The Washington Commanders are at the point where caution is no longer much of a strategy. With the season wobbling and trade-deadline sell-off chatter starting to build if they can’t win either of their next two games, the pressure is on Dan Quinn and his staff to make real adjustments coming out of the bye.
Josh Harris is still giving Quinn time to sort things out, and an in-season firing does not appear to be the direction this is headed. But the margins are thin, and if Washington can’t turn the season around, changes after the campaign would seem unavoidable. Quinn spent the bye week sorting through the mess, and the Commanders know they need to be far more aggressive if they want to stop the slide.
That puts a spotlight on a group of players whose roles feel overdue. Washington has decisions to make, and some of the answers might already be in house.
Trey Amos is the clearest example. His return in Week 6 against the San Francisco 49ers was a welcome sight after he missed most of the season with a fractured fibula and sprained ankle. Just getting him back on the field mattered, but the Commanders should be looking at him as more than a feel-good comeback story.
His absence was injury-related, not performance-related, and the bye gives him another chance to heal up and tighten his game. The 2025 second-round pick has the kind of physical profile that fits defensive coordinator Daronte Jones' scheme, and the Commanders should be ready to lean on him more after he logged 58 percent of the defensive snaps on Monday Night Football.
Washington may still choose to ease him in, which makes sense given how much time he lost. But if Amos can handle a larger workload, the Commanders could have a strong cornerback trio with Amik Robertson and Rasul Douglas.
After being sidelined for so long since being drafted, Amos looks ready for a bigger stage.
In Other News...
Commanders Fans Have A Growing Reason To Doubt Adam Peters
The early returns on Adam Peters first major roster-building swings have not given Commanders fans much comfort. Washington entered the 2024 season with plenty of hope that a fresh front office would sharpen the draft and stabilize a roster that has needed help in several places, but the teams uneven play has kept the spotlight on the general managers choices, especially the way he has tried to patch together the running back room.
That concern only grows when so many of the 2024 draft additions have yet to leave a clear mark. The Commanders needed immediate help from that class, particularly on Day 2, and instead they are still waiting for those picks to deliver the kind of impact that can change the shape of a season. Until that happens, every shaky week on offense or in the backfield is going to feed the same question: how long does Washington need to wait before Peters plan starts paying off? [Read more 🡒]
Commanders Suddenly Have A Bigger Jacory Croskey-Merritt Question Than Expected
Jacory Croskey-Merritt went from seventh-round draft pick to one of the more encouraging young players on Washingtons roster almost immediately, playing in every game as a rookie and starting seven while piling up more than 800 rushing yards and eight touchdowns. Even with the Commanders offense dealing with line issues and a thinner backfield after Kaytron Allen was released, Croskey-Merritt looked like someone who had at least given the team a legitimate building block at running back.
This season has been a much different story, with his production slipping and Washington now having to navigate the position without him in the lineup. Bleacher Reports recent ranking of the 2025 running back class only adds to the bigger-picture concern for the Commanders, because the question is no longer just whether Croskey-Merritt can rediscover his rookie form, but where he really stacks up against the rest of that draft class moving forward. [Read more 🡒]
Commanders Still Have A Few Young Reasons For Hope
A rough 1-4-1 start has left the Commanders searching for traction early in the 2026 season, but there are at least a few young names giving the roster something to build around. Jayden Daniels has kept competing through injuries and a handful of mistakes, Antonio Williams has flashed as a receiver, and Amik Robertson has offered a steadier presence in the secondary than Washington has often found while trying to piece things together.
Sonny Styles has also emerged as one of the more encouraging developments on the defense, doing the kind of work that shows up all over the field even when the teams results do not. Add in KLavon Chaissons pressure off the edge, and the Commanders can at least point to a handful of players who have made a difficult opening stretch feel a little less bleak, even if the bigger turnaround is still waiting to happen. [Read more 🡒]