centers. Cosmi was 3rd among right guards and Conerly 24th among 32 right tackles. I wouldn’t treat positional rankings as gospel, especially with younger players who could improve significantly, but losing an elite left tackle changes everything.
I would focus most on Allegretti. Washington moved him from guard to center after Tyler Biadasz left, and he’s missed a lot of August with an injury. Jalen Carter should be the central figure in the game plan. Washington can slide the protection towards him, but that creates one-on-one opportunities elsewhere. If the center and guard are constantly occupied with Carter, Jordan Davis and Moro Ojomo will have favorable matchups, while Fangio can threaten the interior with linebackers and simulated pressures. The Eagles do not need to send six defenders to create pressure; showing pressure and forcing Washington’s new center to identify who is actually rushing could be enough.
The left side should be tested too. Coleman has enough athleticism to develop into a good tackle, but changing roles and playing alongside a new starter at guard creates a communication issue as much as an individual talent issue. I expect the Eagles to use stunts to test Coleman and Paul, and to get Washington to slide protection to the right, giving their edge rushers a two-way go against Coleman on the left.
This is where Washington’s intended offense could run into problems. Under-center play action often asks the quarterback to hold the football slightly longer because he has to execute the fake, reset, and wait for the routes to develop. If Carter is already collapsing the interior by the time Daniels finishes the fake, this new offensive structure could struggle early.
If Washington’s offensive line plays well and gives Daniels clean pockets, the Commanders have enough skill-position talent to cause problems. I would be very disappointed if that happens. The Eagles should have enough juice upfront to create a lot of issues for Daniels.
Run Game
I expect Washington to make a real effort to establish the run because everything we have heard about Blough’s offense points towards greater balance. Croskey-Merritt could receive a significant workload, while the use of Bates and Sinnott allows Washington to play from heavier personnel and create the kind of under-center formations that naturally lead into play action. If they take a leaf out of the Ben Johnson playbook, the Eagles will need to do better than they did last year!
The Bears’ run game ruined Nakobe Dean last year, so Jihaad Campbell will need to do better if the run game looks similar. Although I doubt the run game is anywhere near as good as the Bears were last year! It’s not easy to copy Ben Johnson…
The Eagles should welcome the challenge this week. Carter and Davis give Fangio the size to defend the interior without constantly adding another defender to the box, and that could be very important in this matchup. If the Eagles can stop the run while keeping two safeties deep, Washington loses one of the easiest ways to create favorable throws for Daniels, who loves attacking vertical routes against single-high coverage.
The quarterback run game complicates everything, which is why I expect them to still run a lot from the shotgun, despite the Ben Johnson influence. Daniels is too dangerous for the Eagles to treat him like a conventional passer, and I would be surprised if Blough removed the designed quarterback run and zone-read elements that worked under Kingsbury. Even if the offense becomes much more diverse, those concepts remain an easy way to use one of Daniels’ best traits, but they work better from the shotgun.
Discipline on the edge will therefore be crucial. The Eagles cannot allow backside defenders to crash mindlessly on the running back and give Daniels free access to the perimeter. The same principle applies when he scrambles. Pressure is important, but forcing Daniels out of a collapsing pocket directly into open space defeats the point of winning the initial rush.
I would rather see the Eagles compress the pocket and make Daniels throw from uncomfortable platforms than chase sacks at all costs. Carter winning inside could be particularly valuable because interior pressure affects the quarterback without immediately creating the same escape lanes that wide edge rushes can.
Pass Game
If Blough retains a significant amount of Kingsbury’s offense early, I expect Daniels to stay comfortable in shotgun with quick concepts, RPOs, and enough tempo to keep Fangio from constantly changing personnel. That is probably the safest way for Washington to start the season because it keeps the quarterback in an environment he understands.
The big ’what if’ is how much Washington will throw from under center. This is where Fangio can have fun. The Eagles do not need to show Daniels the same look throughout the game. They can present single-high before the snap and rotate to two-high, or show two safeties deep and spin one down once Daniels begins the fake. The aim should be to make the picture he sees before turning his back different from the one he sees when he looks downfield again.
I would be careful with excessive blitzing because Daniels is so dangerous against broken structure. The Eagles have enough talent up front that they should be able to generate pressure without constantly sacrificing defenders in coverage. If Carter and the defensive line can win, Fangio can keep bodies on McLaurin, Diggs, and Okonkwo while forcing Daniels to repeatedly execute from the pocket.
And if Blough did learn a lot from Ben Johnson, keep an eye on some trick plays if things aren’t going well…
Final Thoughts
Washington’s offense could be really interesting by the middle of the season. I understand the logic behind moving away from a purely Kingsbury-style structure and giving Daniels a more varied run and play-action game. However, I totally get why the NFL is moving into this new under center world, but I look at Daniels and wonder if he is a better fit for a more shotgun-heavy offense. Blough has worked with several excellent offensive coaches, and if he successfully combines those influences without overwhelming his quarterback, there is plenty of upside.
Week 1 is a very different question for Washington. Blough is calling his first NFL game, Daniels is being asked to operate within a changing offensive structure, the offensive line has already lost its best player, and several positions are either changing or unsettled. The right side of Cosmi and Conerly could be very good, so this isn’t a dreadful offensive line from left to right, but the Eagles have a clear area to attack through Coleman, Paul and Allegretti.
If the Eagles’ offense under Mannion has a few early growing pains, that is understandable. Fangio’s defense does not have the same excuse. The Eagles have continuity within the scheme and enough talent up front to play well in this one.
Washington has enough talent to make plays, especially with Daniels’ legs and the combination of McLaurin and Diggs, so I don’t expect the Eagles to dominate every drive. But if Washington can consistently run the ball, protect Daniels, and execute long-developing play-action concepts behind this reshuffled offensive line, I will be a little surprised and somewhat concerned! Crazy things happen in Week 1, though, so who knows…
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