Hogs Haven
Editor’s note: Each day, Hogs Haven compiles a collection of articles, podcasts & tweets from around the web to keep you in touch with the Commanders, the NFC East, the NFL and sports in general, with a sprinkling of other stuff. Enjoy!
Commanders Roundtable
The headline numbers from Sainristil’s sophomore season are rough and there’s no way to spin them otherwise. A 52.7 overall PFF grade ranked 96th among 114 qualified cornerbacks. His coverage grade of 52.1 ranked 98th. He allowed a 109.7 passer rating when targeted and surrendered ten receiving touchdowns — more than any other cornerback in the league by two. He was statistically the worst perimeter cornerback in the NFL last season.
He was a slot cornerback at Michigan who posted an 85.0 PFF coverage grade in 2023, playing zone, reading the quarterback’s eyes, and triggering off route patterns rather than mirroring elite receivers on an island at the boundary. John Keim flagged it plainly: the Commanders were deploying their best slot corner prospect in a perimeter-heavy role and watching his slot coverage ability deteriorate as a result. The four interceptions, 12 pass breakups, and 85 combined tackles tell the other side of the story. The playmaking instincts never went away. The ball production was actually up from his rookie year. He just couldn’t cover receivers at the boundary the way a 5-foot-10 cornerback isn’t supposed to have to.
His rookie year flashed exactly the kind of player Washington thought they were drafting — a ferocious zone defender with tight coverage and playmaking instincts that show up when the ball is in the air. The most likely role for Sainristil under Jones is a hybrid one — primarily the slot in nickel packages, with the flexibility to bump outside when Washington goes to base defense alongside Trey Amos and Amik Robertson. That’s the role that lets him play fast rather than careful, trigger downhill on underneath routes, and use his ball-hawking instincts in zone windows rather than chasing vertical routes he isn’t built to cover.
Commanders Roundtable
The Washington Commanders have questions in the cornerback room, but two have led the way so far in offseason workouts
Amik Robertson proved to be the first free agent signing of the offseason with a chance to bolster the outside rotation while also upgrading the talent among the nickel cornerbacks. Akhello Witherspoon became one of the latest additions where he adds experience to the rotation as he looks to put his injury-ridden 2025 season behind him after playing in only six games.
The duo will be joined by Mike Sainristil and Trey Amos, yet as Amos recovers from the season-ending injury that cut his rookie season short, it’s been Sainristil who has gotten the offseason attention. After a lackluster 2025 season followed an encouraging rookie season, the belief is...
