Every NFL team's most baffling decision this offseason

Washington Commanders: Kliff Kingsbury

The Washington Commanders made a lot of really good moves this offseason. They replaced Ron Rivera with Dan Quinn. That awful playoff game notwithstanding, he’s a good coach who deserved another shot in the big chair. They chose Jayden Daniels over Drake Maye and J.J. McCarthy at second overall, which is the right decision. They spent money, but they spread it around the depth chart to fill roster needs and add depth. It was a very smart offseason for Washington.

Then we look at the offensive coordinator. Kliff Kingsbury is a very smart offensive mind, but he’s also one that might just work better in college. He had a strange run in Arizona as head coach. He ended up getting an extension just to get fired before it kicked in. He went back to USC, where he was supposed to go before getting the Cardinals job, and he spent a year with Caleb Williams.

He jumped back into the NFL as the Commanders offensive coordinator. This is a very important job since Quinn is a defensive coach by trade. Kingsbury will have the power to create the game plan without much input from the guy at the top. There is a lot of trust in an OC for a defensive-minded head coach like Quinn. 

We’ve seen it work (see Kyle Shanahan), but we’ve also seen it turn into a disaster. There might be some patience here in Washington, but we’ve seen how quickly a young quarterback can be tarnished. Kingsbury needs to show he learned lessons over the past few years. He didn’t even do that well with Williams last season. Was he the right guy to build Daniels into a star QB? That’s hard for us to say right now.