Washington made huge improvements on the defensive side of the football this offseason, turning over roughly half of last year’s starting lineup in favor of new blood. We have discussed at length how many of these changes will look come September, but one large unknown is how starting free safety Quan Martin will be deployed in this new scheme.
First off, let’s start with what we do know on the backend of this defense.
Free agent safety Nick Cross was brought in on a two-year, $13-million deal with
just over $6M guaranteed. The Maryland native, who will turn 25 in September, was a former third-round pick who has started all 17 games his last two seasons with the Colts. During those two seasons he posted 266 total tackles, including 12 for a loss, 3.5 sacks, two forced fumbles and four interceptions.
Cross was brought in to be an enforcer on this defense and is someone who can play multiple positions, including part of a two-high safety tandem, a robber, big nickel, dime linebacker and situational blitzer.
He will be one of Jones’ starting safeties and should not leave the field.
Something else we know: the back end that Jones coached in Minnesota often used three safeties. Contrary to what we have seen here in Washington under defensive-minded head coach Dan Quinn, Jones seems to prefer his third corner be a versatile safety and chess-piece.
This is where I believe Quan Martin can come in.
Martin struggled in 2025 and most can confidently say his play regressed from his 2024 form (but it’s hard to find a player on defense who didn’t). The issue I have noticed most with Martin is his eyes. He tends to peek into the backfield way too often instead of watching the route-combos unfold and playing his assignments.
I also feel he didn’t trust what he was seeing unfold, and because of this, was often too slow to react.
When you have a safety who has trouble playing sound, assignment coverage AND they have issues with open-field tackling, you immediately get a recipe for disaster…
There has been a lot of negativity surrounding Martin’s coverage lapses and tackling issues, but all is not lost. When he plays closer to the line of scrimmage, he seems to play a lot better.
Here’s a great play by Martin taking on former Rams receiver Cooper Kupp on the cyclone cross-buck and making the stuff.
Here you see Martin playing as a dime linebacker. He did a great job blowing up the running back and getting the sack.
Here’s another play where Martin is lined up down in the box, this time as an overhang defender. He’s sent on the blitz and makes a nice tackle for a loss.
In the above clip, Quan is down inside again as a slot corner. He shows good hip-trail technique, and the pass falls harmlessly to the ground.
Here is an empty look. Dallas comes out with trips to the left and Martin is manned up on the No. 2. Great job of leverage and disrupting the throw and an even better job corralling the interception.
Where will Martin best be used in 2026?
As you can see from the clips above, I believe Martin fits best when he’s playing closer to the line of scrimmage as a slot corner or dime linebacker. If this defense is relying on getting quick pressure and making the quarterback get rid of the ball in under three seconds, he may be alright as a traditional deep safety, but I see his true impact being that guy Jones can move around to create coverage confusion and chaos nearer to the line of scrimmage.
He started his NFL career as a slot corner so the transition back to that role should come pretty easily for him. He will be allowed to keep his eyes in the backfield more and should be responsible for a man or shallow underneath zone. He can also drop into high-hole coverage from that position.
The two players I see pairing more traditionally with Nick Cross as the deeper field safeties are Will Harris, who came into the league as a slot cornerback and Percy Butler, who could see time deep as part of a rotation.
A resurgence from Martin would be a great thing to see in this new defense, and I believe that may be exactly what we are in store for if Jones holds true to his words and plays guys to their strengths.
