Linebacker Frankie Luvu’s position group looks a lot different than it did last year. Bobby Wagner is no longer in Washington, with the future Pro Football Hall of Famer still unsigned.
Leo Chenal is around now after signing a three-year deal with the Commanders in free agency. So is Sonny Styles, an elite athlete taken No. 7 overall in this year’s NFL draft.
The group is younger, faster and explosive, possibly the team’s deepest and most talented position group.
Football life might change for Luvu,
a veteran who has essentially been an every-down starter since 2022. That includes the past two seasons in Washington. He played 1,059 defensive snaps in 2024 – when he was named a second-team All-Pro – and 1,107 last season. That’s roughly 97.5% percent of all snaps over those campaigns.
Having Styles and Chenal around should drop that number, especially after struggling mightily with missed tackles. That percentage went up and his run stuffs went down, necessitating Washington’s linebacker overhaul.
Luvu conducted a thorough evaluation of his own play in 2025 and came away with some conclusions on how to improve his play.
“To be honest, I did a lot of self-scouting, critical (evaluation) of my play,” Luvu said Tuesday after a Commanders OTA session. “Man, it’s just getting back to playing ball. For me, it’s about being free while playing within the scheme. I’ve got to make plays when they come to me instead of searching for it. I’ve got to do my job and be 1 of 11. I wasn’t doing that over parts of last year, just playing free.”
On-site reporters followed up on that topic, asking if the free-wheeling, aggressive style of play Luvu’s known for was missing. More than anything else, it sounds like Luvu was pressing. That can happen during a disappointing season where the defense struggled mightily.
“I wouldn’t say (playing free) was missing, I just thought I could be better in some situations where I’m doing too much or not doing too much,” Luvu said. “That’s a lot of me personally types of things, not necessarily about the team. I thought there were little things in critical situations that I need to work on throughout my game.”
Our Mark Tyler explored how Luvu might fit into Daronte Jones’ defense – read that using the link below and there’s a role to be had in Washington’s front seven.
Jones hinted at the fact that Luvu will be asked to do some different things this year, especially with Styles and Chenal around. The veteran has been good with that.
“I take my hat off to, not just Frankie, but all the players that have been open to learning different things,” Jones said in his Tuesday press conference. “And you know how it is sometimes when you try something new, there can be some resistance. And so, when I’m talking about how the guys are attacking the intentionality of what we’re asking, that’s part of it. And what we’re asking is coming in with an open mind, being open to some things and being comfortable, being uncomfortable. And so, to ask those questions with Sonny or Frankie or whoever else, that’s just embracing the big picture and the big scheme of things.”
We know Luvu will have a different role in the meeting room. He’s the elder stattesman now, being asked to assume a leadership role within the position group and the team overall.
That was all Wagner the past two seasons. Now Luvu’s gotta step up.
“Frankie ’s somebody we all respect so much, just by his passion and the love for the game,” head coach Dan Quinn said. “What we’ve seen probably more of is his communication and ability, play calling of things that kind of were naturally deferred to Wags. And so, kind of being pushed into those spaces, it’s allowed for him to talk and communicate at a higher level. And he certainly answered that.”
There’s great optimism about what the Commanders linebackers can do this season. Count Luvu among that group.
“Younger, faster, explosive,” Luvu said. “We’re just hunting. That’s the type of group that we have in our room. Guys are willing to hunt. We’re hungry and ready to work.”
