Washington Commanders Week 1 Breakout Candidate Number Two: John Bates and Cole Turner (TE)
Oh boy, everyone, we’ve got a wild card entry! Two players in one? Totally against the rules, but also I make the rules so I’ll do what I want.
The reason we have two players listed here is that this is a confusing situation. As of the time this article is being written, starting tight end Logan Thomas is listed as questionable. However, so is the third-string tight end, Cole Turner.
Due to that, we don’t really know what this position is going to look like for Week 1. Let’s just assume Thomas is out though. Bates will be the starter and Turner will be the backup.
Bates was drafted as more of a blocking tight end, but in his rookie campaign, he showed there is a little something there on the receiving end. Meanwhile, Turner was drafted this year and has some wild raw potential thanks to his size and crazy athleticism.
If Turner plays, he has a chance to make some serious waves. Wentz has shown in the past that he loves to feed the tight ends. Turner can be a terrifying red zone threat and could be a great target in the short/intermediate game.
Bates isn’t nearly as big of a threat. But he’s a big body and showed good hands last year. He’s sort of the perfect safety blanket for a quarterback. And Wentz has been prone to leaning hard on those safety blankets and just going for the short completion. If he gets into one of those moods, we could see Bates haul in quite a few receptions.
Turner has more “quality” potential, but Bates has a bigger “quantity” potential. Either way, both could establish themselves quickly with their new quarterback.
Thomas is the tight end one, and rightfully so after that great breakout season in 2020. Even last year he proved it was no fluke when he was on the field. Injuries derailed his season last year though. And now Week 1 we already see him with a “questionable”. If Thomas misses consistent time in 2022, Bates and Turner could see significant time, and both have the potential to do good things. That starts in Week 1.
Bates and Turner (if he plays) combine for 10 receptions and maybe even find the end zone.