Much has been made of the Commanders receiving options being below-average (especially with Mclaurin not practicing this summer), however that needs to be viewed in context of Kliff Kingsbury’s offense.
Is it more important to have players who fit the scheme, or to build your scheme around the players you have?
This is the million-dollar question - and although I don’t know if I’ll be able to draw a concrete conclusion here either way, it will hopefully prompt some good discussion.
Kingsbury’s hybrid Air Raid system is challenging to stop.
First, this offense is in no-huddle the majority of the time. Shorter, underneath routes are key when you run an up-tempo offense. You don’t necessarily want to run four verticals and then ask you receivers to come sprinting back to the line of scrimmage for the next play.
The different types of screens and misdirection, and the horizontal play concepts allow for guys to get open quickly and do not rely as heavily as some offenses do on guys beating man coverage one-on-one.
One of the staples we saw last season was the over route which hitches off a go, post or corner. These over routes can be run by a slot receiver or an outside X or Z. They are designed coverage beaters and are usually set up with some sort of combo flood scheme that shows something similar, but different. We saw Noah Brown targeted a lot on these routes prior to his injury. I think Deebo will be a guy we see used for these concepts this season.
Second, the receivers, tight ends and running backs need to be cerebral in this system. Instead of being asked to attack and beat a single defender, they are more focused on attacking an area of the field. Pass catchers need to be able to quickly decipher coverages, understand spacing and take what the defense is giving them.
Finally, moving guys around pre-snap is crucial to get defenses to tip their hand on what type of coverage they are showing. Both the quarterback and pass catchers are required to make a lot of pre-snap reads to help determine where the football ultimately goes.
Despite this being more of a horizonal attacking offense, there is a significant vertical component that will open up when defense try to take away the underneath passing game.
That is the beauty of Kingsbury hybrid system. Every play shown is designed to set up something later. That could be the next play, or two or three series later in the game.
The wheel route out of the backfield with a flood concept going away from the primary read is a good example of how Kingsbury likes to attack vertically.
Last year Terry Mclaurin averaged 13.4 yards per reception, down just a tad from his career average of 13.9. Zach Ertz bounced back to almost 10 yards per reception in 2024 after seeing 8.6 and 6.9 respectfully over his previous two seasons in Arizona. For reference, during his 13-year career, he’s averaged 10.4 yards per reception.
We saw how accurate Jayden Daniels was last season throwing the deep ball. It’s important to have a quarterback capable of placing a good ball when these deep shots are dialed up and Daniels did just that.
* Terry is one of the best contested catch wide receivers in the league, so when we take deep shots, 50:50 balls become 70:30 balls.
* Deebo can get open underneath AND creates YAC (one of the better WR’s in NFL at this). He should fit in perfectly for how Kingsbury wants to attack defenses with screens, slants and over routes.
* Brown is a big target who can act as a security blanket over the middle of the field and possession receiver at the sticks.
* Ertz is great finding open space in zones and amazing in the redzone. With all the eye-candy both pre-snap and when the play is going off, it’s easy to lose track of him.
* Eckler is an outstanding receiver out of the backfield and needs to be accounted for whenever he’s on the field. He will easily beat a linebacker, and if you cover him with a defensive back that opens up the tight end for a more favorable matchup.
* Washington has some good young players too. Rookie Jaylin Lane was an accomplished slot receiver in college at Virginia Tech who boasts great speed. Second year pro Luke McCaffrey has good size and athleticism. He also has the ability to play both inside and outside and can be a nice chess piece for Kliff to move around. Rookie running back Bill Crosky-Merritt has looked very comfortable catching the ball during training camp.
Now, combine this with Daniels ability to take off from the pocket if the defense turns their head to him, and this is what makes this offense special.
So, while Washington may not have an “elite” guy at a certain skill position (like a Jefferson, Chase, Lamb or Bowers), the guys we do have seem to fit VERY WELL into Kliff’s scheme.
It’s true that Washington doesn’t have “that guy” at one of the skill positions on offense. Terry is the closest we have, but most will put him around that 8-12 range - which would place him in the tier 2-3 category.
Despite not having a top five player at any skill position (not including quarterback) on offense, Washington still managed to finish seventh in the NFL in total offense last season. Year two under Kingsbury should yield even better overall production - especially if the running game begins to click and better protection is given to Jayden Daniels.
It appears Quinn and Kingsbury have the pieces they want to most effectively run this offense. This truly may be a case of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts.
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