Why Commanders’ David Blough OC promotion makes perfect sense for 2026

The Washington Commanders decided they couldn’t wait on getting Mike McDaniel, so they pulled the trigger and selected David Blough as their new offensive coordinator. And here is why the promotion of Blough makes perfect sense.

After a 4-13 finish for what started as a hopeful follow-up to the 2024 NFC Championship run, change had to happen for the Commanders. They weren’t ready to end the tenure of head coach Dan Quinn, so other people had to go. That included the firing of offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury.

And so, the Commanders looked within to replace him. They handed the offensive keys to 30-year-old David Blough. But why?

Commanders taking an OC risk with young David Blough

First, let’s look at the Quinn angle. This is foremost because Quinn had the authority to sign off on the move or reject it.

Quinn had Kingsbury in house, and it worked great in 2024. But Kingsbury’s offenses had a history of getting out of the gates fast before fading. That was an established trend.

And when the 2025 season went in the tank, there was no reason for Quinn to hang his hat on Kingsbury. Why expect a turnaround, even with a healthy Jayden Daniels, when history suggests the league had caught up with Kingsbury once again?

So Quinn opened the door. What would he look for in his next offensive coordinator?

Because of the way Quinn has operated in the past, it may have made sense that he would opt for a good-old-boy choice. That’s how he wound up with the defensive disaster that was Joe Whitt Jr.

But this is a different Dan Quinn. Time is running out because of how badly the 2025 season turned out. This could be Quinn’s last chance to ever be a head NFL coach. There has to be a sense of desperation. Not in a panicky way, because Quinn will land on his feet. If he got fired by the Commanders tomorrow, he would probably be another team’s defensive coordinator the following day.

But desperation in the sense of keeping up with the younger minds in the NFL. Look at the coaches remaining in the NFC playoffs: Ben Johnson, Sean McVay, Kyle Shanahan, and Mike Macdonald.

The league has young guns racing toward the Super Bowl. Keeping up, for a guy in Quinn’s age category, means joining the crowd and getting younger. And that’s part of what Blough brings to the table.

Commanders OC David Blough represents a fresh perspective

Has Blough earned this opportunity? Not really. Is he ready to tackle this high-pressure position? Time will tell.

So what is the draw of Blough? Is it his relationship with Daniels? Certainly, the Commanders want to keep Daniels happy. He is their only hope of getting this franchise back to competing for playoff berths and postseason success on an annual basis.

But just being a buddy to the quarterback doesn’t get Blough the head seat at the offensive table. Blough got the spot because of what he showed in the day-to-day operations of coaching football.

His suggestions made sense. His ideas often worked. And perhaps most of all, he understands the game in a 2026 kind of way.

It’s not that the old gang, like Sean Payton, can’t get it done anymore. In fact, Payton may win the Super Bowl with the Broncos this year. But Washington’s organization is sensitive to missing out on great coaches.

An argument can be made that Shanahan is the best coach in the NFL. If not him, then perhaps McVay. Both of those guys were in-house in Washington. And they got away. Either could have been coaching the Commanders today, and who knows how many years of losing seasons could have been avoided?

Therefore, Blough benefits from history. He’s getting a chance because the Commanders are fearful of losing another future head coaching superstar.

Will Blough be that? It’s way too early to tell. But Blough has a built-in advantage for success.

QB Jayden Daniels gives David Blough a head start

Let’s not forget what a healthy Jayden Daniels did. There was nothing fluky or lucky about his rookie season numbers. OK, maybe a Hail Mary win was lucky. But these numbers showed promise of greatness.

In 2024, Daniels completed 69% of his passes. He threw 25 touchdown passes with only nine interceptions. And he kept the Commanders in games they eventually pulled out late.

Daniels made only seven starts in 2025. His completion percentage dropped to 60.6. And he had only eight touchdown passes in those seven games. But an argument can be made that in the same way Kingsbury lifted Daniels in 2024, he held him back this year.

Blough will get two opportunities with Daniels. He will get a chance to get him under center more. This will create more play-action pass opportunities. And Daniels’ feathery-soft downfield passes will create splash plays the Kingsbury-shotgun approach missed in 2025.

Daniels doesn’t need to be in the shotgun all the time. He doesn’t need to be a running threat from a play-call perspective. He’s 6-foot-4, 210 pounds — allegedly — and rail thin. The main times Daniels needs to run the football are in scrambles. That’s when the defense is running away from him, and he can get 20 yards before sliding or running out of bounds.

Blough’s main objective will be to keep Daniels healthy. And if he brings the under-center play-action game that has served the Lions so well with Jared Goff, Daniels could have a big season in 2026.

It’s a bold move for Dan Quinn

Make no mistake about this. If Blough is overmatched in this role and the Commanders struggle on offense, they will lose games. The defense will not be good enough to win games.

Therefore, Quinn is banking his head-coaching reputation on Blough. Think about that for a moment. That’s the ultimate endorsement. “I trust you with my job.”

And since nobody in the NFL thinks Quinn is stupid, this move makes perfect sense for the 2026 season.

Now, Commnaders fans, sit back and reserve judgment. Give Blough and Quinn the benefit of the doubt.

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