Commanders Keeping Lucas Patrick As Starting C

Allegretti is in his third year with the Commanders, joining the team in 2024 after a five-year start to his career in Kansas City. He only started 13 games with the Chiefs over that time, appearing in 74 games total, but his first season in Washington saw him start every game of the season for the first time in his career. Allegretti retained his left guard job to start the 2025 season, but he was benched only two games in and didn’t return to the starting lineup until the final two weeks of the regular season.

With Biadasz departing after holding down the starting job for two years, Allegretti became the top option to replace him. He suffered a calf injury shortly into training camp but was still able to open the season with the first-team offense. Through the first two weeks of the season, Allegretti’s performance at center left much to be desired. When right guard Sam Cosmi missed the past two weeks with a concussion and a throat injury, the Commanders bounced Allegretti out to guard and asked Patrick to step up at center.

It was fairly evident that Patrick was an upgrade over what the team had seen at the position through their first two games, and Allegretti continued to struggle, getting benched altogether in Week 4 in favor of Michigan State sixth-round rookie Matt Gulbin. Cosmi is trending in the right direction to return this week, but with Allegretti free to return to center, it appears Patrick has become the preferred option moving forward.

An undrafted guard out of Duke in 2017, Patrick found an NFL home early on with the Packers. He appeared in 40 games over his first three years in the league, starting six. Over his final two years in Green Bay, Patrick essentially established a full-time starting role, working with the first-team offense for four games at left guard and 11 games at right guard in 2020 then logging 12 of 13 starts at center the following year.

Patrick signed with the Bears in free agency and was limited to seven games (five starts) in his first season before starting 15 of 16 games at center in 2023. In 2024, he signed with the Saints and started 10 of 11 game appearances, with eight starts at left guard and two at center. He landed with the Bengals last year, opening the season as a starter at right guard, but a calf injury limited him to just six games. His first starting opportunity post-injury has been successful so far in Washington, and he’ll look to solidify his spot as starting quarterback Jayden Daniels returns in Week 5.