Tyler’s Take – Washington Commanders need a short-yardage package

I was absolutely thrilled to watch the Commanders get the win on Thursday night against the rival Giants on the road in primetime. For as pleased as I was with the effort and fight the team showed, there were some things that still need IMMEDIATE attention! I brought up one of these issues in my Stu

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What is the story about?

I was absolutely thrilled to watch the Commanders get the win on Thursday night against the rival Giants on the road in primetime.

For as pleased as I was with the effort and fight the team showed, there were some things that still need IMMEDIATE attention! I brought up one of these issues in my Studs and Duds article.

David Blough’s gameplan looked a LOT different than previous games – IN A GOOD WAY! It actually resembled more Kliff Kingsbury than Ben Johnson with all the shotgun, tempo and chipping

to help Brandon Coleman, the weak link on Washington’s offensive line. We still DESPERATELY lack a running game, but Blough did call a few designed runs to Daniels during the game which I liked. The one gripe I have is the series right before the half, when Washington was at the half-yard line. I know Jayden should have scored on the quarterback lead, but RUN THE DAMN BALL WITH YOUR RUNNING BACK!

AT THE HALF YARD LINE AND WE WERE IN THE DAMN ‘GUN!!!!!

Short Yardage Package:

It’s VERY evident, even to the most novice observer, that Washington needs a short-yardage/goal-line “Heavy” package. With Jayden Daniels’ current elbow injury, there is not a fan on this planet (although I believe we have some fans from another galaxy), who want to see our 210-pound signal caller getting RAMMED into a defensive front and pushed forward into a pile of 320-pound immovable objects by 250-plus pound men.

Some would suggest using veteran backup Marcus Mariota in this situation, but the 33-year-old has dealt with some injuries of his own this season, and I’d rather not put him in a situation where we could potentially make any of those worse.

My Idea:

Luke McCaffrey: The 6-foot-2 200-pounder was a former 4-star quarterback recruit who committed to play at Nebraska for Scott Frost. He played two seasons in Lincoln before transferring to Rice. He started three games at quarterback in 2021 before being moved to wide receiver in 2022.

Colson Yankoff: The 6-4, 225-pound tight end was a former 4-star quarterback recruit for the University of Washington. He ended up redshirting as a freshman, then transferred to UCLA. After sitting out the 2019 campaign per NCAA rules, he switched to wide receiver/running back for the Bruins.

Both players have the ability to go under center and take a snap. Both guys are good with the ball in their hands and shouldn’t be viewed as a risk when it comes to ball security in heavy traffic. Each guy has the necessary size and, being former ball carriers themselves (McCaffrey was a very good rushing quarterback), each should possess the necessary ability to see a small crease in the defense and get the necessary yardage to either move the chains or push the ball into the end zone.

How Washington should run this:

Ideally, this would be implemented by using three tight ends (two of which line up in the backfield as up-backs), with an extra lineman reporting in as eligible and lining up as a tight end.

Below you will see how this formation could look.