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The Washington Commanders hired Eric Bieniemy to lead their offense for the 2023 season. That should give the Commanders hope for the future, at least on one side of the ball. In five years as the Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator, Bieniemy coached in three Super Bowls and his offenses never finished worse than sixth in points or yards. 

While some will give all the credit for that to Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid, it's worth noting that Bieniemy was Mahomes' offensive coordinator as he became the best quarterback in the NFL. And even if all Bieniemy did was learn from Reid for five years, that would be to his advantage. 

Of course, NFL fans know that while an offensive coordinator does matter, nothing matters more than the guy on the receiving end of the play calls. And Commanders fans have some reason to worry about that position because at this point the expectation is that they plan on starting fifth-round pick Sam Howell to start the season. Howell threw for 169 yards in his lone NFL start.

Day 3 quarterbacks come with a lot of risks, and while Commanders fans may have reason for concern, Dynasty Fantasy managers should see nothing but upside. Howell has Bieniemy calling plays, Terry McLaurin and Jahan Dotson catching passes, and rushing ability that may be overlooked. He ran for 35 yards on five carries in his only start last year and ran for 828 yards and 11 scores in his final season at North Carolina. Mahomes has rushed for at least 300 yards in each of his past three seasons, and that's closer to Howell's floor than his ceiling. And it's not like he was a slouch as a passer in college. Howell averaged 9.2 yards per attempt for his career and threw for 3,641 yards as a freshman at UNC.

Sam Howell
SEA • QB • #14
CMP%57.9
YDs169
TD1
INT1
YD/Att8.89
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When I did my first run of projections, I actually had to pull back a little on Howell because he was in the top 20 due to his weapons and potential rushing ability. When you look at the Dynasty rankings below, you'll see he's in the top 20 and I'm not pulling back. As always, this comes with the caveat that a project like Howell is more valuable to a rebuilder than a contender, but that won't be true if he hits his ceiling this year. 

Maybe most important is that he is still on the waiver wire in a lot of Dynasty Fantasy Football leagues. That should change as soon as your waivers open up for the new league year. He may just be a starter in Superflex leagues. Just don't trade for him like he is a starter quite yet. The Commanders and Bieniemy still have six months to decide they'd prefer someone else.