In their inaugural 1960 season the Boston Patriots used the tricorn hat logo. It would be replaced a year later by the Patriot snapping the ball. The newer logo would last for some 32 years until replaced by the current logo.
The pre-season mercifully comes to an end this week. Washington has the honors to close it out on a national Sunday night broadcast. If you’re tuning in to see Jayden Daniels he’ll be on the sidelines in sweats. His pre-season work ended last week. The joint practice with the Dolphins went well. The two series in the game went fairly well. Both ended in field goal attempts. One of them actually was good. The WFT started the pre-season with two place kickers. They’re both gone. Another one is on the way from Cleveland. He may just be another body in the conga line. Teams get criticized for drafting kickers. But, after a watching this kicking crew butcher the job it becomes more understandable.
The older less-stylized Dolphin logo. Many Dolphins fans feel the retro uniforms are a good luck charm.
Pre-season Game #2 takes the WFT to steamy Miami for a Saturday evening affair. Here are some notes from PS Game #1:
-Jayden Daniels provided the briefest of sneak peeks into the future. He engineered a successful drive completing two of three passes. One of which was a dime dropped into Dyami Brown’s hands despite blanket coverage. It was a bold, rogue play. Daniels audibled to an “All Go” when he saw the coverage. No doubt the pass called by the sideline was a short one. Dan Quinn equated the play to Tom Cruise requesting to buzz the tower in the movie “Top Gun.” Permission was denied. Cruise’s character did it anyway. If you’ve been lusting for a “Gunslinger” QB your wish may have come true.
As expected the WFT took LSU’s Jayden Daniels with the #2 pick. New GM Adam Peters simply had to draft a QB. The only two elements of drama were; which one at #2, or trade down and draft which one? Either way a QB was coming to town. As for which one at #2 the only two in play were Daniels and North Carolina’s Drake Maye. What Daniels has that Maye doesn’t is speed in abundance. What Maye has the Daniels doesn’t is size. Maye’s footwork was the big concern. Daniels durability was the big concern. Whoever was picked would leave a good chunk of the fanbase less than happy. Daniels it is. Trading down had lots of appeal. But, the old adage is to never trade down until guaranteed you will get the guy you want. With the last of the top six QBs gone at #12 there was never a guarantee of getting a good QB. And, Peters had to have one. Now the organization has to keep him upright.
Chris Hanburger was selected by the WFT in 1965 with the 245th pick during the 18th Round. He is one of five players from that draft to make the Hall of Fame. The others were Gale Sayers, Dick Butkus,Joe Namath, (1st Round) and Fred Belitnikoff (3rd Round). In today’s draft model Hanburger would have been a mid-seventh rounder.
The first thing one has to understand about the NFL draft is the absolute randomness of it. So-called “Mortal Locks” fail at an astounding rate. Inconsequential late-rounders defy odds and bloom. Even players that go undrafted somehow produce. The Hall of Fame includes undrafted players such as Kurt Warner, Larry Little, and Washington nemesis Drew Pearson among a decent number of others. Teams spend millions of dollars to formulate their “Draft Boards.” It’s person-hours of research in staggering amounts combined with travel, consultants, and interviews. Despite all that, in the end, it’s not all that different from picking lottery ping-pong balls. Washington’s immediate football future depends on picking a winner.
Yogi Berra famously said, “If you don’t know where you’re going, you might end up someplace else.” That sums up two-and-one-half decades of the Washington professional football franchise. Directionless, rudderless, and clueless are all attributes of the Dan Snyder era. So, it was with some measure of contained glee that newly hired Dan Quinn hit the exactly correct note at one point during his introductory presser. Nearly two-thirds of the way into the hour-long affair he was asked about a “Rebuild.” He shrugged off the word: “…this is a recalibrate, you know, finding our North again…” For a ship languishing and long lost in the open ocean it all starts with finding Polaris.
When Josh Harris and the new ownership group selected Adam Peters the pronouncement was that, ““We set out to find a leader, someone who could take this franchise to the next level and build an elite team that consistently competes for championships.” Peters in his first pronouncement stated, ““We’re looking for the best leader for this team, for the Washington Commanders.” During a radio interview within the past ten days Hall-of-Fame Coach Bill Cowher was asked what was the primary attribute to consider when hiring a new Head Coach. “He has to be a leader of men, first and foremost.” If you listen to football people long enough you’ll hear variations on this theme over and over, ad nauseum. What does it mean, though?
UPDATE 1/12/24: The WFT has hired Adam Peters as the new General Manager. From firing Ron Rivera to hiring Peters took right at 100 hours. Peters is linked to a couple of coaching candidates including Bobby Slowik of Houston and Ben Johnson of Detroit. In-person interviews can begin on Monday the 22nd.
The last time a General Manager and Head Coach search went truly right for the WFT. Hall-of-Famers Bobby Bethard and Joe Gibbs flank Jack Kent Cooke
UPDATE: 1/11/24
Ian Rappaport is reporting that the WFT GM search is down to two finalists; Adam Peters of the 49ers and Ian Cunningham of the Bears. The choice is supposedly going to happen within a few days.
Peters is a hot commodity. If Harris really wants him then moving quickly is the correct play. More updates coming as events warrant.
Original Post:
There were only a few surprises on Monday. Ron Rivera was fired not long after daybreak. But, his coaching staff was not. In Jacksonville, they kept the Head Coach, but fired pretty much the whole coaching staff. It’s always interesting how teams approach these things. Josh Harris wasted no time in announcing his search team. It includes NBA Executive Bob Myers and Rick Spielman, a former General Manager with the Vikings. Harris also put the pedal to the metal in requesting interviews with Head Coaching candidates. That was pretty visible. The General Manager search is more subterranean. This post will provide updates as they become available.
Bill McPeak was the Washington Head Coach for 5 seasons in the mid 1960s. His record was 21-46-3. Ron Rivera’s record will be similar when his tenure ends perhaps as early as “Black Monday.” 26-39-1.
If you dislike amusement park rides the coast into the end is always a relief. This has been a rough autumn and winter for the WFT. That’s the norm. Washington football fandom is not for the feint of heart. This season will end with the proverbial whimper that most do. Tomorrow, or shortly thereafter the team will start the off-season with a bang by dismissing some or all of the coaching and front office staff. Winning the off-season is what the WFT does best. Winning on the field is another matter.
Joe Montana threw some 5391 pass attempts in his career. But, only one of them resulted in “The Catch.” Dwight Clark leaps up high in the air to put away Dallas. January 10, 1982
One of the very few things these two teams have in common this week is that they both are coming off of losing games. That’s familiar territory for the WFT. Much like the Carthaginian General Hannibal, they will either find a way (to lose) or make a new one. Last weeks loss to the woebegone Jets was yet another example. It’s best if not re-lived. The 49ers simply got their fannies spanked by Baltimore. That crew should be pretty salty when it arrives in DC. This game means a lot to them. Winning their last two games gives them a bye week and home field advantage. On the other hand a loss is meaningful to Washington for draft position.
