Commanders Reacts Survey: Week 9 – Thoughts on returning players, Scary Terry’s stats, and the value of winning or losing

Poll Questions!!

Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the NFL. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Washington Commanders fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in regular email surveys.

This week’s poll questions are pretty much self-explanatory, but I’ll just give a bit of background on the players mentioned in the final question.

Jahan Dotson
This year’s first round draft pick got off to a quick start in his NFL career, amassing 152 yards and 4 touchdown catches in his first 4 games, and winning the Rookie of the Week award for his Week 1 performance against the Chargers. In Week 4, against Dallas, Dotson injured his hamstring in the 3rd quarter, and has not played since.

The coaches seemed to think he was on-track for a Week 7 return against the Bears, but Dotson had a setback in practice during the week before the game. He was out against the Colts, but there’s a chance he could play this week against the Vikings.

Cole Holcomb
Holcomb is Washington’s defensive signal caller and the team’s leading tackler. After getting off to a bit of a rocky start at middle linebacker to open the season, Holcomb has looked increasingly comfortable from week to week.

Holcomb missed practice all of last week, ahead of the Colts game, with a sprained foot. We’ll know more about his status for the Vikings game in the coming days.

Chase Young
After watching Chase Young put together an inspirational rookie year in which the dynamic defensive end won Defensive Rookie of the Year honors, many fans were underwhelmed with the statistically quiet start to #99’s 2021 season, and felt that he wasn’t playing at the same level. Just as he started to demonstrate some production (1.5 sacks, 2 forced fumbles in his final 5 games) Young suffered a devastating knee injury in mid-November, and had to have reconstructive surgery.

Young has spent nearly a year rehabbing from surgery. He has been around the team for months, acting as a mentor and sideline cheerleader. On Monday, Ron Rivera confirmed that the team would “start the clock” on Young on Wednesday, 2 November. What the coach means is that the Commanders have 21 days to assess Chase Young and either activate him (which is the expected outcome), or shut him down for the season (which would be equally shocking and disappointing).

There is no guarantee that Young will see the field this week against the Vikings. If he doesn’t appear fully ready to play, the team could opt to keep him inactive until he demonstratest that he is physically and mentally prepared for the rigors of an NFL game. When he does get back on the field, there is no guarantee that he will have the explosion or speed that he exhibited previously, but his return — whenever it happens — will be welcomed by teammates and fans.

Cole Turner6’6”
The rookie tight end was inactive for the first 4 games of his NFL career, getting on the field for the first time in Week 5 against the Titans. Turner was a highly effective player in college, where he compiled nearly 1,300 yards and 19 TDs in his final two years at Nevada.

At 6’6” and 240 pounds, Turner has a huge wingspan and seems to be the kind of red zone target that quarterbacks would love. Despite his size, Taylor Heinicke managed to throw his first target a couple of yards over Turner’s head versus the Packers, and when Turner managed to get his hands on the second target, he had jumped so high and extended so far that he got concussed when he landed.

Turner was out last week versus the Colts, and he will need to clear the concussion protocol before he can retake the field, and that doesn’t follow any set time frame,

Against the Colts, starting TE Logan Thomas, who had been limited in practice all week, didn’t catch a pass, while John Bates and Armani Rogers combined for 2 catches and 19 yards.

Washington’s tight ends have played a very limited role in the passing offense in 2022, and Cole Turner could help jump start that part of the offense when he is ready to return.

Results & discussion

We’ll publish results of the survey before Sunday’s game against the Vikings.

Feel free to leave comments below, as I rely on them when I report the survey results.