Two preseason games have already done a lot of the heavy lifting for the Washington Commanders, and the roster bubble is starting to look a little less crowded for a handful of players who entered camp with real work to do. With final cuts coming up, six names have separated themselves enough that leaving them off the initial 53 would be a tough sell.
Athan Kaliakmanis has made the biggest jump of anyone on the roster. What began as a seventh-round rookie trying to get into the developmental quarterback mix has turned into a legitimate grip on the job.
Marcus Mariota’s MCL injury opened the door to a longer battle between Sam Hartman and Kaliakmanis, and the rookie has pushed through it with a strong showing against Detroit. He finished 11 of 14 for 162 yards with no turnovers and a 114.9 passer rating, and his completions produced Washington’s three longest offensive plays of the game: a 55-yard throw to Nick Nash, a 30-yarder to Jaden Bradley, and a 21-yard gain to Antonio Williams.
Quinn said the quarterback competition was still going on and pointed to the downfield shots and accuracy against man coverage, but Kaliakmanis clearly left that game with the upper hand. Hartman still has one last chance to swing things, yet Kaliakmanis has done enough to put himself on the 53.
Joshua Josephs has followed a different path, but the result is the same: he’s moved well past the point of merely trying to hang around. The fifth-round developmental pick from Tennessee kept building through camp, and once the pads came on, he started to stand out from the pack.
Quinn had already noted the traits that caught his eye, saying, "I feel his length as a pass rusher. How does that come to life?
Long arm. Gain separation on offensive tackle," and added, "He’s got a nice natural bend to him."
Against the Lions, Josephs turned pressure into points by recovering a fumble for his first NFL touchdown after cornerback Amik Robertson strip-sacked Josh Dobbs. He’s no longer fighting for a roster argument; now the conversation is about how many snaps Washington can carve out for him.
Kaytron Allen has answered every opportunity with the kind of steadiness that keeps a rookie in the conversation. Washington brought him into a running back room that originally had only Jacory Croskey-Merritt returning, and later brought back Jeremy McNichols, but Allen has kept making noise since rookie OTAs.
In the preseason opener against Miami, he carried 23 times for 85 yards without losing a yard on any run and scored a touchdown when injuries thinned the backfield. He followed that with 10 more carries against Detroit, a clear sign the staff trusts him.
After Allen and fellow rookie Robert Henry Jr. stepped in when Jerome Ford went out, Quinn said, "There was really no flinch from these guys playing on teams, returning, and so that was a good sign."
Maurice Hurst II has carved out a different kind of path. Signed after Johnny Newton’s pectoral injury, he arrived as another interior pass-rush option at a time when the Commanders needed help inside.
In his first preseason action with Washington, Hurst delivered five combined tackles, two sacks for 17 yards, two tackles for loss, and two quarterback hits against Detroit. The key here is role clarity: Washington does not need him to be Newton’s replacement or a starter, since the team plans to handle that by committee.
What Hurst does provide is inside pressure, and that makes his case for a roster spot much easier to defend.
Drew Stevens is already the winner of the kicking battle, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t have to earn his way there. The undrafted free agent beat out the erratic Jake Moody by staying consistent, then backed up the job by making field goals from 27 and 32 yards and converting his extra point against the Lions. Those kicks accounted for seven of Washington’s 13 points in the game.
Tyler Owens may be the clearest example of how Washington’s final roster can be shaped by more than the box score. His athleticism, versatility, and special teams value give him a case that goes beyond standard defensive stats.
Will Harris has more NFL experience, but Owens gives the Commanders more options for the final safety spot and looks like a strong fit for new defensive coordinator Daronte Jones’ system. Harris still has a chance to change that, but Owens has already done enough this summer to justify the spot.
Baltimore still looms, and that joint practice plus preseason game could shift a few things. But after two preseason games, Washington has already gotten enough evidence from these six players to make their cases hard to ignore.
In Other News...
Dan Quinn Sent Commanders A Clear Message After That Lions Showing
A sluggish preseason showing against the Lions was enough to prompt a noticeable change in the Commanders routine Monday, when the scheduled walk-through was bumped in favor of a full practice. Dan Quinn then met with reporters afterward, and the altered plan fit the tone of a head coach clearly trying to sharpen the edge around a team still early in its summer work.
With a joint practice against the Ravens coming up, the message from Quinn was less about easing through the week and more about raising the standard now. The switch in plans suggested he wanted his players locked in and moving with purpose, a small but telling reminder that he is not interested in letting an uneven preseason outing linger or turn into anything bigger. [Read more 🡒]
Joshua Josephs Is Making A Stronger Commanders Case Than Expected
Joshua Josephs has already done something in August that tends to get a rookie edge rusher noticed fast. The fifth-round pick for Washington found the end zone on a defensive touchdown in the Commanders second preseason game against the Detroit Lions, giving the defense a rare jolt and offering another reminder that the front seven is still trying to build its identity under new coordinator Daronte Jones.
It was also the Commanders first defensive touchdown since the 2024 divisional playoff round, which adds a little more weight to a play that usually gets filed away as a preseason highlight. For Josephs, the bigger takeaway is the way he has kept stacking encouraging moments while Washington leans into a turnover-driven approach, and that kind of early momentum can make a young pass rusher much harder to ignore when roster decisions get real. [Read more 🡒]
Commanders Still Have One Major Problem In Front Of Jayden Daniels
The preseason has already answered a lot for the Commanders, but one of the biggest questions still sits right in the middle of the line in front of Jayden Daniels. Dan Quinn said after the latest exhibition that Washington has not yet settled on a starting center, and the issue has become more pressing because the regular season is closing in fast.
Julian Good-Jones and rookie Matt Gulbin have been splitting the work while Nick Allegretti works through an injury, but neither has taken firm control of the job. For a team trying to protect its young quarterback and build some continuity up front, that leaves Washington with a short runway and very few easy answers. [Read more 🡒]