The Washington Commanders came into the season with real questions up front, and the early injury list only made things messier. Laremy Tunsil’s triceps injury pushed Brandon Coleman to left tackle, which sent Chris Paul into the left guard spot.
Nick Allegretti had already been slated to move to center, but lingering calf issues kept him out for most of camp. Then Josh Conerly Jr. opened year two at right tackle after a rocky rookie season that featured 43 pressures allowed and 13 penalties.
Three games in, though, the expected breakdown hasn’t shown up.
After 98 passes from Jayden Daniels and Marcus Mariota, Washington’s line has allowed just three sacks. Two of those came on Mariota in Sunday’s win over Seattle, a game in which he also threw three touchdown passes and earned FedEx Air and Ground Player of the Week. That sack total is tied with Dallas and Seattle for the second-fewest in the league, trailing only the 49ers’ zero.
Conerly has been one of the biggest reasons the unit has held together. He hasn’t given up a sack or a quarterback hit heading into Week 4, a jump that head coach Dan Quinn said he expected.
“I wasn't surprised. It's kinda when some of the guys make the biggest jumps because Josh is still young...
And then he did it again this summer,” Quinn said. “He added, like, four more pounds of just lean strength.”
Washington has also been leaning on Sam Cosmi’s power and grit, but that’s on pause now. Cosmi has already been ruled out for a second straight game because of concussion and throat injuries after a friendly-fire hit in the Dallas game from Kaytron Allen. His absence means more shuffling for an offensive line that has barely had time to settle in.
The reshuffling didn’t stop there. Allegretti moved to right guard last week, and now he’s dealing with a hip injury and was limited in Wednesday’s walkthrough.
The next test comes in London against an Indianapolis defense that has seven sacks through three games. DeForest Buckner has three sacks and 11 pressures, which ranks seventh among interior defensive linemen, and Adetomiwa Adebawore has added 1.5 sacks.
It’s still a tiny sample size, and Washington’s protection has not been spotless. But the collapse plenty of people feared hasn’t happened. The Commanders have done enough since Tunsil went down to keep the pocket from crumbling, even if the line hasn’t been perfect.
Now they get another chance to prove it can last.
In Other News...
Commanders Suddenly Have A Bigger QB Question Than They Wanted
Marcus Mariotas relief turn against the Seahawks did more than steady the Commanders for a week. It also put him in the same conversation Jayden Daniels had been owning all season, as Mariota was voted FedEx Air Player of the Week after stepping in for the injured rookie and helping keep Washington on track.
Mariota completed 19 passes for 183 yards and 3 touchdowns with a 110.0 passer rating, and he even added a key rushing first down late in the game. Daniels had already won the same award three times during his rookie season, which is what makes this latest honor feel a little more complicated for Washington as it waits to see how the quarterback picture settles going forward. [Read more 🡒]
Commanders May Have Found The Protection Answer Jayden Daniels Needed
Against a tough Seattle front, the Commanders offensive line turned in one of its more encouraging outings of the season, keeping Jayden Daniels upright and giving the offense a fighting chance. Washington allowed only two sacks and handled the pass rush well enough that the game never felt like it was slipping away because of protection issues, which has been a real concern at times this year.
The improvement came from a mix of schematic tweaks and cleaner individual work up front, and that combination mattered against a defense built to punish mistakes. For a team trying to maximize Daniels impact, Sunday offered at least a glimpse of a more workable formula, even if the bigger question is whether Washington can make that level of protection hold up once opponents have more film on it. [Read more 🡒]
Jayden Daniels Injury Outlook Just Became A Real Commanders Concern
Jayden Daniels has been working through another layer of discomfort as Washington prepares for the Colts, practicing with a large brace on his left arm to guard against further elbow dislocations after injuries last year and again earlier this season. The Commanders quarterback has opted to put surgery off until after the season, if he needs it at all, and his availability for Sunday remains part of the weekly uncertainty around a team trying to keep its season on track.
Daniels said the brace does limit his range of motion, but not his throwing motion, which leaves Washington in the familiar spot of balancing caution with urgency. He is taking things day by day, and for a Commanders team already watching closely, his status against Indianapolis now looms as one of the more important storylines of the week. [Read more 🡒]