Hogs Haven
Poll questions!!
Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the NFL. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Washington Commanders fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys.
In today’s Reacts survey, we have two questions related to the defensive line and which players are most likely to fill out the back end of the depth chart.
Last season, the Commanders brass decided to open the season with an 8-man group that was basically 4 defensive tackles and 4 defensive ends, though a number of players were capable of playing more than one position. Later on, the team added a 9th player to the DL group and kept the depth chart at 7 players for most of the season.
Based on what they did last year, it seems reasonable to think that the team will have 8 or 9 players comprising the defensive line group.
I think there are six players in the DL group who are locks or near-locks for the roster.
Honestly, I don’t think Clelin Ferrell is a roster lock, but I believe that if I included his name among the DEs in today’s survey, he would get the bulk of the votes, making the exercise largely pointless, so I’m treating him, in this article, as if he is in the roster lock group.
Personally, I might’ve been a bit hesitant to include Deatrich Wise in this group, but his $3.1m contract with $2.35m in guaranteed money argues that the team is committed to having him on the roster this year.
In today’s two questions, you are invited to pick, from two short lists, one defensive tackle and one defensive end who will make the 53-man roster for the Week 1 opener against the Giants.
The three candidates are all experienced NFL veterans who have played between 7 and 9 seasons each, and who all have a cap hit of just over $1m. Two of the players — Sheldon Day and Carl Davis — were with the Commanders last year. Each spent time on both the practice squad and the regular roster, though Day was active for 12 games while Davis was active for only 3.
Eddie Goldman has gotten a lot of attention from Commanders fans and media after being signed in March free agency. While Goldman was active for 17 games with the Falcons in 2024, he played 30% of his teams defensive snaps, compared to 35% for Day and 23% for Davis.
Goldman is well-known among fans for having missed 3 NFL seasons by his own choice. He opted out of the 2020 COVID year, and retired ahead of the ‘22 season, missing both the ‘22 and ‘23 seasons before signing with Atlanta in 2024.
Sheldon Day was, statistically, the most productive of the three, with...
