Hogs Haven
During the offseason, a common theme that surrounded the Commanders was the high number of older veteran free agent signings and the age of the roster.
Unlike last season, September of 2025 saw injuries take a heavy toll on the Washington roster, with Austin Ekeler, Deatrich Wise and Javontae Jean-Baptiste all being lost indefinitely or for the rest of the season. Safety Will Harris suffered a broken bone and CB Jonathan Jones went to IR. Several players who did not go on IR nevertheless missed multiple games, including Jayden Daniels, Terry McLaurin, Noah Brown, and John Bates.
That’s a lot to overcome, but as we enter the second week of October, the Commanders are 3-2 overall with a chance to claim first-place in the NFC East with a victory over the Bears at home on Monday night. And, while players are starting to get healthy and return to the field, the team is likely to be better for the balance of the season because of the necessity, in the opening weeks of the ‘25 season, for younger players on the roster to step up and play more than they might have otherwise.
The recent theme for many of the team’s rookies and 2nd-year players has been “flux”; their careers have been changing quickly in the pressure cooker of an NFL season.
Mostly, players have seen their arrows pointing up as they have seized the opportunities to get more playing time, though some outcomes have not been completely positive.
Tight end
At tight end, Ben Sinnott stepped up in the absence of John Bates, showing of his run blocking skills (he’s only blocked on 4 passing plays this season, per PFF). Pro Football Focus gave Sinnott a season-long grade of 62.3 for his run blocking in 2024; this season, on 64 run blocking snaps, he has earned a grade of 73.7, with no grade below 63.7 since the Bates injury.
Defensive line
On the defensive line, Johnny Newton has benefited from playing alongside players like Daron Payne and Javon Kinlaw. While Newton’s percentage of defensive snaps has dropped from 51% last season to 34% this season, he is on pace to produce the same statistical performance (numbers of tackles, sacks, etc) this year as last — meaning that he is much more productive on a per-snap basis. In this week’s Stats & Snaps article, Matt referred to Newton as “the Commanders’ most productive interior defender on a down-to-down basis”. He added:
“[Newton] split time almost equally between DT and DE and recorded 2 tackles, 1 TFL and 1 pass deflection which resulted in a pick by Mike Sainristil. In the pass rush, he recorded his first sack of the season plus 3 QB hurries, resulting in an awesome 23.5% Pressure Rate.”
Cornerback
Two young defensive backs have been called on to play significant amounts in 2025. Rookie Trey Amos has played 76% of the defensive snaps this season, lining up 210 times as an outside corner....
