The Washington Commanders officially have a new starting quarterback in Jacoby Brissett
The Washington Commanders have officially named Jacoby Brissett their starting quarterback for Week 17, ending Sam Howell's run.
Honestly, there's a lot to unpack here. The Commanders are in a weird and frankly terrible spot at the moment. They are 4-11, and their remaining schedule doesn't get any easier with the 11-4 San Francisco 49ers and the 10-5 Dallas Cowboys. Both teams will be fighting for playoff seeding, so Washington should expect full throttle.
They currently have a head coach (Ron Rivera) that everyone and their mothers know isn't going to be coaching this team next year. The defense imploded. Meanwhile, their offensive line (outside of Sam Cosmi, who's looked great at guard) is in bad shape.
And then there's the quarterback. Sam Howell looked extremely promising early in the season. There were some bad outings sprinkled in there, but that's to be expected from a young QB. The good heavily outweighed the bad.
However, things have gotten bad. The last five weeks, in particular, have been tough to watch. That includes Howell being benched in each of his last two games.
You can blame the coaching and say he doesn't have time to throw the ball, but some blame still has to be placed on Howell. He's made some poor decisions and tends to panic in the pocket before he needs to.
The overall numbers are sort of like his season, good and bad. A 63.2 completion percentage with 3,624 yards and 19 touchdowns are positives. His 17 interceptions and inability to get rid of the ball at times are negatives.
Jacoby Brissett isn't going to save this team. He's looked phenomenal in his limited time this year, but we already know what Brissett is. The 31-year-old is a great backup and someone you can trust to start when needed and not collapse your team. He isn't a savior or someone that will turn a mess around. Brissett can keep a ship from sinking, but he's not the captain of a deluxe cruise liner.
The real news here is one this means for Washington's future. They were already getting a new coaching staff. It would make sense that a new staff would want "their guy" at QB. However, if Howell instilled enough confidence, they wouldn't have turned him away, right?
Now it feels almost certain that Washington will be going after a new quarterback in the draft (they currently have the third overall pick).
Washington Commanders fans saw potential in Sam Howell. Quite a few of them still do. However, it feels like the writing is on the wall with this late-season benching.