Washington Commanders

Hall of Fame quarterback Troy Aikman believes the stakes couldn't be higher for Carson Wentz as he approaches his first season with the Washington Commanders. 

During an ESPN media call Tuesday, Aikman said the Commanders represent Wentz's "last opportunity ... to prove that he can be a franchise quarterback in the NFL."

"I'm hopeful that he's able to take advantage of that," the Dallas Cowboys legend said. "Looking forward to that matchup between those two teams. But this is kind of a defining season, I think, for Carson Wentz and what his future is going to look like."

After leading the NFL in interceptions (15) and sacks (50) in 2020, Wentz's performance improved in 2021. He threw for 3,563 yards, 27 touchdowns and seven interceptions. Although his 209.6 yards per game were a career low, that was partially by design as Jonathan Taylor amassed 1,811 yards on the ground.

The Indianapolis Colts washing their hands of Wentz, however, showed how they viewed the 29-year-old.

"Wentz's play, inconsistent as it was to close the year, wasn't the deciding factor," The Athletic's Zak Keefer reported in March. "Colts brass simply didn't trust him to be the franchise quarterback moving forward, and they weren't willing to bring him back in 2022 and hope for better."

Aikman's assessment is probably one shared by many fans.

Wentz isn't getting any younger, and the further he gets from his 2017 Pro Bowl season, the harder it becomes to believe there remains some level of untapped potential.

Starting in 2023, his contract will provide little in the way of job security too. He'll count for $26.2 million against the salary cap in 2023 and $27.2 million in 2024, but that money would all become cap savings in the event the Commanders cut him. In effect, this could be a one-year experiment for Washington.

If Wentz finds himself looking for another team next offseason, simply getting a starting gig might become a challenge.

Washington Commanders quarterback Carson Wentz is keeping a level head as he looks ahead to playing his first game against the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field during the 2022 NFL regular season.

Appearing on NFL Network (h/t NFL.com's Grant Gordon), Wentz said he is "trying not to get too excited for that one" by approaching it as just another game.

"I know that'll be a big game. A lot of emotions," he added. "I'm sure fans will eat that one up and it'll be fun—make for a good storyline. But at the end of the day, it's going to be just another ballgame. It's going to be a huge divisional game for us when that one comes."

The Commanders will play the Eagles in Philadelphia on Nov. 14.

Wentz was supposed to be Philadelphia's quarterback of the future when he was drafted in 2016. The team traded five picks to the Cleveland Browns to move up six spots and select him No. 2 overall.

Things started out great for Wentz in an Eagles uniform. He followed up a promising rookie campaign with an MVP-caliber second season in 2017. The North Dakota State product threw for 3,296 yards and 33 touchdowns in 13 starts, but a torn ACL ended his season in Week 14. 

Nick Foles finished out the 2017 season by leading the Eagles to a Super Bowl victory. Wentz played three more seasons in Philadelphia, but he was unable to recapture the promise of 2017. 

In the aftermath of Philadelphia's playoff loss to the New Orleans Saints in January 2019, Joseph Santoliquito of Philly Voice published a report in which he spoke to "more than a half dozen players" on the Eagles and sources close to the team.

Wentz was described in the report as being "selfish," "uncompromising," "egotistical" and as someone who fails "to take accountability."

A back injury sidelined Wentz for the final five games of the 2018 season. The Eagles went 4-1 with Foles at quarterback during that stretch to make the playoffs. They defeated the Chicago Bears in the Wild Card Round before losing to the Saints. 

Despite those reported issues, the Eagles signed Wentz to a four-year, $128 million contract extension before the start of the 2019 season.   

After a 3-8-1 start in 2020, Wentz was benched in favor of Jalen Hurts for the final four games. The Eagles traded the former Pro Bowler to the Indianapolis Colts in March 2021. 

The Colts lost their final two games of the regular season, including a 26-11 defeat against the lowly Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 18, to miss the postseason. They dealt Wentz to the Commanders on March 16.

Playing in the NFC East once again gives Wentz two opportunities this season to face his former team. Washington will host the first matchup with the Eagles in Week 3 on Sept. 25.    

The next standoff between an NFL team and a high-profile wide receiver might be brewing in the nation's capital.

The MMQB's Albert Breer reported that a new contract for Washington Commanders star Terry McLaurin is "nowhere" and that "negotiations haven’t really started."

McLaurin is entering the last year of his rookie deal and will become a free agent in 2023.

A big payday figures to be coming the 26-year-old's way. Through three seasons, he has caught 222 passes for 3,090 yards and 16 touchdowns.

Those numbers require the added context that eight different quarterbacks (Taylor Heinicke, Dwayne Haskins Jr., Case Keenum, Alex Smith, Kyle Allen, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Garrett Gilbert and Colt McCoy) have started at least one game for Washington since McLaurin entered the league.

McLaurin almost certainly isn't going to overtake Tyreek Hill ($30 million) as the NFL's highest-paid receiver, but $20-plus million annually figures to be a reasonable estimate. Breer posited that something along the lines of A.J. Brown's four-year, $100 million extension with the Philadelphia Eagles would reflect the current market.

The fact that the Commanders haven't entered into serious negotiations with McLaurin's representatives is surprising because of how valuable he is to the offense. This offseason is also the last opportunity for Washington to utilize him as a major trade asset if it becomes clear his price is too rich for the front office's tastes.

How the franchise handled contract discussions with Kirk Cousins could be a helpful guide about what to expect with McLaurin. The team never really presented Cousins with a long-term contract worth signing, so he played on the franchise tag for two years and left when the first opportunity to get a multiyear offer presented itself from another team.

The Commanders might be content to head into the 2022 season without any long-term agreement with McLaurin on the basis that they can tag him in 2023 and go from there.

As Carson Wentz prepares to suit up for a third team in three years, he must understand this may be his last chance at a starting job in the NFL. Nonetheless, he could turn his career around after returning to the NFC East with the Washington Commanders.

A week before the official start of free agency, the Commanders acquired Wentz, a second-round pick and a seventh-round pick from the Indianapolis Colts in exchange for a second-rounder and a third-rounder along with a conditional 2023 third-rounder. Washington also agreed to take on his full contract, per ESPN's Adam Schefter, which carries a $28.3 million cap hit in 2022.

Regardless of whether the Commanders believed in Wentz enough to take on his sizable deal and sacrifice draft capital or made the move out of desperation, they have the right head coach and the supporting cast to help him flourish in Washington.

Without a doubt, Wentz has the arm talent to make spectacular plays and breathe life into an offense. Though he can be inconsistent, the seventh-year signal-caller has a decent resume of passing production, with 140 touchdown passes and 57 interceptions with a 62.6 percent completion rate.

In 2021 with the Colts, Wentz threw for 3,563 yards, 27 touchdowns and just seven interceptions in a run-heavy offense that featured running back Jonathan Taylor, who rushed for a league-leading 1,811 yards and 18 touchdowns, and one consistent pass-catcher in wideout Michael Pittman Jr.

In the final two weeks of the 2021 campaign and with a playoff berth on the line, Wentz played poorly, completing 58.9 percent of his passes for 166.5 yards per game. Nonetheless, his tenure soured long before the Colts' late-season collapse, per The Athletic's Zak Keefer.

"As for the Colts, the issues with Wentz stretched back to before the season began, one source said, and over the course of the year, some grew frustrated at what they deemed a lack of leadership, a resistance to hard coaching and a reckless style of play, which had a role in several close losses this year," Keefer wrote.

Based on talent alone, Wentz has the qualities of a middling starter. He can help a team win games, but his boneheaded mistakes have led to costly turnovers and a low completion rate. The 29-year-old also seems to lack leadership traits, which reportedly shortened his time in Indianapolis and might have led to his departure from the Philadelphia Eagles.

According to Fox Sports' Jay Glazer, people within the Eagles' organization believed that the team's decision to select quarterback Jalen Hurts in the second round of the 2020 draft adversely impacted Wentz's confidence and performance, though he denied it two years ago.

Wentz's lack of desirable intangibles in a leadership position hurts his standing as a starting-caliber quarterback in the NFL. Luckily, head coach Ron Rivera's strong personality as the leader of the team should ease the burden on Wentz.

In his introductory press conference, Rivera talked about a culture shift in Washington with a no-nonsense attitude.

Head Coach Ron Rivera is ready to build a player-centered culture with a coach-centered approach.

🔗: https://t.co/3YTGnagpsB pic.twitter.com/1h4MxLkO3d

— Washington Commanders (@Commanders) January 3, 2020

Rivera has highlighted accountability in the past, but he's willing to take the blame as long as players follow the program. This makes for a good environment for Wentz, who's justifiably taken criticism at every stop in his career.

Despite ongoing investigations into the franchise for allegations of sexual harassment and financial improprieties, Rivera can still change the culture within the locker room and put players in positions to succeed on the field. The well-respected head coach led Washington to a division title in his first year with the club and won seven games in back-to-back years despite instability at the quarterback position. The Commanders have started six different signal-callers over the past two seasons.

Even though starting quarterbacks require leadership, Rivera will have the most prominent voice in the room. Wentz just needs to follow the team's plan and play to the best of his ability. The Commanders have a supporting cast that can help him in that regard.

While Wentz had a statistically decent 2021 campaign with the Colts, he'll have more perimeter playmakers around him in Washington.

Despite the revolving door at quarterback, Terry McLaurin has emerged as a productive No. 1 wide receiver with 222 catches for 3,090 yards and 16 touchdowns through three seasons.

The Commanders selected Penn State wideout Jahan Dotson, who averaged 15.1 yards per catch at the collegiate level, with the No. 16 overall pick in the draft.

Bleacher Report NFL scout Nate Tice highlighted Dotson's quarterback-friendly qualities.

"Dotson is a very good athlete who is dangerous with the ball in his hands and has the long speed to take the top off defenses. He is also a very good route-runner, already showing an extended route tree and the polish to win on a variety of different routes at all three levels. He also has natural hands that allow him to maximize his size. He is consistently comfortable extending away from his body on throws both high and low. This trait also shows up when working back to the quarterback, which allows him to come down with throws in traffic."

The Commanders have an established veteran wideout and a rookie who can stretch the field with the ability to make big catches when the quarterback extends plays, which meshes well with Wentz's mobility in the pocket.

If wide receiver Curtis Samuel and tight end Logan Thomas stay healthy, they can become solid third and fourth targets. The former saw a steady increase in his receiving numbers in four years with the Carolina Panthers, and the latter recorded 72 receptions for 670 yards and six touchdowns with the Commanders in 2020. Both missed more than 10 games last year.

Out of the backfield, running backs Antonio Gibson and J.D. McKissic can catch the ball, combining for 201 receptions for 1,527 yards and seven touchdowns over the past two seasons with the team. Wentz doesn't have to force big plays downfield with a pair of reliable pass-catching backs who can move the chains on short passes.

Wentz doesn't even have to lead a top-10 scoring offense with a defense that ranked fourth in points and second in yards allowed just two years ago. With an aggressive pass-rushing front that features Chase Young, Daron Payne, Jonathan Allen and Montez Sweat up front, Washington's defensive unit could bounce back after ranking 25th and 22nd in points and yards, respectively, for the 2021 season. Of course, Young has to recover from a torn ACL and perform at a level close to his 2020 Defensive Rookie of the Year form.

If the Commanders field a decent defense in the upcoming campaign, Wentz should be able to lead them to several wins. He has multiple weapons in the passing game and an offensive line that will return three players who started in at least eight contests during the previous term. Furthermore, the five-man unit welcomes a solid pass-blocking guard in Andrew Norwell, who allowed three sacks through 1,078 snaps last year, per Pro Football Focus.

With Rivera, a solid supporting cast on offense, and a defense not far removed from a dominant season, Wentz's career can take a positive turn in Washington.

     

Player contracts details are provided by Over the Cap.

Maurice Moton covers the NFL for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter @MoeMoton.

The Washington Commanders selected UNC quarterback Sam Howell with the No. 144 overall pick in the 2022 NFL draft on Saturday.

Head coach Ron Rivera spoke with reporters afterward about the move, which comes nearly two months after Washington traded for Indianapolis Colts signal-caller Carson Wentz to be their QB1.

"We didn't think he would slide to us," Rivera said, per Nicki Jhabvala of the Washington Post.

"...Once we got Carson as our starter, we got off the QB train for the most part. ...To have Sam fall to us was something we had to jump on. ...We feel this is a home run for us."

Rivera also said he spoke with Wentz after the Howell pick and that the selection was about developing the ex-UNC star.

Taylor Heinecke, who was Washington's starter last year, will still be the team's backup in 2022. Washington sees Howell as more of a long-term, developmental player at the moment.

Howell doesn't appear to be replacing Wentz any time soon, and signs point to him being QB3 on the depth chart in 2022.

Things could get a little more interesting in 2023. If the Wentz experiment doesn't work out, then the Commanders can release him without any amassing any dead money on the salary cap next season. That could put Howell in line to move up the depth chart in Washington.

Ultimately, there's still some uncertainty at the Commanders' quarterback position. In 2021 with the Indianapolis Colts, Wentz bounced back from a tough 2020 season that saw him get benched to end his tenure with the Philadelphia Eagles.

However, his time with Colts didn't end well either, with Wentz struggling in the team's final two games as the squad fell out of playoff contention.

Of course, Wentz could find the magic that he once experienced with the Eagles when he helped lead them to a Super Bowl win during the 2017 season in which he was in the MVP conversation before suffering a season-ending torn ACL in his left knee in December.

In that scenario, Howell would obviously stick around Washington to continue his development and act as insurance.

Overall, it appears that Washington got a steal in Howell for where it picked him. The B/R NFL Scouting Department gave him a Round 3 grade and offered a pro comparison to the Philadelphia Eagles' Jalen Hurts. He's also 56th overall on The Athletic's consensus big board.

And now he's a Commander as Washington looks to bounce back from a 7-10 season.

The Washington Commanders drafted Penn State wide receiver Jahan Dotson with the 16th overall pick in the 2022 NFL draft on Thursday in Las Vegas.

Dotson is the first Penn State wide receiver selected in the first round of the NFL draft since the Arizona Cardinals picked Bryant Johnson 17th overall in 2003. Dotson is also the third Nittany Lion to be selected in the first round since the 2021 draft, joining Micah Parsons and Odafe Oweh.

Dotson enters the NFL after a standout senior season for Penn State in 2021, catching 91 passes for 1,182 yards and 12 touchdowns in 12 games. In his four seasons with the Nittany Lions, the 22-year-old caught 183 passes for 2,757 yards and 25 touchdowns across 42 games.

Here is what Washington's depth chart will look like following the addition of Dotson, who figures to have a decent size role in 2022.

WR1: Terry McLaurin

WR2: Jahan Dotson

WR3: Curtis Samuel, Dyami Brown, Cam Sims

After an outstanding senior season, it wiill be interesting to see how Dotson performs alongside McLaurin and Samuel for the Commanders and how reliable he'll be moving forward.

Bleacher Report's Scouting Department listed Dotson as the fourth-best wide receiver in the 2022 class following the Senior Bowl. He was ranked behind USC's Drake London, Ohio State's Chris Olave and Alabama's Jameson Williams.

B/R NFL Scout Nate Tice also compared Dotson to Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Tyler Lockett with his good route-running ability, footwork, quickness and hands:

"Overall, Dotson has the athleticism and skill set to make him a Day 1 starter for any NFL offense. While his lack of size and build will make some teams hesitant to take him early and may limit his overall upside, he is a true football player with a competitive streak and dynamic play ability that makes him an exciting prospect whom every team would love to have."

If Dotson can prove himself as a rookie in 2022, he should carve out a more significant role with the Commanders in the future.

The Washington Commanders sent a 22-page letter to the Federal Trade Commission on Monday denying claims of financial impropriety, according to ESPN's John Keim.

The team also attached 83 pages' worth of signed affidavits, emails and texts.

"I can state unequivocally that I never helped maintain, or saw anyone else maintain, a 'second set' of books,'" Paul Szczenski, the team's former director of finance, wrote in an affidavit.

The House Committee on Oversight and Reform accused the Commanders of "potentially unlawful" financial conduct based on allegations from former employee Jason Friedman, per Mark Maske and Nicki Jhabvala of the Washington Post.

Friedman, who served as the team's vice president of sales and customer service, alleged the team had "two sets of books" and used one to underreport certain ticket revenue.

Lisa Banks and Debra Katz, Friedman's lawyers, responded to the Commanders' letter in a statement on Monday, via ProFootballTalk's Mike Florio:

“Mr. Friedman stands by his testimony, which was truthful and based on his experiences with the team. He is happy to answer follow-up questions from Congress, the FTC, or any government agency. My client is also prepared to defend himself publicly against these baseless allegations if Mr. Snyder permits him to do so. In the meantime, we will communicate directly with the team about these demonstratively false allegations.”

A.J. Perez of Front Office Sports explained that the Commanders allegedly withheld revenue that that is supposed to be shared with other NFL teams. Organizations are supposed to pass 40 percent of ticket sales to the league for redistribution.

Washington denied these allegations in a statement:

Here is the statement from the @Commanders in response to the ticket scheme report/allegation pic.twitter.com/8QcKgzfcE5

— Scott Abraham (@Scott7news) April 4, 2022

The most recent letter calls Friedman's claims "baseless" and "false and reckless."

Per Keim, it also portrayed Friedman as a disgruntled employee who was, until recently, looking to return to his role with the team after being fired in 2020.

The FTC said it has received the letter, but it has not said whether it will move forward with investigating the organization.     

The Washington Commanders have reportedly been accused of "potentially unlawful" financial conduct by the House Committee on Oversight and Reform. 

Per Mark Maske and Nicki Jhabvala of the Washington Post, the committee made the accusation in a 20-page letter sent to the Federal Trade Commission on Tuesday. 

The letter contains allegations made by Jason Friedman, who used to work for the franchise as a vice president of sales and customer service: 

The letter says Friedman told committee members the team maintained 'two sets of books,' including one set of financial records used to underreport certain ticket revenue to the NFL. The letter cites documentation that the team’s financial improprieties may have extended to tickets registered in Commissioner Roger Goodell’s name. It references evidence that it says indicates the revenue gained by the team through these practices was known internally as 'juice,' and it details allegations that the Commanders improperly attributed such revenue to being derived through a Navy-Notre Dame college football game at FedEx Field or a Kenny Chesney concert, so that it wouldn’t be part of the NFL’s revenue-sharing pool.

Other allegations made against the Commanders and owner Dan Snyder in the letter include "withholding as much as $5 million in refundable deposits from season-ticket holders and also hiding money that was supposed to be shared among NFL owners."

Maske, Liz Clarke and Paul Kane reported March 31 the congressional committee looking into the NFL's handling of sexual harassment allegations in the Commanders' workplace expanded its investigation amid allegations of financial improprieties under Snyder's ownership. 

The committee told the Federal Trade Commission in the letter it was "providing the information and documents uncovered by the Committee for your review, to determine if the Commanders violated any provision of law enforced by FTC and whether further action is warranted."

Per the letter, Friedman "provided the Committee with information and documents indicating that the Commanders routinely withheld security deposits that should have been returned to customers who had purchased multiyear season tickets for specific seats, referred to as seat leases."

Friedman also told the committee that Washington employees were directed by team executives to "establish roadblocks to prevent customers from obtaining the security deposits they were due—effectively allowing the team to retain that money."

Between Friedman's interview with the committee and documents he provided, the committee said the Commanders "had unreturned security deposits for 'around 2,000 accounts' belonging to customers and fans" that amounted to around $5 million. 

Friedman said in his testimony to the committee that Snyder and Mitch Gershman, Washington's current chief marketing officer and former chief operating officer, instructed him to "identify security deposits that are on dormant accounts where, in my estimation, the likelihood of the customer coming forward and asking for their deposit back is as close to zero as possible, and then return the security deposit in the system and convert the credit that would then be on the customer’s account into juice."

Per Maske and Jhabvala, this practice would allow the team to circumvent league rules to avoid making contributions to the local revenue pool that teams are required to share with the league and the other franchises. 

In a statement last week, the Commanders denied allegations they were withholding ticket revenue. 

"Those revenues are subject to independent audits by multiple parties," the team said in its statement. "Anyone who offered testimony suggesting a withholding of revenue has committed perjury, plain and simple."

In July, the Commanders were fined $10 million following the league's investigation into allegations of a toxic workplace. Snyder also ceded control of the team's day-to-day operations to his wife, Tanya Snyder. 

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell told reporters last month he expects Tanya Snyder will remain in control of the daily operations with the club for "at least the foreseeable future," but he will talk about that with Dan Snyder "at some point."

Snyder purchased the Washington franchise in 1999 following the death of previous owner Jack Kent Cooke.     

The Washington Commanders were reportedly doing their "due diligence" on Liberty quarterback Malik Willis while attending the Flames' pro day on Tuesday.

Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network reported the update on Willis, one of the top QB prospects in the 2022 draft, during an appearance on the Pat McAfee Show:

"The Washington Commanders are here doing their due diligence.. I dunno if they'll take a QB but they're doing all their research" ~@RapSheet#PMSLive pic.twitter.com/Qh2O7EiqEl

— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) March 22, 2022

The Commanders previously acquired quarterback Carson Wentz in a trade with the Indianapolis Colts.

It's unlikely Washington would have made the deal for Wentz unless it viewed him as a surefire starter to open the 2022 campaign.

That said, the Commanders can get out of his four-year, $128 million contract, which is scheduled to run through 2024, next offseason without leaving any dead cap space. So if he fails to assert himself as their new franchise quarterback, it could be a short tenure in the nation's capital.

His uncertain long-term status is probably why the team's front office is at least taking a look at the draft's top signal-callers.

Willis possesses the most upside of any quarterback in the class. He spent his first two college seasons as a reserve at Auburn before transferring to Liberty for a chance to start.

He completed 62.4 percent of his throws for 5,107 yards with 47 touchdowns and 18 interceptions across 23 appearances for the Flames. He added 1,835 rushing yards and 27 scores on the ground.

While those numbers come with the caveat they were compiled against lower-level competition than he would have faced with Auburn in the SEC, they still represent the type of dual-threat playmaking ability that's built for the modern NFL.

Willis has the arm strength to hit any window on the field, but the key questions have surrounded whether he's accurate enough to thrive at the next level.

He explained at the NFL Scouting Combine in early March his misses in college were mostly related to his footwork.

"That's where some of the flaws in my game come from, maybe some inaccuracies," Willis told reporters. "It's just from footwork. It's not from just being inaccurate."

If Willis works through those issues and starts hitting receivers in stride on intermediate and deep throws, he's got all the other tools to become a Pro Bowl quarterback.

A year on the sideline to continue those progressions while also learning about NFL defenses, which represents a steep learning curve from what he faced in college, wouldn't be a bad thing. Landing with a team like Washington could work over the long haul.

That said, the Commanders have a chance to seriously compete in the NFC this season if Wentz provides stability under center, so using the No. 11 overall pick on a prospect who could make an instant impact seems more likely.

The fantasy landscape has shifted with another quarterback on the move, though just how much depends on how much you like Carson Wentz. 

The Washington Commanders found their 2022 starter by agreeing to acquire Wentz from the Indianapolis Colts. 

Per NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, the Colts will receive a 2022 third-round draft pick and a conditional 2023 third-round draft pick that can bump up to a second with incentives. 

Even though Wentz isn't particularly thrilling in real life, especially based on how he ended last season, he has been a reliable fantasy performer throughout his career.

The 29-year-old finished 14th among all quarterbacks in points in PPR leagues in 2021 (265.02). He was in the same area as Ryan Tannehill (282.36) and Derek Carr (270.96). 

By comparison, Taylor Heinicke, who started 15 games for Washington last season, was 19th in fantasy points by a quarterback (236.86). 

The biggest beneficiary of Wentz taking over at quarterback is Terry McLaurin. The Ohio State alum has proved to be quarterback-proof through his first three seasons. He has averaged 119 targets, 74 receptions, 1,030 yards and five touchdowns from 2019 to '21. 

As flawed as Wentz is, he's an upgrade over Heinicke, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Garrett Gilbert, Alex Smith, Dwayne Haskins, Kyle Allen, Case Keenum and Colt McCoy. Those are the eight quarterbacks who have started at least one game for Washington since McLaurin's rookie season. 

McLaurin had 77 catches, 1,053 yards and five touchdowns last season. He has finished in the top 25 among wide receivers in fantasy points in each of the past three years. 

Wentz threw for 3,563 yards and 27 touchdowns for the Colts last season. No Washington quarterback has hit those marks since Kirk Cousins in 2017 (4,093 passing yards, 27 touchdowns). 

Antonio Gibson's value doesn't figure to change much. He has scored 21 touchdowns combined in the past two seasons and set a career high with 1,331 yards on 300 touches in 2021. 

There doesn't figure to be much of a difference in passing attempts between Washington's quarterbacks and Wentz. The Commanders attempted 550 passes in 2021; Wentz threw the ball 516 times in 17 starts for the Colts. 

Gibson ranked in the top five for Washington in targets (52), receptions (42) and receiving yards (294). Those numbers are in line with what Jonathan Taylor did as a receiver for the Colts (51 targets, 40 receptions, 360 yards). 

Unless the Commanders find a reliable No. 2 pass-catching option on the outside with McLaurin, Gibson is going to see a healthy number of targets.

Curtis Samuel might become that guy, but he has a lot to prove in 2022 after being limited to five games due to groin and hamstring injuries. 

With Ricky Seals-Jones set to become a free agent, Logan Thomas is poised to become the Commanders' No. 1 tight end. He appeared in only six games in 2021 due to knee and hamstring issues. 

Thomas showed promise two years ago with 110 targets, 72 receptions, 670 yards and six touchdowns. He was the No. 7 tight end in fantasy during the 2020 season. 

It's hard to bet on Thomas coming close to those numbers again. He's going to turn 31 on July 1 and has never eclipsed 200 receiving yards in any other season.