While it might seem like the Washington Commanders are in a no-win situation sitting at 4-11 with 2 games remaining in the regular season … then that’s fair. Things are pretty bad.
Whether or not the Commanders win either of their 2 final regular season games, though, there’s still work to be done. That includes in the quarterbacks room, where 2025 has been an abject disaster for the franchise.
The Commanders started the season with a player at the position who seemed like he could be a Top 5 NFL quarterback in second-year star Jayden Daniels, who has been shut down for the season and will wind up missing 10 games due to a variety of injuries.
The latest problem came after veteran backup Marcus Mariota injured his hand in a Week 16 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. While veteran journeyman Josh Johnson came on in place of Mariota, the Commanders also brought back another veteran journeyman in Jeff Driskel this week.
What Commanders fans want to know is why offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury won’t give another quarterback who has been on the roster in some capacity the last 2 seasons with former Notre Dame star Sam Hartman.
The Commanders have a short week after the loss and play on Thursday, December 25, against the Dallas Cowboys in a Christmas Day game on Netflix.
“Kliff Kingsbury says it wouldn’t be fair to have Sam Hartman make his first NFL start on a short week without real reps,” NBC 4 Sports reporter JP Finlay wrote on X.
Kingsbury’s Hartman Reasoning Doesn’t Hold Up
Kingsbury was asked point blank why about possibly playing Driskel over Hartman.
“Having a guy on a short week, particularly that has played NFL games before, and is comfortable with our system is why we felt good about bringing him in,” Kingsbury said on Tuesday, December 23.
If Hartman doesn’t know the Commanders’ offensive system after 2 years, there’s some question as to why they would even be keeping him on the practice squad, where he’s been parked most of the last 2 seasons.
“What exactly is the point of having Sam Hartman on your practice squad/roster if you’re not going to play him this week or next week?!” 7 News DC’s Scott Abraham wrote on X. “Hartman has been in the system for two years and you would rather start a 39-year-old Josh Johnson or Jeff Driskel. This makes zero sense.”
Hartman Starred at Wake Forest, Notre Dame
In terms of what might happen in the future, this also seems like the best opportunity to get a look at Hartman to see if he could be a viable backup quarterback to Daniels moving forward.
Mariota, who has been Daniels’ backup the last 2 seasons, has been playing on 1-year contracts. Hartman has yet to take a snap in a regular season game.
Hartman starred at Wake Forest for 5 seasons and could have left for the NFL after establishing himself as one of the nation’s top college quarterbacks in 2021 with 4,228 yards, 39 touchdowns and 14 interceptions while also rushing for 364 yards and 11 touchdowns.
Instead, Hartman returned for 2 more seasons thanks to a series of lucrative NIL deals and played his final season at Notre Dame in 2023, where he made a whopping $1.2 million, according to On3.
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