The Washington Commanders have a tough task ahead in Week 3. They finally have their home opener at Northwest Stadium in Landover, Maryland, but they’ll be hosting the reigning Super Bowl Champion Seattle Seahawks. And they’ll have to do it without Jayden Daniels.
One of the Commanders’ biggest struggles in 2026 has been with the secondary. To put it mildly, Mike Sainristil and Rasul Douglas have not played well. The Commanders have been destroyed through the air, allowing 448 passing yards and seven passing touchdowns through two games, averaging 8.6 yards allowed per passing play. It’s not pretty. That’s why, if they could steal one player from the Seahawks for this game, they’d select cornerback Devon Witherspoon.
Witherspoon was the fifth
overall pick in 2023, and he has proven time and again that throwing the ball his way is a bad idea for opposing quarterbacks. Ahead of the 2026 season, Pro Football Focus ranked Witherspoon as its top cornerback, while other outlets ranked him in their top five.
In 2025, Witherspoon earned an 83.6 coverage grade and a 90.1 run-defense grade from PFF, tying for the best among qualifying cornerbacks.
By contrast, PFF ranked Sainristil as the worst-graded defensive player overall in Week 1, with a grade of 29.9. He rebounded a bit in Week 2 with a 50.1 grade, but if you add in Rasul Douglas (58.7 in Week 1, 49.4 in Week 2), the Commanders’ corners are not playing well in 2026. The Cowboys figured that out early in the matchup, and CeeDee Lamb walked away with 153 receiving yards. The Cowboys totaled four passing touchdowns.
Witherspoon is a much better cornerback than the players currently on the Commanders’ roster, and with Daniels out for the foreseeable future, this team has to lock it down on defense. They cannot afford to let Jaxon Smith-Njigba tear them apart the way that Lamb did last week.
Unfortunately for the Commanders, stealing Witherspoon isn’t a viable option. And JSN will likely destroy their secondary at home in Week 3, especially if Sam Darnold returns to the field.
This article originally appeared on Commanders Wire: Gimme Him: One player the Commanders would steal from the Seahawks
