Washington Commanders head coach Dan Quinn did something a bit differently this year. Instead of weekly captains, Quinn named season-long captains for 2026 and let his team vote on them. Jayden Daniels and Terry McLaurin were named the offensive captains, Frankie Luvu and Jeremy Reaves the defensive captains and Tress Way the special teams captain.
On Friday, Quinn added a new 2026 team captain: quarterback Marcus Mariota.
Quinn explained how the decision to name Mariota the sixth captain came about.
“Our team and we have a lot of confidence in Marcus as we’re heading into this game,” Quinn said about Sunday’s Week 3 home opener against the Seattle Seahawks.
“In fact, so much – I thought this was such a cool thing – the captains huddled up with
me earlier in the week and said, ‘Hey, we’d like to make Marcus our sixth captain.’ And I thought what a great tribute of brotherhood of those guys asking. Of course, they were all like as on board as you can imagine. I thought it was awesome too, but what a great example of teammate and leadership.”
Mariota is starting Sunday’s game after Jayden Daniels dislocated his left (non-throwing) elbow in last week’s loss to the Cowboys. Daniels was ruled out for Sunday’s game earlier this week, but the Commanders got some good news Friday when general manager Adam Peters said the team wasn't considering an IR stint for Daniels at this time and surgery was not on the table.
Our newest season-long captain ⭐️@NWFCU | #RaiseHail pic.twitter.com/np08KXUYE0
— Washington Commanders (@Commanders) September 25, 2026
Washington didn’t offer a timeline for Daniels’ return yet, but he will return to the field sooner rather than later, barring any setbacks.
Mariota, 32, is a former No. 2 overall pick and has appeared in 105 NFL games with 82 starts. Since signing with Washington in 2024, Mariota has played in 15 games with eight starts. Mariota is popular among Washington’s coaches and players and is extremely close with Daniels.
This article originally appeared on Commanders Wire: Commanders add a new captain for 2026 season
