“Could the Titans be this year’s Commanders?”
No joke, I read that this weekend. Even more, it was written by an “NFL writer and insider, an NFL draft expert.” This seems to happen every year. When you have followed the NFL as long as I have, you know it is coming annually. The draft class is going to have players that end up being extremely overrated. Consequently, their fan base becomes prematurely excited while unknowingly setting themselves up for a bigger fall into greater disappointment.
So the insider’s question was, “Could the Titans be this year’s Commanders?”
Well, let’s see. Was Cam Ward a Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback like Jayden Daniels was the previous year?
Speaking of Ward, he is the top draft pick in this year’s rookie class. Surely the “NFL insider and draft expert” realizes that if drafted last year, Ward would not have been the top quarterback drafted in the class? In fact, with how much certainty can we say that Ward would be drafted ahead of Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels, Michael Pennix, Drake Maye, J.J. McCarthy, or Bo Nix?
“The NFL insider and draft expert” proclaimed the Titans to be a “team with low expectations elevated by an exciting rookie quarterback.” This statement reveals one of the prevailing errors in sports talk today.
It reveals the surface-level thinking so prevalent today that one simple move can turn an NFL franchise around and lead it to greatness. Sure, I thought like this when I was in elementary school, but after a while, you learn by listening, watching, and thinking, and you realize nothing great happens in team sports because of merely one person.
With 22 players on the field every single play in an NFL game, it’s just too complicated to think one player makes a pitiful team instantly a contender. Jayden Daniels had a great rookie season. He no doubt made the Commanders a better team, yes.
But all you have to do is think for just 60 seconds, “What changes did the Commanders make from the disastrous 2023 season to the 2024 season?
Is Adam Peters a much better drafting GM than Ron Rivera?Is Dan Quinn a better coach than Ron Rivera?Is Jayden Daniels much better than Sam Howell?Is Marcus Mariota a better QB2 than Jacoby Brissett?With two former NFL head coaches on his staff (Kliff Kingsbury, Anthony Lynn), how much did that help Dan Quinn throughout the season and offseason?How much of a role did OC Kliff Kingsbury play in Jayden Daniels’ development? Daniels himself last year said Kingsbury was tremendous in his development and preparation.Can we even begin to calculate how much veteran TE Zach Ertz was a big addition and help to Daniels?You don’t think a veteran center like Tyler Biadasz was a huge help for a NFL rookie quarterback?Ever wonder how much veteran Bobby Wagner contributed to the locker room and meeting rooms last season?How much better of an owner is Josh Harris compared to Daniel Snyder?
The question was, “Are the Titans going to be this year’s Commanders?”
Don’t multiple components and variables lead you to conclude that it’s unlikely? No, make that highly unlikely.
This article originally appeared on Commanders Wire: Is there an NFL team that can be similar to the 2024 Commanders?
