In this week’s Reacts survey, we asked Hogs Haven readers to identify which position on each side of the ball (special teams wasn’t included) they were most concerned about.
As a quick reminder, here’s a graphical look at the 53-man roster by position:
Offense
Looking at this chart, I feel no surprised whatsoever that 4 out of 10 survey respondents identified Guard/Cener as the offensive position group of greatest concern.
Firstly, right guard is really the only position on the roster
with an injured starter as the Commanders head into the Week 1 home game against the New York Giants. Sam Cosmi, as you will no doubt recall, tore his ACL in the divisional round of the playoffs in the comprehensive victory over the top-seeded Lions. He had surgery in late-January and simply isn’t ready to return to play. Cosmi spent the entire training camp and preseason on the PUP list, and there he will remain for at least the first four weeks of the regular season. While Andrew Wylie should be a capable replacement, Cosmi’s absence will certainly test the Commanders depth.
Also, while Brandon Coleman, the expected starter at left guard, is a 2nd-year player, he spent his rookie season at left tackle. Fortunately, he’s had several months to adjust to the new position and he’s backed up by last year’s starter (and super bowl starting lineman with the Chiefs) Nick Allegretti, so the depth at this position should be solid.
Finally, while Tyler Biadasz is a very good center, the depth behind his is…uncertain. The two veteran specialist backup centers, Michael Dieter and Nick Harris, were both released in last week’s roster cut down. The guard who had been working as a backup in OTAs and minicamp, Nate Herbig, unexpectedly retired in the first week of training camp. Allegretti has been getting work at the position, in his 6-year career, he has only played center on 78 total snaps — 13 in the 2022 season and 65 in 2023.
Biadasz missed all of Weeks 15 & 18 and most of Week 17 last year, and the offense seemed to stutter a bit without him — a 1-point win in New Orleans, an overtime win vs the Falcons, and a comeback victory in Dallas to close out the regular season. Many Commanders fans seem to be crossing their fingers and hoping that the starting center is healthy for all 17 games this year.
Defense
Defensively, 88% of the votes went to the front-7, with nearly 6 out of 10 voters focused on the DE/Edge position.
This was, perhaps, the weakest position on the 2024 defense, and many observers were a bit bemused by the approach that GM Adam Peters and head coach Dan Quinn took to the group this offseason.
Firstly, the Commanders seemed perfectly content to let Dante Fowler Jr, last year’s team leader in sacks and a guy who had played under Dan Quinn in Dallas, return to the Cowboys in the March free agency period. The team also released another 2024 free agent signing, Clelin Ferrell, who struggled with injury and limited production in ‘24 and who did not impress in training camp or preseason. The replacements are Deatrich Wise and Von Miller. While Miller has had an impressive 13-year career, per Pro Football Reference (PFR) he has produced just 14 sacks over the past 3 seasons in Buffalo. Wise is a solid pass rusher who also plays the run rather well; he has actually outperformed Miller in the sack department over the past three years, accounting for 17 sacks, and at least 4.5 each season.
On the other end, the Commanders have Dorance Armstrong, a key 2024 defensive free agent signing, reprising his role from last season when he played a career-high 61% of the defensive snaps, posted a career-high of 39 tackles, adding 5 sacks, 7 tackles for loss, 2 forced fumbles and a batted pass according to PFR.
The group is rounded out with Jacob Martin, a rotational 7-year veteran who typically plays between a quarter and a third of defensive snaps, and Javontae Jean-Baptiste, a 7th round draft pick of the Commanders in ‘24. Jean-Baptiste played just 25% of the regular season defensive snaps as a rookie, accounting for 13 tackles and a sack.
Joe Whitt may be planning to help generate more pressure on the quarterback through defensive scheming. Per PFF, linebacker Frankie Luvu rushed the passer 221 times last year, managing 8 sacks, 6 QB hits, 19 hurries and 5 batted balls. We should see Luvu playing a similar role in 2025.
Another scheme-related move could include lining up 2025 free agent defensive lineman Javon Kinlaw as the “big end” on the strong side of the offensive formation in the Elephant front that is one of the defensive alignments that DQ has used in the past to both control the halfback on running plays and pressure the quarterback on passing plays.
Washington is relying on a veteran group and a certain amount of defensive scheming to get production out of the DE position, and it should be a group effort, with 7 or 8 players seeing time setting the edge vs the run game and putting pressure on the quarterback in the pass game. Despite a lack of marquee players in the position group a year ago, Washington finished the ‘24 season ranked 17th in the NFL in sacks — only middling, but enough to help construct a 12-5 regular season record and win a pair of playoff games. If defensive coordinator Joe Whitt can get similar results pressuring opposing passers while improving the run defense, it should go a long way towards making 2025 another successful season for the Washington Commanders.
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