Commanders roster rankings: Daron Payne is Washington’s No. 5 player

Editor’s note: We’ll count down the top 10 Commanders players on the 2026 roster regardless of position sporadically over the next few weeks. Before we get to it, here’s how we arrived at the ranking: Our Scott Bair, Scott Jennings and Mark Tyler compiled a top 13 – no ranking was identical — with points assigned to each ranking slot from all three lists. We used these point values to form a consensus top 10 ranking. We’ll write a story on each member of the top 10 and another on others receiving

votes at the end. Plus, Mark will probably have a Tyler’s Take with his thoughts. You’ll surely object to some of these rankings, though debate is kind of the point with lists like this. Today we focus on No. 5:

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Washington drafted a defensive linemen in the first round for four straight years(2017-20), and only DT Daron Payne is still on the roster. He’s preparing to enter another contract season, and he’s the player offenses will still be focusing on in the middle of the line this season.

Our top 10: Sonny Styles | Leo Chenal | Chig Okonwko | Nick Cross | Sam Cosmi 

Daron Payne was a first-round pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, and he was paired with his former Alabama teammate Jonathan Allen, drafted the year before, to form the ’Alabama Wall’. Payne is entering his 9th season in the NFL, and he just turned 29. He’s also entering the third contract year of his career, and will be looking for another pay day here, or elsewhere after the season.

Why Daron Payne is ranked No. 5

Daron Payne starts off our Top 5 for the Commanders and his performance in a contract year will be a key factor in this season’s outcome. If he repeats his Pro Bowl-level play from 2022(11.5 sacks, 20 QB hits), Washington’s new defense should be a plus factor in a playoff run. If Washington’s season looks like 2025, he could be on the trade block as a key addition for a contender. Payne has been an underrated piece of Washington’s defense, and he will get another chance to shine in new defensive coordinator Daronte Jones’ scheme.

What he has done 

Daron Payne is the longest-tenured member of Washington’s defense, and has accumulated 37 sacks, 432 tackles, 81 QB hits, 65 TFLs, and 25 passes defended over 8 seasons. He has started every regular season game in 6 of his 8 seasons, and has been a disruptive factor in many of them.

Defense & Fumbles Table

							Def Interceptions					Fumbles						Tackles
Season	Age	Team	Lg	Pos	G	GS	Int	Yds	IntTD	Lng	PD	FF	Fmb	FR	Yds	FRTD	Sk	Comb	Solo	Ast	TFL	QBHits	Sfty	AV	Awards
2018	21	WAS	NFL	NT	16	16	0	0	0	0	3	1	0	1	9	0	5.0	56	35	21	6	8	0	8
2019	22	WAS	NFL	NT	15	9	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	2.0	56	32	24	3	4	0	4
2020	23	WAS	NFL	LDT	16	16	1	0	0	0	4	3	0	1	0	0	3.0	54	27	27	7	8	0	10
2021	24	WAS	NFL	RDT	17	17	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	6	0	4.5	61	35	26	6	15	0	7
2022	25	WAS	NFL	LDT	17	17	0	0	0	0	5	0	0	1	0	0	11.5	64	32	32	18	20	1	13	PB
2023	26	WAS	NFL	DT	17	17	0	0	0	0	4	2	0	2	0	0	4.0	53	32	21	13	11	0	7
2024	27	WAS	NFL	RDT	17	17	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	4.0	42	22	20	5	7	0	7
2025	28	WAS	NFL	DT	15	15	0	0	0	0	5	1	0	0	0	0	3.0	46	20	26	7	8	1	5
8 Yrs					130	124	1	0	0	0	25	7	0	6	15	0	37.0	432	235	197	65	81	2	61
17 Game Avg					17	16	0	0	0	0	3	1	0	1	2	0	4.8	56	31	26	9	11	0	8

Provided by Pro-Football-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 6/24/2026.

What he’ll do next 

The Washington Commanders are entering the third year of the Adam Peters/Dan Quinn/Jayden Daniels era under managing partner Josh Harris. Daron Payne enters the final year of his third NFL contract, and he will be motivated to have another career year. Daronte Jones has taken over the defense from Joe Whitt Jr/Dan Quinn, and he’s expected to implement a scheme that attacks more and takes advantage of Payne’s strengths.