Extra Point(s): Edition II

Welcome to the second edition of the midweek UKHTTC feature ‘Extra Point(s)’.

After a wholly unacceptable loss to the New York Giants, UKHTTC founder Christian Burt and regular contributor Joshua Edwards wax lyrical on free agents to keep and what next for the burgundy and gold in a disappointing campaign.

First up is Joshua.

If the Commanders lose to Dallas, are we firing the HC?

I’m not sure, but my guess is no.

Should Rivera be fired based on the roster construction, the lack of readiness against bad opponents, and the overall win-loss record (26-34-1) over a four-year period? Yes, absolutely.

And he will be at some point, I am certain. The real question here is when, and whether there is a net benefit to firing Ron now vs. next week vs. Black Monday etc.

I suspect that the new ownership group is willing to go through some short-term pain (of keeping Ron et al around) while doing due diligence on prospective GMs and coaching staffs. Remember, you can’t tap up a promising offensive coordinator midseason, and I doubt their favourite targets are out of college or, worse, on the couch.

That leaves one other potential scenario: fire Ron and elevate Eric Bieniemy to head coach for the rest of the year.

Again, I don’t think they particularly want to do this. I think they’d rather EB focus on Howell and the offense and let Ron and Jack Del Rio take the bullets from the media and the ever-angrier fanbase who have had enough of Rivera. If Dallas blows Washington out and it’s clear that Rivera has lost the locker room? Don’t rule it out.

Any Washington season end FAs you’d keep around?

I’ll reiterate my position on roster construction given our situation: give the new group carte blanche to get rid of everyone and anyone and start afresh.

I said it when we traded Chase and Montez, and I’ll say it again now: we’ve won nothing with this group of players and so if we haven’t snapped them up to long term deals today, I don’t care if they’re gone tomorrow.

However, there are some guys I like who are due to be free agents who I wouldn’t mind seeing under a new staff:

Kam Curl: I suspect a modern defensive coordinator could utilise Curl’s talents to a greater extent than Voodoo Jack

Efe Obada: this is heart over head but he’s cheap and was born in London, so I’d love Efe to hang around – has been relatively productive

Jeremy Reaves: special teams ace and a cool story

Otherwise? Nah.

Were there *any* positives from Sunday?

Draft position seems like the most obvious one.

As it stands, we have the 7th, 37th, and 39th picks in next year’s draft, and a tough schedule down the stretch. One of the most frustrating things about yesterday was that if you wanted Howell to play meaningful games late into the season, a win would’ve extended that possibility, as Minnesota and Seattle both lost. Now I don’t really care if we lose out.

It’s hard to find anything on the field although I think Howell continues to show a lot of positive traits. He threw picks vs New York, but I tend not to worry about picks too much during the developmental stages of a young QBs career. Elite QBs throw interceptions, they can be overcome.

His toughness was there to see, and he made some high-level throws. I won’t be watching the All22 to find any other crumbs of comfort from this one guys, sorry.

And over to Christian.

If the Commanders lose to Dallas, are we firing the HC?

First, a fact.

The Washington Commanders are 100% out of the wild card race. They might appear on those graphic cards on various media outlets, but there is more chance of my 48-year-old worn out body rushing past Dexter Lawrence than the burgundy & gold having a post-season.

Unfortunately, as Joshua eloquently states, there is almost little point making any changes now. Rivera will not be the Head Coach of the team in 2024 and there is a fair chance that the majority of the current coaching staff will follow Ron out the door.

The Giants defeat under normal circumstances would be a sackable offence, but the alternative is not much more than a holding type change (please pause and memory recall Bill Callahan stepping in for an eventual 3-8 record after Jay Gruden was fired in 2019). Is there really any point in sacking Ron & co, no matter how justified?

However, if an absolute blow-out loss (i.e. by 40 points in Dallas) then a firing is possible through justifiable fan appeasement. And, let’s face it, a blow-out loss is not beyond the realms of possibility with this team right now.

Any Washington season end FAs you’d keep around?

Yes, there are a few to strongly consider.

First off, I would offer Curtis Samuel a deal for around $20m ($13m guaranteed) over three years. He is 27 years old and a very useful WR2/3 guy in what I expect to still be an Eric Bieniemy OFF in 2024.

There might be better offers out there for Samuel, but I would make 2024 the $10m season and 2025 and 2026 $5m. Spotrac has a $5.6 average annual salary market price for Curtis, which I feel is a little low.

CB Kendall Fuller is, I believe, project a little high on market value at 3 years, $42,273,443. Ideally, you would want Emmanuel Forbes Jnr to make a jump in year two of his NFL career and I believe the Commanders will not make an offer that appeals to Fuller to stick around.

Kamren Curl is intriguing.

The market value is an average salary of $15,389,792 and I would make Curl likely to be paid in Washington and a key piece going forward. Aged 24, it would be a shame to lose a Safety who has even more to come in the NFL.

James Smith-Williams and Casey Toohill are solid enough as depth+ DE's to bring back.

All about the price being right for the likes of Jeremy Reaves and Antonio Gibson, and the Commanders have a very decent cap space and number of draft picks to consider alternative options across the roster.

Were there *any* positives from Sunday?

Weirdly, the game plan itself from the coaching staff was decent enough.

This was a total shot yourself in the foot performance from the Commanders. To turn the ball over six times is just totally unacceptable; it was literally the perfectly shitstorm performance to allow an undrafted rookie QB such as Tommy DeVito to thrive.

In many ways, we saw Bieniemy adjust well to the Giants blitz as he got the football into the hands of the ever-willing Brian Robinson Jnr. and, despite the fumble, rookie RB Chris Rodriguez Jnr flashed some of his college size and explosiveness.

Promising Defensive End K.J. Henry recorded 1.5 sacks, two quarterback hits, one tackle for loss, and two passes defended, all a single-game career-high and is the third rookie all-time(!) with such stats.

To leave the field with a total of nine sacks of DeVito and still lose: unfathomable and ridiculous.

But, that sort of sums up the Commanders in 2023: head-scratching blown opportunities game after game.