The Washington Commanders have made it clear that they are searching for a top tier quarterback. Taylor Heinicke has been good but not great for them, and they need a more substantial starting quarterback.
There are plenty of options out there, the question is if they are good options for Washington. The team had more than 30 different quarterbacks start for them since 1993. Hopefully that crazy number can stop growing after a successful offseason.
pictured here, Mark Rypien was the last of Washington’s consistent quarterbacks. His last game for Washington was in 1993.College or Pro?
The first question the Commanders need to answer is what they’re going to do with their 11th overall draft pick. They should decide whether or not they want to pursue a young quarterback in the draft so that the rest of the organization can focus on drafting the rest of the team.
College has plenty of good prospects like Matt Corral, Kenny Pickett, and Malik Willis. However, the class is not nearly as stacked as the 2020 class, so should the Commanders maybe look to an older more developed quarterback that has a win now mentality?
Either way the Commanders have options, but they need to decide what they want. Dan Snyder and co are historically awful at drafting players, so waiting til the last minute to decide who you’re taking wouldn’t be a surprising choice in Washington.
Veteran Quarterback Options
On the professional side we have a few quarterbacks that any team would be happy to have. Russell Wilson and Aaron Rodgers are both potentially on the market, and Deshaun Watson could return to play depending on the results of the court case based on the horrifying accusations made against him.
The Commanders in my eyes would benefit from having Rodgers who could easily connect downfield with Terry Mclaurin on many occasions. However, I see Ron Rivera being more interested in a Russell Wilson type who can move freely in and out of the pocket and pick up yards with his feet.
Rodgers seems like he will end up either in Green Bay or Denver, but Wilson is much harder to tell. He had a good relationship with Pete Carroll and Seattle, but was also seen spending lots of time with Commanders’ defensive lineman Jonathan Allen at the pro bowl.
College Prospects
As I said earlier, there are quite a few impressive quarterbacks in this year’s class, but none that scream top three pick. For the Commanders I see someone with wheels and a strong arm, someone who can be coached into an elite player. To me, that player is Malik Willis.
Quarterback Malik Willis would be an excellent fit in WashingtonI think Kenny Pickett is good but not going to be a generational player. Matt Corral is the best overall qb in the class in my eyes, but he has accuracy issues. Malik Willis on the other hand is an all around athlete, has a cannon for an arm, and worked with a less than impressive team around him.
I could certainly see Ron Rivera and Washington molding Willis into a Lamar Jackson-esque performer. His runs are extremely clean and he already has a top 5 throwing arm in the NFL distance wise. I think the Commanders would benefit tremendously from having a charismatic and skilled young quarterback in their locker room.
