The Washington Commanders lost one of their most productive players on Sunday when tight end Zach Ertz suffered a torn ACL. Head coach Dan Quinn confirmed the news on Monday. Washington is 3-10 and has lost eight straight games heading into Sunday’s NFC East matchup with the 2-11 New York Giants.
Ertz, 35, finishes his second season with Washington with 50 receptions, 504 yards and four touchdowns. All of those numbers are second on the team behind wide receiver Deebo Samuel.
With Ertz out, an opportunity is available. It’s not going to be John Bates. The fifth-year tight end may be more involved in the passing game, but he’s Washington’s blocking tight end. That’s his role. He’ll play a lot, but don’t look for him to inherit Ertz’s targets.
Enter Ben Sinnott. We’ve advocated for more opportunities for Sinnott this season, especially when Washington’s season went off the rails. Not necessarily for him to replace Ertz — who was still productive — but to at least split the snaps. A second-round pick in the 2024 NFL draft, Sinnott has played in 29 games, caught nine passes for 69 yards and two touchdowns. On the bright side, Sinnott has caught all of his nine targets.
There’s no doubt that Sinnott’s short career has been disappointing. What everyone wants to know is whether Sinnott has been disappointing because he doesn’t grasp the offense and hasn’t impressed. Or is it because offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury was too loyal to Ertz?
We’re about to find out.
While it’s sad it has to come at the expense of Ertz being injured, Sinnott has a chance to reward GM Adam Peters’ faith in picking him in the second round. He has an opportunity to prove he should be the Commanders‘ starting tight end in 2026.
It’s unknown whether Jayden Daniels or Marcus Mariota will start at quarterback next week. Both trusted Ertz because he knew how to find holes in the defense and get open. They’re not going to have that same faith in Sinnott, at least initially. It’s up to Sinnott to earn that trust.
Here’s the best-case scenario for Washington: Trey McBride. The Arizona Cardinals used a second-round pick on McBride in the 2022 NFL draft. Ertz was Arizona’s starting tight end at the time, while Kingsbury was the head coach. McBride played in 16 games as a rookie for the Cardinals, catching 29 passes for 265 yards and a touchdown. Kingsbury was fired at the end of the 2022 season. Ertz began the 2023 season as Arizona’s primary tight end, but was injured in Week 7 and landed on injured reserve. McBride took over and never looked back.
McBride is now one of the NFL’s best tight ends and had a similar athletic profile as Sinnott coming out of college. Can Sinnott follow a similar path?
The Commanders are expected to have significant turnover next season. Sinnott has a chance to show he should be a building block over these final four games. If he can find success, that’s one less position Peters will need to acquire in the offseason.