Commanders’ roster blunders threaten to crush Super Bowl dreams

The Washington Commanders have been hit hard by the injury bug, and maybe Jayden Daniels isn’t built for the long haul. But the Commanders took serious offseason chances for the 2025 season, and their roster blunders threaten to crush their Super Bowl dreams.

Let’s tackle the obvious. The Commanders made it to the NFC Championship game last year, and they had no choice but to shoot for the Super Bowl this season.

But they had roster deficiencies in 2024, and somehow made things work despite those woes. They tried to address the issues for this year through the draft and free agency. But they didn’t address their biggest need. And now they’re in an even worse spot.

Commanders HC Dan Quinn doesn’t have many roster options

Quinn has to coach what general manager Adam Peters puts on the field. And Peters took big chances during the draft and free agency. Most notably, Peters brought in a group of veterans that helped make the Commanders the oldest team, not just this year, but in decades, according to the Washington Post.

Sometimes that can work. Certainly, it did for George Allen back in the 1970s. But that’s the problem. This isn’t old school. The NFL has become a young man’s game. Players get one good contract, and suddenly they’re old and on the way out the door.

Plus, it’s hard to get maximum effort from veterans. They’ve made their NFL dollars, and playing for pride — or a ring — can only go so far. When the bruises get deeper and the pain hits harder, how much will a player be willing to risk on the field?

Consider what running back Austin Ekeler faces: perhaps a career-ending injury. It’s because of his age, 30 years old. So with the average age of the Commanders being 28.1, the older guys have to look in the mirror and think what happened to Ekeler could happen to them.

That’s why young blood matters so much. NFL teams need to find the guys who still have that willingness to put themselves on the line because they want that payday.

Say what you want about a ring, it’s more about the bag of cash. The Commanders don’t have to look any further than Terry McLaurin. With the team on the verge of another run at the Super Bowl, McLaurin seemingly refused to participate unless he got paid. Dollars over rings.

The Commanders’ pass rush is a liability

Last year, the Commanders got a terrific season from Donte Fowler. He totaled 10.5 sacks and made up for some team deficiencies. Not only do they not have him, they also lost his presumed replacement, Deatrich Wise Jr., to a season-ending injury.

This wasn’t a good roster decision by Peters. Wise was never going to be able to match Fowler’s production. At age 31, he’s on the downside of his career. Now, the Commanders will put Javontae Jean-Baptiste into the starting lineup. He’s young, but a seventh-round pick with one career sack.

The Commanders blew their opportunity in the draft. They didn’t draft an edge rusher. And now they’re relying on Jean-Baptiste, Dorance Armstrong, and the aging Von Miller. This will likely be the reason the Commanders don’t make any real playoff noise — if they make the postseason at all.

The old-man roster got put together because of the dynamic young quarterback. But now questions are arising about whether Daniels can hold up, according to a ClutchPoints post on X via ESPN. And if he goes down, the Commanders are a five-win team, at best.

“My concern … is more about Jayden Daniels’ career,” Mina Kimes said. “He has to take less contact. Through the first two weeks of the season, he leads all quarterbacks in QB contact, 29. Both as a passer, QB hits, and scrambling. You can say he played two difficult defenses. Packers’ defense looks amazing. He led all quarterbacks in QB contact last year. He led all quarterbacks in scramble rate last year. It’s just not sustainable.

“And he is a quarterback who can win from the pocket. And he can be part of that designed run game without it being the bulk of it, the way it has been, frankly, through much of the season. I think there’s got to be some tough conversations about Daniels and his style of play. With an eye toward his continued longevity. Because he is too special to absorb this much contact.”

What can Commanders do at this point?

In the NFL, there are rarely in-season fixes available — unless the team is willing to make a trade. But that may require the kind of draft capital the Commanders don’t have.

The sad truth is the Commanders have slipped in the power rankings, according to NFL.com. They fell to No. 8 after this weekend’s games.

“If Daniels’ injury is a one-week thing, perhaps the panic meter remains low,” Eric Edholm wrote. “But Washington has four out of five games on the road thereafter, and the team is dealing with multiple offensive issues.”

So, here’s the way things will play out for Washington. They should beat the Raiders and probably the Bears. But the Falcons, Chargers, Cowboys, and Chiefs will be challenges. They will need to take care of the favorite roles and win at least two of those 50-50 games. That would put them at 5-3 and in position to consider a trade before the Nov. 4 deadline.

And that’s important. Because the current roster likely isn’t good enough to win the Super Bowl, even if Daniels stays healthy. And any more defensive line injuries would be devastating.