Washington Commanders offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy already has a vocal supporter in the locker room.
"I was fired up," wide receiver Jahan Dotson said Thursday on 106.7 The Fan regarding Bienemy's hiring. "To be able to work with such a great mind who's had so much success at the highest level of football, it's definitely pretty cool to be able to work with someone like that. I'm extremely excited to have the opportunity just to pick his brain a little bit and learn from him. And just be able to be a sponge. I'm really excited for the hire. I can't wait to get to work, and I know there's big things coming this year."
The Commanders lured Bieniemy to Washington less than a week after his Chiefs won the Super Bowl for the second time during his tenure as OC.
The move is a lateral one in title alone. By leaving the shadow of Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes in Kansas City, Bieniemy will have complete control of Washington's offense, which hasn't ranked better than 23rd in points scored since 2017.
It's a reclamation project that could finally provide the 53-year-old with an elusive head coaching opportunity should he prove successful, and one Dotson feels will result in the best foot forward from everyone involved.
"I know he has dreams and aspirations of being an NFL head coach one day, and we have dreams and aspirations of winning Super Bowls and winning a lot of football games," Dotson said. "So, the more we help him, the more he's gonna help us and vice versa. It's a two-way street."
Dotson is fresh off a rookie season that sizzled with potential despite him catching passes from three different starting quarterbacks and missing five games due to a hamstring injury.
The 2022 No. 16 overall pick had 35 receptions for 523 yards and a team-leading seven touchdowns.
If the addition of Bieniemy unlocks more from the young wideout, a Terry McLaurin-Dotson duo suddenly becomes quite the problem for opposing defenses -- and a boon for Sam Howell, Taylor Heinicke or whoever serves as Washington's QB1 in 2023.
As for specifics, Dotson has not spoken to Bieniemy about his upcoming role or expectations for Year 2, but he did make a show of support by attending his new OC's introductory news conference.
"We haven't really chatted too in depth about that yet," he said. "It's a new hire, so just making him feel welcomed a little bit, making sure that he knows that the guys in here in the room, in our facility, are gonna die for him. We're gonna put it all on the line for him and we know he's gonna do the same for us, so it's just a really exciting opportunity."
