The Commanders’ top 10 is in the books, with Laremy Tunsil sitting at No. 1 after a run that started with Leo Chenal at No. 10 and worked its way down through Jayden Daniels at No. 2.
But the voting didn’t stop there. A few more names drew enough support to deserve a look, and Tress Way was right there among the players who came just short of cracking the main list.
Way’s case is easy to make. The Commanders punter got points from every panelist in a top-13 vote, which says plenty about how highly he’s regarded.
That respect tracks with the resume: he’s a three-time Pro Bowl selection, with his latest nod coming in 2025. Last season, he ranked sixth in net yards per punt and was second in the league with 51.8% of his punts landing inside the opponent’s 20-yard line.
For Washington, that kind of field-position edge is a real asset. Doing it at 35 only adds to the value, especially for a player who has been such a steady presence for the special teams unit.
Josh Conerly also landed just outside the top 10, and his rookie season gave the panel plenty to think about. The first-round pick got off to a rough start in 2025, particularly against some of the tougher matchups he drew early on.
At one point, his 9.9% allowed pressure rate, per NFL Next Gen Stats, sat among the 10 worst figures for NFL tackles. But the season didn’t stay stuck there.
The eye test improved as the year went on, and there’s a strong belief that the Oregon product has taken a big step this offseason. The talent is obvious, and so is the work ethic.
As Laremy Tunsil put it, via NBC 4 in Washington: “He’s gonna be a dawg, I see myself...,” and “He (comes) to me every day -- ‘what advice you got for me today?’”
K’Lavon Chaisson rounded out the group of players highlighted just beyond the top 10. He’s coming off a huge year with the New England Patriots, posting 7.5 sacks in the regular season and three more in the playoffs.
His 14.2% quarterback pressure rate and 52 total pressures backed up the production, especially given that he was used in a bigger defensive role than he’d ever had before. That performance helped him land a one-year, $11-million deal with Washington, and at 26, there’s a real sense that he may still be entering his best years.
For the Commanders, who poured a lot of cap space into improving the pass rush, that makes him an especially important addition.
In Other News...
Deebo Samuel Is Suddenly Tied To A Reunion Commanders Fans Know Well
Deebo Samuels next stop is still up in the air after Washington let him reach free agency following the 2025 season, but the discussion around his market has already started to circle familiar names and familiar coaching ties. One NFL analyst recently floated the idea of a reunion path that would put Samuel back in an offense built on receiver depth and movement, the kind of setup that could make sense for a player whose value has always been tied to versatility as much as raw production.
For Washington fans, the interesting part is how much this possibility would lean on the same kind of relationship-building that mattered here, with Kliff Kingsbury having worked with Samuel last season and likely looming large in any reunion conversation. The catch is the money, since any real move would have to clear the financial hurdles of a team with limited cap room, which leaves this more as a speculative fit than a finished deal for now. [Read more 🡒]
Commanders Draft Pick Suddenly Looks Buried In Crowded Defensive Battle
The Commanders offseason overhaul on defense has made life harder for anyone trying to hang onto a fringe roster spot, and Javontae Jean-Baptiste now finds himself in that group. A 2024 seventh-round pick, he got into 12 games as a rookie and even flashed enough to carve out a small role, but Washington has since added multiple new starters and flooded the edge-rusher and linebacker mix with more competition.
Jean-Baptistes path is especially tricky because the team is expected to carry only a small group of defensive ends and linebacker types, leaving little room for a player trying to rebound from an injury-hit second season. With so many bodies ahead of him and so few openings behind them, the coming months will be less about upside than about whether he can do enough to force the Commanders to keep looking his way. [Read more 🡒]
Commanders Fans Know Exactly Which Snyder Era Mistakes Still Sting
Long before the Commanders were trying to build a new identity, the franchise was already carrying the baggage of some of the NFLs most infamous contract mistakes. Daniel Snyders years in charge produced a string of expensive swings that never came close to paying off, from the Jeff George gamble after a division title to the Adam Archuleta deal that briefly made him the highest-paid safety in league history. Those kinds of misfires are why Washington fans can spot a bad contract coming from a mile away, and why old wounds still open quickly whenever another team makes a splashy move.
The Browns decision to hand Deshaun Watson a massive deal and part with major draft capital only adds to the reminder that reckless spending can haunt a franchise for years. For Washington, though, the Snyder era remains the standard for frustration because the damage was not just financial, it was structural, with stars, depth, and flexibility all getting sacrificed in the process. Even now, the names attached to those deals still linger because the consequences never really stayed in the past. [Read more 🡒]