In his first press conference as Commanders offensive coordinator on Thursday, Kliff Kingsbury had a joke ready when he was asked for what he’s looking for in a quarterback.
Kingsbury quipped that “the Chiefs quarterback” is what he has in mind. Patrick Mahomes won’t be coming to Washington to join his college coach, but Kingsbury more seriously answered that he wants guys who can move well enough to “escape and make a play” when needed. He added that they didn’t need to to be the same kind of quarterback as Kyler Murray was when they were together in Arizona.
The identity of the next quarterback is an open question and Kingsbury indicated that it will impact his overall offensive philosophy. While his background includes working with the pass-heavy Air Raid scheme, Kingsbury noted his Arizona teams didn’t rank at the top of the league in pass percentage and said any offensive plans will be designed around the personnel on hand.
“First and foremost, being able to adapt to your personnel, do what you do best and don’t ask them to do things they can’t do. . . . We want to be balanced, we want to be able to run the football and play-action pass and really do whatever it takes to win,” Kingsbury said. “The Air Raid deal — I’m honored to be a pair of that because it was Mike Leach and I have a tremendous amount of respect for him. I wouldn’t categorize anything we do under that name.”
Kingsbury also said that any offense has to avoid stagnation by continually evolving to make sure they can stay ahead of defenses. The ultimate choice at quarterback will play a big role in that effort in Washington in 2024 and beyond.
