His role as a first-year play-caller will increase what David Blough has to deal with during his third season with the Washington Commanders, so he should heed the warning from one of the team’s former offensive coordinators, Scott Turner, about focusing on what’s “important,” something Turner says the Commanders didn’t always do in the past.
Turner, who called the offense in Washington from 2020 to 2022, told former Arizona Cardinals quarterback Blough what’s important during an appearance on the “Trap or Dive Podcast” with Jamual Forrest, featured on SB Nation’s Hogs Haven.
According to Turner, being a successful OC is about “making sure you’re efficient with your time, and you focus in on, you know, again, what’s important and what wins games.”
It’s a crucial intangible Turner revealed hasn’t always been a priority for the Commanders.
David Blough Must Stress ‘Important,’ Game-Winning Concept
Turner explained how “a lot of” what wins games “is situational. Whether it’s the third down or the red zone or two-minute clock management, making players aware.”
It took moving to a new team and working for a new head coach for Turner to become fully aware of the value of situational football. He revealed, “That was something that I got, I worked for Josh McDaniels at the Raiders. The situational things that we went over as a team, and it was all the situations that I knew, but we didn’t like, in Washington we didn’t necessarily expose our players to it as much. I feel like we didn’t, like, if we got in a, there’s 15 seconds and there was no timeouts. A down situation where you complete a ball, you gotta get down as fast as you can so we can get up and spike it. We would hit on those situations, but I think we could have been a lot more thorough.”
Those telling comments are not only an indictment of how things operated under Turner’s head coach in Washington, Ron Rivera. The words are also a clear warning to Blough not to forget about the fundamentals during his first season with the call sheet after replacing Kliff Kingsbury.
It will be easy for Blough to get tunnel vision about making changes to concepts and formations. Especially after Kingsbury’s “one-dimensional play-calling” was accused by Sports Illustrated’s David Harrison of putting the Commanders in unfavorable situations last season.
X’s and O’s are a key part of the process, but coaching the Commanders to play smarter football with winning habits on offense should be the priority for Blough. Getting this balance right will be a test of his reputation as a rising star in coaching circles.
Blough’s task can be made easier by the Commanders adding to third-year quarterback Jayden Daniels’ supporting cast during the 2026 NFL draft.
Commanders Can Fill Receiver Need in Draft
General manager Adam Peters and head coach Dan Quinn are putting lot on Blough’s plate, so why not help the 30-year-old by solving the offenses’ need for another wide receiver?
There are plenty of intriguing pass-catchers potentially available in the first round, even if the Commanders have to trade back from the seventh-overall pick. Standing pat at seven can still land the Commanders one of the premier wideouts in this class, although not everybody is a fan of his talents.
Alternatively, Peters could pair Daniels with a ground-based game-breaker to create something truly frightening for opposing defenses. Whatever they do, the Commanders should come out of this draft having put another dynamic skill player or two at Blough’s disposal.
Then it will be up to Kingsbury’s replacement to follow Turner’s advice about stressing the importance of situational football.
Former Commanders Coach Gives David Blough ‘Important’ Warning