Hiring Eric Bieniemy: Commanders 'Best Offseason Move'?
When it was known that Eric Bieniemy was seeking new pastures, few thought he would go for an offensive coordinator job. A head coaching position was all he would attempt to go for...or so we thought.
But then news broke of Bieniemy taking his offensive talents to Washington to become the offensive coordinator. According to CBS Sports, for all of the offseason decisions made by the Commanders, hiring Bieniemy is seen as the best one.
"Getting Bieniemy to leave Kansas City and become a play caller was the best move the Commanders could have made this offseason," CBS Sports writes. "Bieniemy takes over a Commanders' offense that has started 12 different quarterbacks since 2018 -- the most in the NFL. Washington averaged 18.8 points per game last season under Scott Turner (24th in NFL) and 330.3 yards per game (20th in NFL).
"If Sam Howell becomes as good as Washington has proclaimed he is, Bieniemy is arguably the best hire of any team this offseason. He gets the opportunity to command this offense and get the Commanders into contending status in the NFC."
In Scott Turner's care, from 2020 through to 2022, Washington had offensive ranks of 25th (2022, 20.9/ppg), 23rd (2021, 19.7/ppg), and 24th (2022, 18.9/ppg).
A change was needed, and the Commanders managed to secure the services of one of the better offensive minds in the NFL.
Improving on Turner's offense will be relatively easy as the bar isn't raised that high, but in Sam Howell, Bieniemy has a second-year quarterback with one game of experience.
The former Kansas City Chiefs wizard will need to draw on all of his knowledge to put the Commanders' offense in a position to win games consistently.
His signing is already seen as the Commanders' best piece of business, but if he can steer Washington to a playoff berth, then he might be the best offseason signing in the NFL.
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