Josh Harris paid over $6 billion to acquire the Washington Commanders. The Commanders’ most crucial decision in his first few years as owner will be which quarterback to select with the second pick in the forthcoming draft. That player will become the franchise’s face.
When you put it that way, it makes perfect sense that Harris is sitting in on quarterback interviews at the NFL scouting combine. Whichever 21- or 22-year-old man the Commanders choose will be the most visible employee in Harris’ multibillion-dollar company. Of course, he wants to speak with the candidates first.
However, in NFL circles, this is unusual. It will most likely give Commanders fans unwelcome recollections to the Daniel Snyder era.
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Harris has attended all six of the team’s interviews with top quarterback prospects at the combine this week. It’s unusual to see any NFL owners in Indianapolis during the combine, aside from Jerry Jones of the Dallas Cowboys. To some, Harris’s hands-on, or hovering, approach to selecting a quarterback raises warning flags. Being known as a “hands-on” owner is often seen negatively.
But Harris sitting in on interviews would not be so unusual if not for Snyder’s long legacy as the team’s owner. Former Commanders coach Jay Gruden often complained about the selection that Snyder “would come in off his yacht and make the pick,” which suited Snyder’s image as a meddling owner whose faulty personnel moves contributed to the franchise’s demise.
Harris finds himself in a difficult situation. In some ways, he is taking over a worse situation than an expansion team. According to the NFLPA report cards for each team, the Commanders are the worst franchise in the NFL, a holdover from the Snyder period. The squad needs a new stadium. It has not won a game in some years. They must find a means to regain the support of their fans. There is a tremendous amount of work to be done to repair the Commanders. Harris must be as involved as possible without earning the reputation of being meddlesome.
The next big step is deciding which quarterback to choose second overall. Whether it’s Caleb Williams, Drake Maye, Jayden Daniels, or someone else, turning the Commanders around begins with making the correct quarterback pick. Harris is unlikely to ask quarterbacks how they would handle a Cover 3 defence, but rather to ensure that the person fits the profile he wants represented in his tremendously expensive firm.
Everything makes sense, even if it’s strange and will make Commanders fans cringe just thinking about Snyder again.
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