Washington

Commanders

The former Commanders center announced his retirement via Instagram. He cited his lengthy injury history as one of the reasons he is moving on from football. Over the past two years, Roullier has appeared in just 10 games. A sixth-round pick in 2017, Roullier entered the league as an unheralded prospect. It didn’t take long for him to prove the draft evaluators wrong. He started seven games as a rookie and opened his second season as Washington’s starter at center. Roullier ultimately made 63 starts over his six-year career.

Translation, Rodriguez won’t be in the mix for early-season carries even though the Commanders reportedly had a third-round grade on him and love his bowling ball-style rushing. “If you’re becoming best friends with that special teams coach, that means that you’re finding a way to become a four phase special teams player,” Bieniemy said. “Chris hasn’t taken that for granted at all.” Despite Bieniemy’s words, we could see Rodriguez earning rookie-year work, but he is not currently on the re-draft radar.

Newcomer offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy has made an immediate impact on his players through organized team activities. Wide receiver Terry McLaurin said, “He’s going to bring the intensity. We know what is expected of us every time we’re on the field.” Defensive tackle Jonathan Allen added, “You can’t help but notice. I love that style of coaching.” Bieniemy’s continued emphasis on execution, effort, and focus has been present since he first stepped into the building, evident in everything from meetings to the practice field. It remains to be seen how Washington’s offense will fair with so many changes, including Bieniemy and presumed starting quarterback Sam Howell, but the team appears to be headed in the right direction. Bieniemy should do well in extracting performance from the elite talent on the roster including McLaurin, Dotson, Brian Robinson, Antonio Gibson, Curtis Samuel, and Logan Thomas.

This doesn’t come as a surprise after Washington gave Howell first-team reps all offseason. The Commanders haven’t made Howell compete with Jacoby Brissett to this point and continue to look sold on the second-year quarterback. Hype for Howell could start to take off if he can carry his minicamp into the preseason. Washington is expected to be more pass-heavy under new OC Eric Bieniemy in 2023.

This one is a bit out of left field since the Commanders have spent the entire offseason talking up Antonio Gibson, and Gibson/Brian Robinson/rookie Chris Rodriguez are certainly enough backs to fill out a committee. Hunt’s market has been ice cold after the Browns let him walk in free agency. His efficiency tanked hard in 2022. It’s hard to see what this addition would really do for the Commanders, but Gibson’s career has been underwhelming while Robinson disappointed as a rookie. Hunt, of course, would be reuniting with longtime Chiefs assistant Eric Bieniemy in Washington.

The drumbeat continues to grow louder for Gibson, who appears to be in good favor with new offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy. Gibson is arguably the most versatile back on Washington’s roster and has been utilized heavily in the screen game at OTAs and minicamp per The Athletic’s Ben Standig. Rivera added, “Eric wants to make sure (Antonio) gets as many opportunities right now to show us what he’s capable of because I think that’ll be a big part of the game planning.” Gibson’s background as a receiver during his days at Memphis led many to believe he would see receiving work early in his career. While he’s managed 124 receptions through his first three seasons, Gibson was always stuck in the shadow of J.D. McKissic, who is currently a free agent. As the hype around Gibson continues to grow, it’s possible he turns into a high-end RB2 for fantasy if Bieniemy can deploy him in ways the previous offensive coordinator did not.

This is based on Selby’s observations at Washington’s mandatory minicamp, which officially wrapped up on Wednesday. Selby notes it would be “a tall order” for offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy to replicate the production he enjoyed with Travis Kelce during his time with the Chiefs, but that based on the number of targets the tight ends were seeing at minicamp, it’s apparent Bieniemy hopes to utilize his new tight ends in Washington. Logan Thomas, who turns 32 next month, is considered the favorite to land the Commanders’ TE1 job heading into camp, but second-year tight end and former wide receiver Cole Turner could threaten for some of that workload. With all of Washington’s tight ends currently going late in drafts, it’s possible the starter in this offense returns some fantasy value, although expectations should be tempered.

A former wide receiver turned tight end, Turner has a chance to contribute in his second season with the Commanders if he can stay healthy. Rivera praised Turner for having a “good grasp of the offense” early on and noted his ability to pick things up quickly. In his final 20 games at Nevada, Turner was one of the more productive tight ends in the nation, posting a 111-1282-19 line over his last two seasons. Washington did little to address the tight end position this offseason, and starter Logan Thomas will be 32 at the start of the season. While Turner still has a ways to go to earn significant playing time, he could force his way into the field with a strong camp.

Some of this is because the Commanders backs can’t run in contact drills yet, so this gets them more involved, but Bieniemy does come from a screen-heavy system in Kansas City and it is fair to assume that both Brian Robinson and Antonio Gibson could get a small fantasy boost from getting more involved in the passing offense.

Rivera said during a Tuesday press conference that the team will discuss giving Brissett first-team reps this offseason. It’s a bit of a turnabout after multiple reports over the past couple months seemed to confirm Washington was committed to Howell as the opening day starter. Howell, 22, started one game last year and completed 11 of 19 passes for 169 yards, one touchdown, and one interception. Brissett, meanwhile, is coming off a quietly strong 2022 campaign as the Browns starter. Only Patrick Mahomes and Geno smith had a higher completion rate over expected than Brissett, who was eighth in adjusted EPA per drop back last year. The likeliest outcome is for Washington to play both quarterbacks at some point in 2023.