The Washington Commanders head into Sunday’s season-opener against the Philadelphia Eagles in a unique position. Washington has a returning head coach but two new coordinators. This offseason, head coach Dan Quinn replaced both coordinators with first-time coordinators David Blough (offense) and Daronte Jones (defense).
Facing a team as talented as the Eagles in your first test — and on the road — certainly seems like a steep hill to climb. And consider that Washington is without star left tackle Laremy Tunsil, possibly for the entire season, and you can see why some on the outside aren’t giving the Commanders a chance.
There are a lot of questions about Jones’ defense. While he’s expected to run a scheme similar to what Brian Flores runs with
the Minnesota Vikings, no one knows what it will look like. Many remember Washington’s defensive performance last season all too well. General manager Adam Peters spent significant resources this offseason to upgrade that side of the ball, led by edge rushers Odafe Oweh and K’Lavon Chaisson, defensive tackle Tim Settle, linebackers Sonny Styles and Leo Chenal and safety Nick Cross, among others.
Questions remain about Washington’s cornerback room. The Commanders believe a much-improved pass rush will make life easier for the secondary.
Speaking of unknowns, the same goes for Washington’s offense. While everyone has an idea of the type of scheme Blough will run, it’s all projections until we see quarterback Jayden Daniels on the field in Week 1. According to Jones, Blough and Daniels gave his new-look defense fits throughout training camp.
“Not any more difficult than they made it for us,” Jones said when asked if his defense made life difficult for Blough and the offense this summer. “No, you know, what Blough has done over there has been a phenomenal job, and just the challenge and steel sharpens steel is what we’ve been talking about, and just the competition has been huge for us on both ends, on both sides of the ball. And so just continuing in that theme and that phase of things has been great for us, for our guys just to see some good on good, especially in training camp. And again, our guy’s pretty special as well [Daniels]. So, [laugh] to have a guy back there and to see how he processes and see the throws that he can make has been very instrumental for us.”
That’s a pretty thorough answer from Jones. Early in camp, his defense held a clear advantage over the offense, which is common in the early days of training camp, especially with a new scheme. But as camp wore on, Blough and Daniels had plenty of good days, too.
A narrative has surrounded the Commanders over the last few weeks that their defense will be bad because it was last year. Or because head coach Dan Quinn is on the hot seat. Or that the offense will struggle because of one comment calling the offensive line “inoperable” during a joint practice. We’ll see on Sunday, but don’t be shocked if the Commanders surprise some people who spent the past few weeks writing them off.
This article originally appeared on Commanders Wire: Commanders' new coordinators could surprise everyone in Week 1
