4 Ben Johnson backup plans the Washington Commanders should hire

3. Commanders can hire Texans OC Bobby Slowik

Bobby Slowik would become the youngest head coach in the NFL at 36 years old. There is an unavoidable risk when hiring an unproven coordinator for the head coaching gig. There's no way to know if Slowik is truly ready to handle the ego management and team-building responsibilities incumbent upon a head coach.

Still, we have seen several teams benefit from hiring the brightest, most cutting-edge offensive minds in the sport. Mike McDaniel in Miami, Sean McVay in Los Angeles. There's a reason every team wanted the aforementioned Johnson from Detroit. Slowik fits that general archetype on paper. He's a Kyle Shanahan disciple — it's the new, cooler Patriot Way — and the Houston Texans' success with Slowik is undeniable.

Slowik helped Houston go from three wins in 2022 to a postseason berth (and victory) in 2023. He wields impressive play-calling chops. An analytics guru, Slowik would presumably maintain control of the offense in Washington, in addition to head-coaching duties. If not, we should expect him to bring over another Shanahan-adjacent mind to oversee the offense. It's an appealing thought. And, while it's unwise to use a single position as justification for a head coach... we all saw what rookie C.J. Stroud did in Slowik's offense this season. The Commanders are going to have a rookie QB under center in 2024. Either that, or Sam Howell's development is about to take center stage. Slowik certainly can't hurt in that regard.

Not every upstart coordinator actually pans out as head coach. We all saw Arthur Smith's supposed innovation and genius disintegrate in Atlanta. That said, even with more experienced and accomplished candidates on the market, Slowik deserves a long, hard look from Washington management.