For the first time since the NFC Championship game, Kliff Kingsbury stepped onto a football field with his offensive unit.
There are new players and new possibilities for this year’s team and the Commanders Offensive Coordinator seems to be excited about the potential.
“DQ [Head Coach Dan Quinn] has created a tremendous culture. The organization has as well,” he said before practice on Wednesday. “Just starting at the top with [Managing Partner] Josh [Harris] and then AP [General Manager Adam Peters], type of people they brought in. So, I’m excited to continue to learn from DQ and these other coaches and continue to try to build this thing.”
The continuation of the building starts with quarterback Jayden Daniels. The reigning Rookie of the Year appeared to have put on some muscle during his offseason workouts, although he attributed the gains to hard work, rather than any intentional effort.
He might need it. Defensive coordinators around the league have had an entire off-season to try and figure out how to stop Daniels. Kingsbury is confident his quarterback will stay one step ahead of opposing defenses.
“He works extremely hard. I mean, that’s all he kind of thinks about is how he can get better and watches a ton of film, watches a ton of football overall. And so, that organically really takes care of itself in a way when you have a guy who wants to be that great,” Kingsbury said.
Both men will also have more talent to work with this season. General Manager Adam Peters acquired wide receiver Deebo Samuel from San Francisco to give the offense a big play threat, brought all-pro left tackle Laremy Tunsil over from the Houston Texans, and drafted tackle Josh Conerly junior in the first round of the 2025 draft.
“Obviously excited when you are able to get players like (Samuel), that have produced in this league for some time. I was most definitely excited and excited to get to work with him,” Daniels said.
As for the additions to the offensive line, Daniels can’t wait to see what Tunsil and Conerly can do.
“Those are good additions that we brought in. Obviously, [General Manager] Adam [Peters], what his side of the building is doing, you have to trust him with everything that is going on. Those are two great individuals and we got even more that they brought in. I’m excited to work with them, still progress and get ready for camp.”
It will be Kingsbury’s job to blend this new talent into a cohesive unit capable of making another deep playoff run. One potential problem is keeping several potential playmakers happy, a good problem to have.
“I’ve never had a great player that didn’t want the ball and so that kind of comes with the territory,” Kingsbury said. “But that’s one thing I think that DQ has created where it’s the team above anything else. And these guys that had their success last year and got their touches, they know bringing Deebo in, there’s going to be less, but we’re going to be better. And I think when they’re able to sacrifice for that and understand that the ultimate goal is winning, then it all works itself out. But you want those guys, I mean, I’ll get cussed out a few games, but it just comes with the territory. You’d rather have really good players cussing you out, than bad players cussing you out.”
Bob Matthews is a 33 year veteran broadcast journalist, spending the last 29 years of his career in Virginia. Bob has covered both news and sports stories and for the last three seasons, the Washington Commanders. He looks forward to continuing to provide coverage to Sportsjourney.com both on the website and through his podcast, The Bob Matthews Show.
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