The Washington Commanders secured the No. 2 pick in the NFL draft with their season-ending 38-10 loss to the
Dallas Cowboys on Sunday.
This allows the next regime in control to choose one of the top two quarterback prospects projected to be available:
USC’s Caleb Williams or North Carolina’s Drake Maye. Chicago has the first pick.
The Commanders finished 4-13 after losing their final eight games, during which coach Ron Rivera fired defensive
coordinator Jack Del Rio and took over play-calling on defense. Washington lost all six games, tying the franchise
record for most losses in a season.
Rivera, who turned 62 on Sunday, and many others are anticipated to be fired Monday as new management makes
major changes to the front office and coaching staff. Rivera, who has been in charge of football operations for the
past four seasons, said Friday that majority owner Josh Harris intends to divide the personnel and head coaching
positions going forward.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/68964003/1194354462.0.jpg)
That’s probably for the best, as Rivera’s tenure resulted in only one postseason appearance (a loss) and left very few
building bricks for the future. This season was intended to be a chance for Sam Howell to demonstrate his ability to
be the franchise’s quarterback in the future, and he became Washington’s first quarterback to start every game of a
season since Kirk Cousins in 2017.
It didn’t go as planned for Howell or offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy, who came to the Commanders in part to
demonstrate why he should be an NFL head coach and whose future is similarly uncertain. On Sunday, Howell threw
two more interceptions, giving him a league-high 21 for the season, and was sacked four more times, bringing his
total to 65 over 17 games.
Washington went 26-40-1 under Rivera, who finished 102-103-2 in his coaching tenure, which began over a decade
in Carolina before being fired midseason in 2019.
