One thing Washington Commanders’ fans have been wanting to see in recent weeks is more young players on the field. At 3-8 and currently on a six-game losing streak, the Commanders are essentially — not yet mathematically — eliminated from playoff contention. So, instead of seeing veteran tight end Zach Ertz drop passes or fail to get yards after the catch, fans want to see what 2024 second-round pick Ben Sinnott can do in his place.
Ertz has had a phenomenal career. He’s had some strong moments this year, too. But he’s also struggled at times. While veteran linebacker Bobby Wagner continues to rack up tackle numbers, he’s a major liability in coverage. We’ve seen much of second-year linebacker Jordan Magee recently, but not in Wagner’s place, who continues to play every snap.
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Head coach Dan Quinn recently weighed in on the debate of evaluating younger players while trying to win.
«I’m going to work like heck to try to fill both those buckets of winning now and also developing players for the future because it’s important to win now, it is,» Quinn said recently.
«These guys put absolutely everything you can into it, but it’s also important to bring players along, I recognize that. So, fill in both of those buckets; that’s my job to navigate that, and I’ll work hard to make sure we can do both of those. And it’s not easy, but that’s the goal for sure, to do both. And it takes a fine line, I think, but one that you can do.»
Quinn is correct. It’s a tough job, and it wouldn’t be easy for Quinn to tell prideful stars like Ertz and Wagner they need to sit. Most people likely still believe that having veterans like Wagner and Ertz on the field probably still gives the Commanders the best chance to win.
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Here’s the thing: how do we know?
Where does offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury stand on the topic?
«I think that’s always the fine line you walk in this profession, but you know, we just overall as an organization, we just need to play better football, and that’s our focus right now,» Kingsbury said on Thursday. «And so, whoever that is that will lead us to that is who’s going to be out there. And I think, you know, you’ll have those discussions I think week to week as, ‘Hey, what does this look like? Who’s the best players we need out there right now?’ but you do, you have to figure out like, are we trying to continue to, you know, win play at a high level or you reach a point at some point where you need to see what you got. And I think we’re still in it at this point, and so we got to put our best players out there and try to win games.»
What Kingsbury said is the answer almost every football coach will give you. It’s about winning the next game — not the following season. That’s foolish talk for coaches, who are constantly fighting to keep their jobs.
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Kingsbury is a big fan of Ertz. Ertz has said multiple times that Kingsbury is why he came to Washington. Remember, Kingsbury was Ertz’s head coach with the Arizona Cardinals. The two have a close bond and Kingsbury wants to stick with a player he trusts.
But at what point, if you’re GM Adam Peters, do you want to see what Sinnott can do in an extended role? What about Magee at MIKE linebacker? Neither Ertz nor Wagner is returning next season. So, wouldn’t you like to see if Magee can handle Wagner’s spot, so it’s one less position you have to shop for in the offseason?
You don’t even need to bench any of the veterans outright. You can cut their snaps to see what other players could do. It will be interesting to see how the Commanders handle this is they continue losing over the next few weeks.
This article originally appeared on Commanders Wire: Washington Commanders: Kingsbury on benching veterans vs. evaluation
