Commanders' young talent quietly transforms doubt into dominance

It turns out that Washington Commanders’ tight end Ben Sinnott may have saved his season — perhaps even his entire career — during a game in which he did not record a single catch.

Sinnott was not even targeted in the Commanders’ win over the Las Vegas Raiders. But he still came up big.

After seeing a total of 11 snaps through Washington’s first two games this season, many fans were beginning to use the dreaded draft bust label when discussing the 2024 second-round draft pick. Sinnott was looking increasingly like one.

Ben Sinnott showed the Commanders what he's made of in Week 3

When Adam Peters chose him last year, the general manager compared the Kansas State product to a couple of players he knew well from his days in San Francisco. George Kittle and Kyle Juszczyk are both All-Pro players whose combination of pass-catching and blocking has helped make the 49ers offense one of the best in the league.

Peters imagined Sinnott having a similar impact in Washington. Things did not turn out that way in his rookie season.

This was partly mitigated by the fact that the seemingly ageless Zach Ertz had an excellent campaign as Washington’s primary flex tight end. The rugged John Bates served as the Commanders’ quality in-line blocking option. There was not much room for Sinnott to shine.

Still, fans and coaches alike were expecting more, especially headed into his second campaign. However, through those first two games, Sinnott once again failed to show up. Even worse, when playing special teams, he was being overpowered by opponents at times.

That all changed against the Raiders. Bates was injured early in the Week 2 game. Though the Commanders fell behind and elected to play most of the contest with three receivers alongside Ertz and a running back, the club still saw this week’s clash as a golden opportunity for Sinnott to prove himself.

The odd thing was that he would be filling in for Bates, and not Ertz. Sinnott was viewed as a reasonable blocker coming out of college, but that’s not what got him into the second round of the 2024 draft. It was his ability to run deep seam routes and break tackles after the catch.

Filling in for Bates, he was not going to run those routes. Sinnott was going to block.

And block he did.

Remarkably, Sinnott looked physically bigger and more imposing than he had in previous games. And he showed that even if he wasn’t making big plays in the passing game, he was studying the way Bates has been playing.

Sinnott was constantly throwing himself into the middle of the line to take on linebackers and the occasional defensive tackle. The second-year pro was Washington’s third-best blocker against the Raiders, according to Pro Football Focus. His 72.9 run blocking grade trailed only Tyler Biadasz and Chris Paul, two interior offensive linemen. That is similar to what Bates has been providing.

That grade rings true on film. Sinnott was far more aggressive against the Raiders. Perhaps he has finally turned a corner. Maybe necessity is indeed the mother of invention. Or possibly the Raiders are just that bad.

That will all become clearer over time. But right now, Sinnott is suddenly trending up for the Commanders.

If he can put together two straight games with a strong performance versus the Atlanta Falcons, it will go even further in terms of silencing the critics who just last week were writing Sinnott off.