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Last month, Hogs Haven listed Odafeh Oweh at #4 in our list of the top-ten Commanders for 2026. Here’s what Scott Bair said about Oweh in that article:
He’s an intriguing talent with the size you want at 6-foot-5 and 251 pounds, with the speed and power you need to excel off the edge
in new coordinator Daronte Jones’ system.
His relative athletic score was super high – catching a trend among big Adam Peters investments? – with solid combine numbers in all the right places.
Oweh gets to the quarterback a ton. Translating that to sacks and errant throws and turnovers is the key. He’s clearly capable of creating havoc, but how will Oweh fare without expert pass rushers around him.
He hasn’t been the alpha to this point, and he’ll be counted on to be one in 2026. His response to that expectation will be a major factor in how the Commanders fare defensively in 2026. Oweh doesn’t just need to be a double-digit sacks guy. He needs to make game-changing plays and lead the defensive line.
Washington’s biggest free agent commitment this offseason came early in the March free agency period when Adam Peters inked Odafe Oweh to a 4-yr, $96m contract as the first of several moves intended to fix what was wrong with Washington’s pass rush in 2025.
Some people were critical of the contract as an overpay for a player who hasn’t earned this kind of payday while others viewed it as a savvy move to sign an ascending 27-yr-old player.
Bleacher Report called the signing of edge rusher Odafe Oweh one of the 10 worst free agent signings of the offseason:
[T]he fact that Baltimore gave up on a 10-sack player and flipped him for a so-so defensive back and a Day 3 pick says something—and that something isn’t great.
Oweh had just 13 sacks over the first three seasons of his career combined. He has never been much of a factor against the run—he has hit the 40-tackle mark just once. His 47 pressures and 16.4 percent pass-rush win rate last year per PFF were good, but not great.
Oweh’s average annual salary ranks among the 12 best edge-rushers in the game. His production and talent does not.
A to Z Sports, on the other hand, praised the signing of Oweh:
The Commanders bringing in Oweh checks off a lot of boxes, and he showed so many flashes when he joined the Chargers. Eight sacks and 35 pressures in 12 games on a new defense isn’t something to just overlook. He also had the sixth-highest pressure rate in the NFL at 17.3% after he joined the Chargers in Week 6.
Oweh also only missed two tackles in those 12 games with the Charges, which is insane when you think about it. He’s also very stout in the run game at 6-5, 260 pounds, and he’ll bring power and speed off the EDGE in Washington. This is a franchise player to build around, who is hitting his prime as he turned 27 two months ago. It’s impossible not to love this move
The question
Today, we’re asking you to assess how confident you are that Oweh will live up to his contract this season.
Comments & Results
Of course, we invite you to answer the survey question below, but also feel free to expand on your answer and provide nuance in the comments section. While you are certainly free to simply share which choice you made on the survey question, the most interesting comments will explain why you answered the way you did. I rely on those comments when discussing the results of the survey when they are posted in a separate article the next few days.
