The Washington Commanders still haven’t solved their center problem, and Dan Quinn said the quiet part out loud after Saturday’s preseason game against Detroit.
For weeks, Quinn has described the spot as a competition. Now, the language has shifted. It’s something Washington still has to “figure out.”
Julian Good-Jones got the start with Nick Allegretti still sidelined, and his first snap nearly turned into a sack. Rookie Matt Gulbin also got work during the two rotating series as Washington kept sorting through its options, but the picture remains muddy. Quinn pointed to some encouraging work on the outside while making it clear the middle is still unsettled.
“Yeah, there's a lot of groups that went in and out. And so, the first crew of Conerly and Cosmi, I thought I liked how they're playing together, their communication, said Quinn.
“And Sam's really having a good camp. He's maybe playing the best that I've seen him play in the couple, three years.
His technique, he's on it. I like what I'm seeing on the outside at left tackle.
So, we got work to do to figure out where we want to get to at center.”
Good-Jones has gotten the biggest opportunity created by Allegretti’s injury, but the last two preseason games haven’t done much to build a case for him. His Pro Football Focus blocking grade was a little better Saturday than it was against Miami, but two penalties dragged down his overall mark.
Quinn didn’t stop at the center spot when he assessed the offense. He said there was “a lot to be desired” from the run game against Detroit, another clear hit to the line’s performance. The center has to handle the snaps, the protection calls and the communication, but he also sits at the heart of an interior run game that has yet to find any rhythm.
Washington’s trouble here didn’t start in August. It goes back to the offseason, when the team cut veteran center Tyler Biadasz.
The Commanders entered camp believing Nick Allegretti could make the move, even though he had only two NFL starts at center in seven seasons. Then the calf issue surfaced, and after he returned, renewed tightness kept him out against the Lions.
So the Commanders are left weighing a veteran still learning the job and coming off injury, a struggling Good-Jones, and sixth-round pick Matt Gulbin.
Time is the enemy now. Washington has one preseason game left before roster cuts and Week 1 prep take over, and Wednesday’s joint practice may be the most useful evaluation left. It gives the Commanders one more chance to test their center options against a defense they don’t know.
However this shakes out, the chosen center still has to get on the same page with Jayden Daniels on the snap, the protection calls and the kind of communication this offense will need not just in Philadelphia, but all season long.
At this point, Washington isn’t waiting for one player to pull away from the pack. It’s running out of chances for the answer to reveal itself naturally, and Adam Peters may need to help solve the problem by finding a capable option among the roster cuts next week.
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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 🡒]