An early believer in Commanders explains his one big concern for 2025

The funny thing about evaluations is that it is just as easy to be too cool on someone as it is to be too hot. In the case of the Washington Commanders, our early 2024 projection that the team would easily eclipse seven wins was viewed by some as overly optimistic. Not believing they would win as many as 12 was seen by others as being ‘down on them.’

This year, while plenty of us envision another playoff run and perhaps the Commanders competing to prevent the Philadelphia Eagles from the first NFC East Division back-to-back champion in decades, there are those who would say that’s too high of an expectation and others who would be offended we stopped at a group crown, instead of elevating all the way to a Super Bowl prediction.

Constructing his 2025 NFL power rankings ahead of Week 1, NFL.com’s Eric Edholm found himself in similar waters, having championed Washington before many did in 2024, to now being in the crowd who may get accused of doubting them unjustly as he ranks them No. 8 heading into the first game week of the new season.

Pumping The Breaks

“I am in no way punting on the ascending Commanders, whose long-term future appears almost as bright as any franchise’s. Don’t forget, I was higher on them than some other folks were at this time last year, way before it was cool. But I also think taking the proverbial next step won’t be as natural or smooth a progression as everyone wants it to be,” Edholm writes in his rankings column. “The beautiful thing about Jayden Daniels is that he’s already capable of covering up his team’s missteps with his own play, and that alone will win Washington some games. The additions of Laremy Tunsil and Deebo Samuel can’t hurt. Rookies such as Josh Conerly Jr., Trey Amos and Jacory Croskey-Merritt are wild cards whose potential value can’t be ignored. Yet I’m still a bit leery about the true ceiling of the defense, unless the pass rush and secondary make big strides.”