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By Cameron Kiszla
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The Washington Commanders are handing the tight end coaching position to a former star for the New England Patriots.
After tight ends coach Ben Steele was fired earlier this week, the Commanders are turning to former wide receiver Wes Welker.
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Before this promotion, Welker had been named to the team's offensive coaching staff as an offensive assistant earlier this year, and he was a personnel analyst last season, as reported by Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk.
Wes Welker's Playing Career
The choice of Welker to coach tight ends is an interesting one in that he has never played or coached the position before.
Welker, who came out of Texas Tech undrafted, was a wide receiver and special teams star during his collegiate and professional career.
Once he found a foothold, though, he was a star in the NFL, especially with the Patriots led by Tom Brady.
In six seasons in New England, he had over 100 receptions five times, including more than 120 twice. He led the NFL in receptions three times.
He also topped 1,000 yards in five seasons, reaching a career high of 1,569 in the 2011 season.
He played in three Super Bowls — two with the Patriots and one with the Peyton Manning-led Denver Broncos — but lost all three.
Wes Welker's Coaching Career
Welker never played again after the 2015 season, which he spent with the then-St. Louis Rams, but he's been coaching in the NFL since 2017.
Those roles include offensive and special teams assistant for the Houston Texans from 2017 to 2018 and wide receivers coach for two teams, the San Francisco 49ers from 2019 to 2021 and the Miami Dolphins 2022 to 2024.
While he doesn't have official tight end coaching experience, Nicki Jhabvala of The Athletic reports that Welker had already been coaching the tight ends in minicamp while Steele was on leave.
Video shared by Martenzie Johnson of NOTUS Reports showed Welker already at work with tight end Chigoziem Okonkwo last month.
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