Heading into the 2023 season, the Washington Commanders have high expectations despite finishing last in their division. They have new ownership coming in and a head coach in Ron Rivera who’s on the hot seat entering his fourth season. It doesn’t help that an inexperienced quarterback in Sam Howell is going to be leading the franchise.
Despite all the pressure on the franchise, there are still chances for players to shine and with that in mind, I have three bold predictions for next season.
3 bold predictions heading into the 2023 season for Washington Commanders
1. Antonio Gibson will have 1,000 all-purpose yards
This is quite a bold prediction considering that Antonio Gibson isn’t the starting running for the Commanders this season. However, upon further evaluation of his skills and how he’s projected to be used next season, it’s not unrealistic that he could reach 1,000 total yards this year.
Let’s remember that Gibson was a wide receiver in college and then turned into a running back in the NFL. Gibson also had over 1,000 yards rushing two seasons ago as well. Gibson has a unique skill set that can make him a problem to opposing defenses.
In a recent interview with former Washington players Fred Smoot and London Fletcher, Gibson hopes to showcase his wide receiver skills this season under new offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy. Bieniemy is known for his offensive innovation so it’s not unreasonable to believe that Gibson could line up more at wide receiver.
Last season, Gibson wasn’t far off from having 1,000 all-purpose yards. He rushed for 546 yards and caught a career-high 353 yards. That’s a total of 899 total yards. If Howell proves to be the passer he’s been praised to be and Gibson gets more touches in the passing game, then it’s completely possible for him to reach that benchmark.
3 bold predictions heading into the 2023 season: Emmanuel Forbes will lead all rookies in interceptions.
This next bold prediction will center around the Washington Commanders’ first-round pick Emmanuel Forbes. Adding Forbes made sense to help fortify the secondary and provide it with something that it hasn’t had in a few years. That’s a ball hawk, which was what he was in college and the bold prediction is that Forbes will lead all rookies in interceptions.
It’s a bold prediction because it’s not a clear path to consistent playing time. Kendall Fuller is a solid veteran corner and Benjamin St-Juste is young but had a solid second season. It’s easy for both of them to begin the season as starters, but that doesn’t mean that Forbes can’t overtake them or still get plenty of playing time.
Putting aside the playing time, Forbes has the pedigree to become an elite pick artist in the NFL. When he played for Mississippi State, Forbes led the SEC in interceptions last season and only two players in the whole country had more interceptions than the Bulldog’s star cornerback last year.
Another thing the Commanders get to look forward to with Forbes in the lineup is besides the fact he has a nose for interceptions, he usually ends up in the endzone after taking the ball away. Of the six interceptions he had last season, he returned half of them for touchdowns.
3 bold predictions heading into the 2023 season: Sam Howell a top-8 NFC quarterback
The last of these bold predictions pertain to the Washington Commanders’ second-year quarterback Sam Howell. The young quarter comes in unheralded as he was a fifth-round pick and he has only one NFL start under his belt. That being said, the future is bright for Howell and he will be one of the eight best quarterbacks in the conference this year.
Howell did win his only start against a playoff team long-time rival Dallas Cowboys. Howell also has one of the best offensive coordinators in Eric Bieniemy to lean on in his first full season as a starter. It also appears that he has the backing of his head coach and front offices based on the offseason moves made by them.
Furthermore in a previous article where I ranked all the starting quarterbacks and I had Howell at 27th overall and 12th among NFC quarterbacks. If Howell flourishes and others take a step back then he could possibly slide to either.
The four quarterbacks I have ranked ahead of him are Brock Purdy, Daniel Jones, Kirk Cousins, and Kyler Murray. Purdy could lose his job to former top pick Trey Lance if Lance shows his potential as a second overall pick. Jones might be without Saquon Barkley which would hurt his production if that were to happen.
Cousins is another year older and still has no playoff success so his days in Minnesota. There’s also no guarantee that Murray will return from his injury to the same player who struggled at times. With all those variables, it’s totally possible that Howell could reach the mid-tier of the quarterback ranks in the NFC. It certainly doesn’t hurt that he has an elite receiver depth chart too headline by Terry McLaurin.
These are three very bold predictions for the Washington Commanders for this upcoming season. However, they aren’t unrealistic expectations to have either. It will be interesting to see which if any become true.