The Commanders will be on the hunt for a new play-caller for the 2023 season. They are firing Scott Turner, NBC Sports Washington’s JP Finlay reports (on Twitter).
Turner had been in place as Washington’s OC throughout Ron Rivera’s three-year tenure, and the second-generation coach was with Rivera in Carolina as well. ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reported Turner was on shaky ground, and the Commanders will look for an upgrade on the market. Rivera confirmed the move shortly after the reports emerged.
This decision comes 10 months after Washington extended Turner, but the team has consistently struggled to put up points during Rivera’s tenure. Washington has finished 25th, 23rd and 24th in points scored from 2020-22. Although the team’s quarterback instability undoubtedly represents the main reason for those rankings, Turner will pay the price.
The son of Norv Turner, Scott landed his first NFL job under Rivera in 2011, becoming an offensive quality control staffer with the Panthers in Rivera’s first season. After some moves around the league and a year under Jim Harbaugh at Michigan, Turner resurfaced in Carolina during Rivera’s final two Panthers seasons. In the wake of the Panthers firing Rivera (and Norv Turner moving to a non-OC role) in 2019, Scott Turner finished that year running Carolina’s offense. He parlayed that into the Washington gig. (Washington also fired Norv Turner back in 2000, after he lasted seven years as HC.)
Rivera had gone with the same OC-DC pairing — Turner, Jack Del Rio — throughout his Washington tenure, but assuming he stays on as the HC, a hot seat will await. Washington made the playoffs in 2020, albeit with a 7-9 record, but has not cleared .500 during Rivera’s stay. That will ramp up the pressure on the veteran coach for the 2023 season.
With Washington, Turner was tasked with running offenses around several different quarterbacks. The team, which has started six Week 1 QBs since 2017, has also seen injuries impact its QB room significantly during Rivera’s tenure. Alex Smith‘s return from his gruesome leg injury aided the then-Washington Football Team in 2020, when Smith started over Dwayne Haskins, but Haskins still started six games for Washington that year. Smith’s retirement led to the Commanders signing Ryan Fitzpatrick in 2021. Fitzpatrick lasted barely 10 plays that season, going down in Week 1 and never playing again. This year’s Carson Wentz experiment largely busted.
The Commanders traded two Day 2 picks for Wentz but went just 2-5 in his starts, benching him for both Taylor Heinicke and Sam Howell this season. Wentz did not have the chance to play with rookies Brian Robinson and Jahan Dotson much, but after returning from his broken finger, he threw three interceptions in a Week 17 loss that eliminated the Commanders. With the team having the chance to save $26M by cutting Wentz, it would be a bit of a surprise if he returns in 2023.
Quarterback issues aside, this move also comes after Commanders players showed frustration with the team’s play-calling, Sam Fortier of the Washington Post writes. Logan Thomas said last week, “The way I put it is: We got so much talent, we should be scoring more points than we have,” with Fortier adding nine other players expressed frustration with Turner’s play-calling.
