The Commanders got hit with a brutal blow on Saturday when left tackle Laremy Tunsil was injured in practice and taken off the field. What started as a scare turned into something much worse: Tunsil tore his pec, and now he’s expected to miss a significant chunk, if not all, of the 2026 season.
That leaves Washington staring at a massive void at one of football’s most valuable positions. The team brought Tunsil in via trade in March 2025, then watched him deliver exactly what they hoped for in a disappointing season. He was so good that the Commanders handed him a two-year extension worth more than $30 million per year on average, making him the highest-paid offensive lineman in NFL history.
There are internal options, but only one really stands out as the cleanest answer: Brandon Coleman.
Andrew Wylie has been mentioned because he sometimes fills in for Tunsil in practice, but that’s not the move here. Wylie is a solid lineman, but he fits better at right tackle or either guard spot.
Trent Scott is also still on the roster. Even so, the path that makes the most sense points back to Coleman, the player who held down left tackle before Tunsil arrived and finished there again at the end of last season.
Coleman came into the league as a third-round pick in 2024 and wasted no time getting on the field. As a rookie, he played in all 16 games, all at left tackle, and made 12 starts.
With Coleman protecting the blind side and Jayden Daniels at quarterback, Washington went 12-5. That production didn’t stop the front office from wanting an upgrade, which led to the trade for Tunsil, one of the best left tackles of his era.
The original plan had Coleman moving to right tackle, but that changed when the Commanders used the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft on Josh Conerly Jr. for that spot. Coleman then shifted inside to left guard, opened the first two games last season, and was benched. He later worked as a blocking tight end at times before Tunsil’s late-season injury gave him another shot at tackle.
When Tunsil was shut down for the final stretch of a lost season, Coleman slid back to left tackle and started the last three games. He played well, too. In those final two starts, Pro Football Focus gave him pass-protection grades of 79.1 and 82.
That matters now because Coleman’s game fits what Washington is expected to do under new offensive coordinator David Blough. The Commanders will use zone blocking in 2026, and Coleman’s athleticism gives him a real edge in that system. His run blocking is solid, and while nobody is replacing Tunsil’s resume, Washington at least has a capable answer already in-house.
There has also been chatter on social media about moving Conerly to left tackle, and he probably could handle it. But that would create a problem where Washington doesn’t need one.
Conerly settled in at right tackle last season and has had a strong offseason. The simplest solution is the best one: keep Conerly on the right side and move Coleman back to left tackle.
In Other News...
Commanders Suddenly Have One Veteran Tackle Option Fans Will Recognize
Laremy Tunsils torn triceps has put the Commanders in an early bind on the left side of their line, with the veteran tackle expected to miss a significant chunk of the regular season. When a team loses a player with that kind of importance, the conversation quickly turns from depth chart shuffling to the more awkward question of whether help has to come from outside the building.
John Keim floated one familiar name on a podcast as a possible fit, pointing to a veteran left tackle who is currently unsigned and has ties to Washingtons staff. For now, though, there has been no reported confirmation that the Commanders are actually pursuing him, which leaves open the possibility that they try to solve the problem internally before making any bigger move. [Read more 🡒]
Commanders Defense Is Taking On Daronte Jones Identity Fast
Daronte Jones is only getting started in his first season as the Washington Commanders defensive coordinator, but the personality of his group is already coming into focus. EDGE Odafe Oweh and outside linebacker Leo Chenal have described it as an attack-style defense, the kind of approach that asks defenders to play fast, be aggressive and set the tone before an offense can settle in.
For Washington, that early identity matters because camp is where habits harden and roles start to take shape. Jones is trying to stamp his own style on a unit that will be judged not just on scheme, but on how quickly it embraces that edge and carries it into the season. The next test is whether that energy holds once the live bullets start flying and the defense has to prove the label is more than just a summer description. [Read more 🡒]
Commanders Suddenly Have A Jayden Daniels Problem They Feared Most
Training camp was already giving the Commanders enough to sort through, and the latest hit lands where they can least afford it. After an offseason built around helping Jayden Daniels and stabilizing the offense, Washington suddenly has to rework the left side of its line after Laremy Tunsil went down in practice, a blow that shifts the focus from fine-tuning to damage control as the season approaches.
The timing makes the loss especially uneasy because the Commanders were counting on that spot to help protect a young quarterback and keep the offense on schedule. Now the depth chart has to be reshuffled quickly, with Brandon Coleman and Andrew Wylie among the names in the mix, and Washington's next move at tackle could end up shaping how much of Daniels' growth is visible early in the year. [Read more 🡒]