Unit rankings reveal uphill battle for Commanders in Dan Quinn’s second year

Matt Verderame from Sports Illustrated chose the best individual units from teams across the entire NFL. And it didn't make good reading for the Washington Commanders.

Verderame divvied up 10 standard football positions and identified which team was the best in each particular area. This is not a great way to determine the best overall teams. Even with the ever-expanding importance of the quarterback, football remains the most collective of sports.

You don’t win Super Bowls with a couple of very strong units and a bunch of weak ones. Need proof? Check out the Cincinnati Bengals.

Still, Verderame provides a fascinating glimpse of talent. Where the best players are clustered. Areas of attention for opponents. And the rankings reveal a broad trend.

There will be no easy divisional games for the Commanders in 2025

The NFL is a league full of haves and have-nots. Things can and do change every year, but professional football contains a lot of imbalance.

There are 32 teams and eight divisions in the NFL. According to the Sports Illustrated rankings, one team had two of the best units, and one division had four of them. The 10 best units were split among just four divisions. The other half of the league did not have a single representative.

The Commanders came from the most-honored division. Every team in the NFC East had one position group chosen as the best in football. That includes the 3-14 New York Giants and the sub-.500 Dallas Cowboys. That is one of the reasons every division tilt is so competitive.

The Giants have a thousand questions on offense, but they have the best defensive line in football. Any Commanders fan knows how Dexter Lawrence II can take over a game from the trenches. Brian Burns and Kayvon Thibodeaux were already dangerous (if inconsistent) pass-rushing edges. Now they have Abdul Carter in the mix.

New York may still struggle to approach .500 this season, but with that line, they will never be an easy out.

The Commanders witnessed a perfect example of why the Cowboys were chosen as having the league’s best special teams last November. After Washington had scored to cut the lead to three points late in the fourth quarter, Dallas’ explosive kick returner KaVontae Turpin went 99 yards to again put the game out of reach. But the Commanders came back again, only to have a late onside kick also returned for a score. The perennial underachievers also have an All-Pro kicker in Brandon Aubrey.

The Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles are excellent across the board, but were selected as having the best offensive line. Not many fans would argue that point. Both tackles were All Pros last season. Guard Landon Dickerson has been to three straight Pro Bowls, while center Cam Jurgens, taking over for Jason Kelce, made his first Pro Bowl last year.

Consider what that means for the Commanders. There is never a day off when playing the NFC East. Dan Quinn has to have his team ready to take on the league’s best defensive front when the Giants are on the schedule and the league’s top offensive line when it’s the Eagles. They had better have their special teams in top form when the Cowboys are in town.

As for Washington, Verderame determined that Bobby Wagner and Frankie Luvu constitute the league’s best linebacking unit. Both players were second-team All Pros last year. Part of the challenge for Quinn, Joe Whitt Jr., and Ken Norton Jr. this year will be to develop first-rate depth behind those two stalwarts.

For the record, the other top units, as chosen by Sports Illustrated, came from the NFC North (Detroit Lions), the AFC North (Baltimore Ravens and Cincinnati), and the AFC West (Kansas City Chiefs and Denver Broncos). Detroit was the only team to have two units selected — running backs and safeties.

Nine of the Commanders' 17 games this season will be against a team that has at least one unit considered the very best in the entire league.

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