Expectations are sinking for Jayden Daniels and the Washington Commanders, as national media members and Las Vegas oddsmakers tout concerns about injuries, roster depth and first-year coordinators David Blough and Daronte Jones.
Left tackle Laremy Tunsil, defensive tackle Jer’Zhan Newton, cornerback Trey Amos and defensive end Deatrich Wise are all slated to miss the beginning of the season with various ailments.
Combine those problems with lackluster performances in the final preseason games and the Commanders look more like the 5-12 team that disappointed in 2025 than the 2024 squad that made a run to the NFC Championship game.
The upcoming campaign is the third for coach Dan Quinn. It could be his last, according to early projections from oddsmakers in Las Vegas.
Quinn is currently the betting favorite at +200 to be the first coach fired, according to BetOnline. He leads other candidates, such as Todd Bowles of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Aaron Glenn of the perpetually rebuilding New York Jets.
The win total projections aren’t much more promising. Washington’s over/under is set at 7.5 at major sportsbooks like DraftKings and BetMGM — just under the .500 mark.
“Dire tales from joint practices make me wonder about the reconfigured coaching staff,” longtime analyst Mike Tanier of Football Outsiders wrote. “So, I think the Commanders could be the worst team in the NFL.”
Executives around the league echoed the sentiment. An anonymous survey conducted by The Athletic polled personnel from six NFL front offices, asking them to power rank the 16 NFC squads ahead of the season. Washington ranked 13th.
Only one anonymous executive pegged the Commanders as a potential division contender. The remainder predicted that Washington would finish with a losing record for the second consecutive year.
Concerns about the offensive line — with Nick Allegretti starting at center for the first time and Tunsil out indefinitely – led the laundry list of problems.
Daniels’ ability to stay healthy was also front of mind after he finished just four games in 2025 due to injuries.
The new coordinators, though promising, are also unproven. Blough, 31, was a quarterback in the league just three years ago. He spent the last two seasons as Washington’s assistant quarterbacks coach before the recent promotion.
Jones is a longtime assistant who has only spent a single season as a coordinator above the high school level — at LSU in 2021. He most recently worked with defensive guru Brian Flores in Minnesota, but hasn’t called his own defense in the NFL.
The pair have said all the right things throughout the offseason activities and training camp. Their fresh schemes have earned praise from Quinn and the players. In a best-case scenario, they become the NFL’s latest wunderkinds in a league that is eager to interview fresh voices for head coaching jobs after a season or two of success.
The Commanders aren’t looking to prove the outside world wrong. But multiple players said during last week’s practices that they disagreed with the outside assessments of the club.
“I really don’t care. I’m excited about what we’ve got, and we could prove everybody wrong, but I really don’t care about everybody else,” guard Sam Cosmi said. “I care about the guys in the room and their ability and what we’re able to do. It’s us versus us.”
How quickly the Commanders — from the offensive line to the coordinators — can hit the ground running remains to be seen. They won’t get to ease into the NFL season with any lighter opponents. The reigning NFC East champion Eagles await in Week 1, followed by a trip to Dallas to face the rival Cowboys and a home opener against the Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks in Week 3.
“You’re just having fun with it,” right tackle Josh Conerly said. “We’ve got a great opportunity to play the Eagles and Cowboys to start off with.”
The Commanders fully enter regular season preparation with this week’s practices, leading into Sunday’s game in Philadelphia at 4:25 p.m.
Contact the author
Please read our comment policy before commenting.