The Washington Commanders head into preseason still without a settled answer at center, and that uncertainty has only grown more visible after Nick Allegretti’s calf injury knocked out the early favorite in the race.
What looked at first like a short-term fill-in situation has turned into a wider test of who can actually hold the job. In Wednesday’s joint practice with the Miami Dolphins, Julian Good-Jones took the main reps, but he didn’t exactly make the decision easy.
He ran into trouble against Miami’s defensive tackles and was pushed backward more than once. Washington’s line functioned better in team periods, but the interior still had problems on some rushing plays.
That practice did little to sharpen the picture. It also left open the question of whether the issues were tied more to scheme or to the personnel on the field, something that’s tough to fully judge without being in the huddle.
Good-Jones and Matt Gulbin were the first beneficiaries after Allegretti went down, and Washington later brought in Trey Hill along with veteran Daniel Brunskill. Brunskill brings a different kind of resume to the room, with 108 NFL games and 71 career starts. Even so, the fact that Good-Jones is still getting the bulk of the snaps suggests Brunskill has not taken over the competition yet.
There is still a chance Allegretti is back by Sunday, which would shift things again. But even if that happens, the battle at center is not going away. Good-Jones, Brunskill, Gulbin and Hill are all fighting for more than one game’s worth of work; they are also trying to sort out Washington’s depth chart behind Allegretti.
For Good-Jones, this is the kind of opening that can define a role. And for the Commanders, the preseason opener is about to become the clearest look yet at which center options can be trusted if their number gets called.
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