Sports fans in the Arlington and Fairfax area have had little to celebrate in recent years. That is especially true if you follow the Washington Commanders. With much-publicized troubles on and off the field, you have to go back quite a way to have memories of Super Bowl glory.

With just one postseason game in the last eight years, Washington has not been considered as even a potential long shot for championships and has, more often than not, battled against finishing bottom of its division. With no winning record seasons since 2016, Commanders fans have been almost resigned to failure. But the mood seems to have lifted during this current offseason.

Even the most biased of Washington fans are not claiming that the Commanders can go all the way and win the Super Bowl – and the Georgia sports betting sites are certainly not getting carried away. But with so many positive changes throughout the organization, might Washington fans dare to be excited about the 2024 NFL season?

All Change

The changes actually began last offseason, when Josh Harris bought the Commanders from Dan Snyder. A new owner was definitely needed to break with the recent past and get the franchise back on the right track. We know it wasn’t the greatest season on the field in the end. But it signaled a new beginning, at least.

We now have a new general manager in Adam Peters and a new head coach in Dan Quinn. With plenty of other changes in the coaching staff, Commanders fans might be hoping for a different looking team in 2024. Coach Quinn will bring his defensive experience to the role and his ability to get positive results in Atlanta is a good sign ahead of this season.

Good Draft

Quinn will also be in the position of working with an exciting group of new players on his roster. The Commanders had already done well in bringing in a lot of free agents and then had one of the better drafts in recent history. There is no guarantee when it comes to rookies, of course. But the potential is definitely there.

Jayden Daniels is getting everyone very excited, for a start. New offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury will know that he has a good passer and runner in the former LSU quarterback and will look to utilize all his talents right from the start. Johnny Newton and Mike Sainristil are also both very impressive defensive talents and Quinn will be hoping that he can get that side of the ball working in the same way as he has done in Dallas for the last few years.

Season Ahead

Winning both the first two games in 2023 gave Washington fans some unrealistic hopes of success last year. It wasn’t as though a long postseason run was really expected but winning just two more in the rest of the campaign was a real disappointment.

Opponents in 2024 are something of a mixed bag. The conference matchups pit Washington against probably the weakest division in the NFC. The Bucs won the South with only a 9-8 record last year and Carolina won just two games all season. The teams from the AFC North will provide a much tougher task though, with all four arguably potential Super Bowl champions. Add a resurgent Chicago Bears to the list of opponents and 2024 is already looking tough, no matter how quickly the new team and coaching staff gel.

Tough Division

Washington also faces a familiar problem in that the NFC East is a strong division now. Winning the division with a 7-9 record in 2020 showed just how far down the pecking order it had fallen. But now the three other teams have vastly improved and had begun to leave the Commanders behind.

The Giants are something of an enigma, with any improvement seemingly countered by self-implosion. But the Cowboys and the Eagles are now two of the best teams in the NFC. Both will be tough to beat and hopes for a successful season for the Commanders have to be tempered by the fact that the team could still finish bottom of the division, even after some improvement.

Figure 2 Fans might actually enjoy coming here in 2024

Small Steps

Taking all of this information in ahead of the new season, Washington fans should be getting excited. But expectations should be on the cautious side. There is now more potential with the team than there has been for a long time. But small steps of improvement should be anticipated, rather than a huge leap forward.

Washington has had good drafts before and nothing has come of it. Yes, the fans and the organization can justifiably look at the new recruits and hope for great things. But we all know that top college picks don’t always set the big league alight. Improving on just the four wins should be the first target and even a season that brings seven or eight can be considered a success.

Looking to the Future

Washington fans will be the last ones that need to be told to not expect too much too quickly from the new set-up. They have had their hopes dashed far too many times before to get carried away. But the future does at last look bright.

New ownership, new coaches, and new players – this is now a team in transition, rather than one that got bogged down in disputes and bad organization. It might not happen straight away but the Washington Commanders might be on the verge of starting a new successful chapter in the history of the franchise.