The Commanders used one of their IR activations on Efe Obada this season, but the veteran defensive end will not make it through the campaign. Obada suffered two leg fractures during the team’s loss to the Giants on Sunday.
Undergoing surgery Sunday night to repair the two lower-leg breaks (via The Athletic’s Ben Standig), Obada will not return this season. Ron Rivera confirmed Obada is headed back to IR and is not in line to come back.
When Washington initially activated Obada in October, the team had a much stronger defensive end situation. Since trading Montez Sweat and Chase Young, however, the Commanders’ edge-rushing corps is depleted. Obada, who has been with the team for two seasons, was carted off in the first quarter of the team’s upset defeat in Week 11. A patella tendon injury sidelined Obada to start the season.
Despite the trades of Young and Sweat, Obada did not move into Washington’s starting lineup. He worked as a backup over the past five games. Washington re-signed him to a one-year, $2M deal this offseason. A former Panthers and Bills contributor, Obada totaled 13 sacks from 2019-21. He will finish this season without one.
The trades prompted the Commanders to use Casey Toohill and James Smith-Williams as their starting defensive ends. A Smith-Williams hamstring injury brought seventh-round rookie Andre Jones into the lineup for his first start. Toohill recorded one of the eight sacks Washington registered Sunday and has five this season. Smith-Williams has collected one QB drop this year.
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