A beautiful late-summer evening in Baltimore turned in a nightmare performance for Dan Quinn and his Commander roster hopefuls. With most of the starters and key reserves sitting this one out, there were still plenty of guys hoping to make an impact in the game for either Washington or one of the 31 other teams in the league.
Unfortunately, many guys may have played themselves right out of the league with bad performances…
This was one of the most poorly played football games in all three phases I
have ever seen form a Washington football team. They looked completely unprepared, out-coached and lacked “juice” for all four quarters.
Quinn commented on how great a camp this group had in his post-game presser but lamented the fact that these last two games left a lot to be desired in terms of preparation, discipline and execution. With what looks like a plethora of roster questions still left unanswered, fans have now gone into full panic-mode just two weeks before the season opener against the Eagles.
It’s just the preseason though – right?
Below are my Studs and Duds of the game, followed by some notes.
Studs
DB Tyler Owens
Owens was the lone bright spot to an otherwise embarrassing evening. The imposing safety was playing like his job was on the line, and, in my opinion, secured a spot on the 53-man roster.
Playing from a deep half, he read plays correctly, covered ground quickly and arrived with violence — exactly what you want to see from a safety. He was also a standout on special teams.
Duds
WR Luke McCaffrey
McCaffrey being active for this final preseason game says a lot about his potential spot on the 53-man roster. While Terry McLaurin, Stefon Diggs, Treylon Burks, Dyami Brown, Jaylin Lane and Antonio Williams all sat this one out, Luke was active and seemed VERY much on the bubble.
Unfortunately, he did nothing to stand out. He had a drop on a slant and failed to come back to a ball on a hitch that allowed a Ravens defender to break up the pass. Although he does have return value, that may not be enough to keep him on the roster.
RB Kaytron Allen
Rookies fighting to make the roster need to practice good ball security. Allen’s fumble on Washington’s first offense play set the tone for what would be an incredibly rough evening for the Commanders.
WR Jaden Bradley
For the second week in a row, a rookie fighting to make the team has fumbled a kickoff.
OL Julian Good-Jones
Living up to the moniker I have bestowed upon him, “Bad-Jones” was every bit as bad as you could expect. It’s absolutely crazy to think that if Washington had a regular-season game tomorrow, this many may be our starting center. Shame, SHAME on Adam Peters!
OL Trent Scott
Scott looked almost unplayable against the Ravens backups. If he had to enter a regular-season game at tackle, Washington would be in major trouble.
LB Kain Medrano
A 2025 draft pick by Peters, Medrano is a guy who is on the roster bubble this summer. His performance on Friday night didn’t help his cause. He was missing tackles, making poor reads and his coverage was below average.
DB Car’lin Vigers
The second-year corner had a rough evening. He gave up a touchdown early (albeit on a great catch by Chris Moore) and showed both poor in coverage and tackling throughout the game.
Notes
- LB Ale Kaho has some value to this team, but Friday not was not his best game. He had some really poor run fits — none worse that the goal line play where he just allowed the Ravens running back to walk untouched into the end zone.
- Washington’s backup offensive linemen wouldn’t make a Big 10 starting roster — they are that bad! If anyone, besides maybe D.J. Humphries at tackle, had to enter a regular season game, the Commanders would be in a heap of trouble.
- Dan Quinn was visibly upset (and rightfully so) during his post-game presser. Although he praised the team for having a great training camp, the last two games did not live up to the standard he sets for the team. His seat is near the hottest in the league heading into Week 1.
- At this point, Washington needs to do something to address the state of the offensive line. Not having a playable center right now is going to come back and bite this unit. Having literally no playable depth is absolutely horrifying! The guys we have seen in game action this preseason may not be able to start for a Power Four football team, and that’s saying something.
