Head coach Dan Quinn recently weighed in on the debate about evaluating young players while trying to win.
“I’m going to try to fill both those buckets of wins as well as try to develop players for the future because winning is important right now,” Quinn said recently.
“These guys put everything you can into it, but it’s also important to bring the players together, I recognize that. So, fill both of those buckets; it’s my job to navigate it, and I’ll work hard to make sure we can do both. And it’s not easy, but definitely the goal, to do both. And I think it takes a fine line, but one that you can do.”
Quinn is right. It’s a tough task, and it won’t be easy for Quinn to tell glorified stars like Ertz and Wagner that they need to sit down. Most people probably still believe that having veterans like Wagner and Ertz on the field probably still gives the Chiefs the best chance to win.
Here’s the thing: how do we know?
Where does offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury stand on this topic?
“I think you always walk a good path in this profession, but you know, overall as an organization we just need to play better football and that’s our focus right now,” Kingsbury said Thursday. “And so, whoever gets us there, will be there. And I think, you know, you’ll have discussions week-to-week like, ‘Hey, what does this look like? Who are the best players we need right now?’ But you do that, you have to figure out whether we’re going to continue trying to, you know, win games at a high level or you reach a point where you need to take a look at what you’ve got. And I think at this point we’re still in it, and so we’ve just got to put our best players out there and try to win games.”
What Kingsbury said is the same answer almost every football coach will give you. It’s about winning the next game – not the next season. This is foolish for coaches, who are constantly fighting to keep their jobs.
Kingsbury is a big fan of Ertz. Ertz has said several times that Kingsbury was the reason he came to Washington. Remember, Kingsbury was Ertz’s head coach with the Arizona Cardinals. The two have a close relationship and Kingsbury wants to stick with a player he trusts.
But at what point, if you’re GM Adam Peters, would you want to see what Sinnott can do in an expanded role? What about Magee at Mike Linebacker? Neither Ertz nor Wagner are returning next season. So, wouldn’t you want to see if McGee can take over Wagner’s spot, so that’s one less position you’ll have to shop for in the offseason?
You don’t even need to bench any veteran outright. You can dissect their snaps to see what other players can do. It will be interesting to see how the Commanders handle it, should they keep losing over the next few weeks.
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