Immediately after the Los Angeles Rams defeated the Cincinnati Bengals 23-20 to win-win Super Bowl LVI, it was time to turn the page to the 2022 NFL season.
ESPN took a quick look at the 2022 season, offering very early power rankings. There were no surprises at the top with the Kansas City Chiefs, Buffalo Bills, Rams, Green Bay Packers and Bengals rounding out the top five.
What do those five teams have in common? A franchise quarterback. When you have a franchise passer in place, you don’t worry too much about how the offseason can change your roster because that quarterback will keep you among the best in the NFL. ESPN’s rankings assume that Aaron Rodgers will return in 2022, of course.
For a team like the Washington Commanders, there’s a lot of uncertainty because no one knows who will be under center next fall. ESPN’s ranking of Washington at No. 25 reflects that uncertainty.
2021 record: 7-10
Offseason in three or fewer words: Another QB search
Washington has started 32 quarterbacks since it last won the Super Bowl after the 1991 season — and eight passers in the past three years. While the Commanders like Taylor Heinicke as a high-end backup, they’re definitely searching for “The Guy” this offseason. Since Kirk Cousins left after the 2017 season, Washington has the NFL’s worst total QBR (36.7). In Ron Rivera’s first two seasons as coach the team is 30th (35.3). Washington will pursue the big names who might be available, but it will be difficult to not only get teams to agree to a trade, but then to have quarterbacks such as Russell Wilson or Watson waive no-trade clauses to come here. — John Keim
Washington will take big swings at the quarterback position for players like Wilson and Watson, but the odds are against either happening for the Commanders. Instead, it could look to trade for Jimmy Garoppolo, or sign a lesser free agent like Mitchell Trubisky and also draft a passer high in the 2022 NFL draft.
Either way, Washington remains in quarterback purgatory and until there’s a solution, there isn’t a lot of hope amongst fans for a big leap in 2022.