3 defensive scheme alterations the Commanders should employ immediately

Much of the talk this week has been about whether the Washington Commanders should trade for wide receiver Davante Adams. There are plenty of general managers who should, but Adam Peters is not one of them.

Those teams could win a Super Bowl this year. Those teams have significantly better defenses than the Commanders. There is no immediate fix - no genius roster move - that would take Washington's current defense and suddenly make it championship-worthy. That applies to any defensive player who could become available this year, and it certainly applies to an offensive weapon like Adams.

It’s not that Adams wouldn’t immediately improve the Commanders. He remains an elite receiver, and Washington could certainly use such a player. The problem is he wouldn’t help them win a Super Bowl this year, and the cost involved in acquiring him would hinder Peters’ ability to build a contender two or three years down the road.

Teams like the Kansas City Chiefs, Baltimore Ravens, and perhaps the New York Jets and New Orleans Saints have better cause to make this move right now.

However, there are several things Dan Quinn and Joe Whitt Jr. could do right now to help improve that defense. None of them involve major personnel moves that would hamper the team in years to come. They all involve schemes with players already on the roster.  

To be fair, none of these moves come without risk, but each could pay major dividends by the end of the season. Here are three defensive scheme moves the Commanders should begin employing immediately.

Changes the Commanders' defense should make immediately

Commanders need to use more run stunts

Stunts, which involve defensive linemen crossing as they penetrate the backfield, are typically considered a pass-rush strategy. They can be even more effective against running plays. The idea is to confuse the offensive line, making it difficult for them to identify their assignments.

The Commanders have been gashed up the middle this season on running plays. This is surprising considering that the defense's spine - Jonathan Allen, Daron Payne, Johnny Newton, Bobby Wagner, and Frankie Luvu - is the supposed strength of that unit. All of them have made plays this year, but they have been disturbingly inconsistent.

We should also consider that Washington’s weakness on the edge is putting additional strain on the middle. The inability of defensive ends and edge linebackers to make plays is allowing a pretty steady diet of double teams against those interior linemen.

Run stunts can help with this. It is difficult to execute double teams against well-run stunts. On running plays, where offensive linemen are moving forward, the rapid shift in point-of-attack can get them off balance. That in turn can create lanes for the linebackers as well as the circling edge players.

They are not without danger. If they are not timed properly, the defensive players can crash into each other, effectively taking themselves out of a play. If the stunt is tipped off, offenses can bounce runs outside because this makes it harder to set outside edges. In the Commanders' specific case, a run stunt takes your best players and runs them away from the ball.

Washington should not run this type of strategy often. But mixing it in occasionally so that the offense needs to worry about it could pay big dividends.

Commanders need more creative blitzes

Let’s be honest about this one. The Washington Commanders do not have a single good pass rusher on their roster.

The four players tasked with that role, all new to the team this year, have combined for 5.5 sacks through four games. That isn’t dreadful, but it’s not good either. Washington currently ranks in the low-middle of the league in pressuring opposing quarterbacks. If they had an elite secondary, that might be good enough. That's not the case.

Dorance Armstrong Jr., who on paper should be the Commanders' best edge presence, showed some life against the Arizona Cardinals. However, the pressures and sacks that he, Clelin Ferrell, Dante Fowler Jr., and Javontae Jean-Baptiste have generated this year often come from interior players collapsing the pocket.

That’s okay. Plenty of edges get sacks by cleaning up after a pocket has disappeared. But none of the Commanders' edges have shown the ability to consistently beat their blockers and get to the quarterback. The new players are not doing anything better than last year’s young no-names like James Smith-Williams, Casey Toohill, and K.J. Henry managed.

Washington has had some success with blitzes from Bobby Wagner and Frankie Luvu. Both are outstanding attacking players. However, that can’t be a permanent solution. Opposing offenses with eat the Commanders alive with screens and crosses once the linebackers begin blitzing too often.

Joe Whitt Jr. needs to find creative ways of getting his defensive backs in the quarterback's face. He has several players who are well-suited to the task. Jeremy Chinn is an effective blitzer. Percy Butler and Tyler Owens could be equally good. Noah Igbinoghene and Mike Sainristil should be effective occasionally blitzing from the slot.

As with run stunts, there are dangers in blitzing defensive backs - especially for a secondary that has been struggling to find cohesiveness. This needs to be a surprise tactic. It needs to be well-disguised. Most of all, if Whitt sends a player like Sainristil from the slot, he needs to get home.

Washington must do something to improve its pass rush. Montez Sweat is not walking back through the door anytime soon. It’s time to take some calculated risks and get creative.

Commanders need to find a role for Jamin Davis

The Washington Commanders never should have drafted Jamin Davis in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft. It is just one of countless baffling personnel moves made by the previous regime.

Ron Rivera fell in love with the athletically gifted, inexperienced Kentucky product and chose him with the No. 19 overall selection. He then put Davis at middle linebacker - the hardest position for a young player to pick up on defense. That lasted less than half a season.

This isn’t revisionist thinking. We all knew the Commanders needed help at linebacker, but many of us had Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah and Nick Bolton - linebackers chosen after Davis - ranked higher. It was just one more swing and miss by a dysfunctional franchise.

Oddly enough, Davis has proven to be Washington’s best first-round pick under Rivera. How sad is that?

After his rocky start, Davis developed into a serviceable professional linebacker. He still had the elite athleticism and as he gained experience, he began making more plays. When Dan Quinn announced that he would start getting some snaps on the edge, it seemed like an excellent idea.

He is not nearly big enough to play a traditional defensive end, but his length and quickness could make him an effective pass rusher. Unless Washington suddenly begins employing a more traditional 3-4 front, there is no ideal role for Davis. He should be playing outside in a 3-4.

That doesn’t mean the Commanders can’t find a role for him. This team does not have disruptive attacking players on the edge. This is one thing Davis can do.

Dante Fowler Jr. hasn’t done much yet. He is an active player but he may have lost too much of his explosiveness to contribute at a high level. Davis is younger. He has speed. He may not set the edge very well on runs, but he has the size to rush the passer and even drop into coverage on occasion.

At the very least, he needs a shot.

Assuming they don’t make a splash roster move such as trading for Davante Adams, the Commanders will have the draft picks and the salary cap space to address the defensive holes in the next couple of years. For 2024, they can try some in-house solutions to increase defensive production.

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