ASHBURN, Va. -- New Washington Commanders offensive coordinator David Blough performed a card trick recently for a staffer, continuing a hobby he first showed off as a rookie quarterback six years ago.
Blough had the staffer pick a card. He chose the king of spades and put it back in the deck. After some shuffling, Blough took the top card in the pile and the bottom one, then "shot one out from the middle of the deck." It was, indeed, the king of spades pulled out by Washington's director of football communications Charlie Mule.
Later, via text, Blough called the trick, "Sleight of hand."
Which is a good way to sum up what he wants from Washington's offense this season as well. The 30-year-old Blough takes over for Kliff Kingsbury, who parted ways with the team after a 5-12 season.
The Commanders will not only have a younger person calling plays for the first time, they'll have a different-looking offense. But that's what coach Dan Quinn wanted when he decided it was time to move on from Kingsbury.
"This is going to be an aggressive, balanced attack," Quinn said last week.
But, they hope, it becomes that way by using an attack that features more plays from under center, less no-huddle and results in more explosive plays.
Here's a look at what we could see from Washington's offense next season.
More under center
The Commanders hope -- believe -- Blough's "sleight of hand" approach will be evident as they run more plays from under center. In theory, it will give them more ability to make run plays and pass plays look more alike -- fooling linebackers to create openings on throws over the middle.
In two seasons under Kingsbury, Washington ran the fewest amount of plays from under center in the NFL. In fact, the Commanders' 193 snaps were 157 fewer than the next lowest, Cincinnati -- and it was 919 less than the No. 1 team, Detroit.
Kingsbury's offense featured the "quick game" -- passes designed to get rid of the ball quicker. He also liked run-pass option plays as well as designed quarterback runs. All of which were best run from the shotgun or pistol formations. Multiple team sources said they want an offense where the run game mirrors the pass game, whether it's bootleg or straight dropbacks.
In 2024, with a healthy offense, Washington ranked fifth in scoring and seventh in yards under Kingsbury. But Quinn wanted a different philosophy moving forward -- more run emphasis; more ability to create explosive plays; less pressure on quarterback Jayden Daniels to save the day each game.
That led to Kingsbury's exit and the quick promotion of Blough. Both Quinn and Blough pointed out that the teams that advanced far in the postseason all played more from under center. A year ago, under Kingsbury, Washington reached the NFC Championship Game doing the opposite. That season, Kingsbury's offense finished fifth in points and efficiency, fourth in offensive EPA (expected points added), third in rushing and 10th in time of possession.
Washington also ranked just 22nd in yards per pass attempt on play-action in 2024. Though the team fared much better last year overall (ranking ninth in yards per attempt), when the score differential was within a touchdown, they ranked 22nd in that category.
The organization says the goal for the offense in 2026 is to create more explosive plays. In 2024, the unit ranked 16th overall in plays that gained 15-plus yards -- but 31st when throwing.
"We're going to try to feature every part of Jayden in the way that makes him unique and special," Quinn said. "But also, the run action and the runs and the play-action game that goes with it, those are all things to generate explosive plays."
Blough said the athleticism of offensive tackles Laremy Tunsil and Josh Conerly Jr. and the cutback skills shown by running back Jacory Croskey-Merritt fit well with how he envisions the offense. Along with, of course, Daniels' skillset in the passing game and to extend plays.
"It opens up some different schemes in the run game, some things that I believe in," Blough said. "It opens up different play actions and keepers and getting [Daniels] on the perimeter in different ways."
Different influences
Kingsbury ran a unique system, bringing it with him from Texas Tech to the NFL. But Blough has played in multiple systems and there's no film of what his offense will look like. In addition to playing for and coaching with Kingsbury, Blough also played in NFL systems coached by Darrell Bevell, Kevin O'Connell and Ben Johnson.
Blough also played at Purdue under current Louisville coach Jeff Brohm, who has been known for finding creative ways to target his primary receiver. That's something Blough wants to do with Terry McLaurin, who has averaged 7.28 targets per game; they'd like to get him at least two or three more touches per game.
Johnson and O'Connell, while their systems may differ, both use play-action heavy passes with the quarterback under center.
"The mark of the good coaches I've seen is they've taken the good and tried to leave as much as the bad," Blough said. "We're going to take the best from everybody else we've learned from. Then it's about featuring what Jayden does well with regard to all of that. That's what excites me most is I know I have convictions on how the position can be played, and his skillset really fits that mold, which is exciting."
But one thing Blough has learned from these influences is that it's better to huddle. Washington ran more plays of no-huddle offense than anyone in the NFL the past two seasons -- 1,279 such plays, or 83 more plays than the next three teams combined.
That said, the Commanders did not always move at a fast pace with this look. They snapped the ball within 25 seconds of the previous play 10.4% of the time over the past two years. They did run 429 plays within 35 seconds, most in the NFL; 33% of the time they were in no-huddle.
"It's hard to ignore how much stress and no huddle -- the tempo element -- puts on a defense," Blough said, acknowledging its utility.
"If we look up next year and we're at 20%, I'd be OK with that," Blough ended.
New roles
Blough has coached in the NFL for only two years, though he played five years with Detroit, Minnesota and Arizona. He was on the headset during games, sometimes relaying plays to the quarterback. He was also in the meeting rooms.
He helped Kingsbury during practices and games; he would think along with Kingsbury during games to see how he might have called a play or a series of them. Last season, Blough ran the scout team's two-minute offense -- huddling with a defensive coach the night before to map out what they wanted him to feature. After the practice, Blough would analyze his calls.
And, Blough said, they can create call simulations where he's calling plays vs. a computer.
One former Washington assistant once said no matter the preparation, there's still a big adjustment when a coach is in a new role. When Sean McVay was in his first season as a playcaller he admitted to struggling at times.
But, Blough said, "I will be completely prepared and ready when the opportunity comes."
As for Daniels, he has attempted 18 passes while playing from under center. It will require him to hone his footwork on drops -- he has worked with a coach, Ryan Porter, who told ESPN he and Daniels have been working on his drops since Daniels was 11. And he'll have to get used to throwing more after turning his back to the defense.
In the last month of the season, after Washington had said Daniels wouldn't play anymore because of a dislocated left elbow, they kept him on the roster so he could still practice. During that time, he took more snaps from under center - often as part of his scout team duty
ESPN NFL analyst Alex Smith said he played almost exclusively in shotgun while at Utah so he had to make this same adjustment in the NFL.
"Under center is a different viewpoint for a quarterback," he said. "From shotgun you have the best seat in the house -- you see all 21 other guys and have a great picture. It takes some getting used to if you haven't done it a lot."
But, he said, when it works it opens a lot of intermediate throws.
"It's a visual thing," he said for a quarterback's adjustment. "[But] usually [the defense] declares clearly -- either they took the bait or they didn't. Once I felt comfortable with it, it was something I loved when the calls came in because I felt it was advantage us and an opportunity to make chunk plays."
Daniels also will have to get used to a different language for playcalls -- just as he did when he entered the NFL. Coaches were impressed at how quickly he learned it -- and the protection calls -- the first time.
"It's a give and take," Blough said of the changes, "and that's what we're excited about exploring."