Hogs Haven
ESPN
The Washington Commanders are hiring D.J. Williams, the son of franchise great Doug Williams, to be their quarterbacks coach, a source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Wednesday.
D.J. Williams served as Atlanta’s quarterbacks coach this season. He was the Falcons’ assistant quarterbacks coach/offensive assistant in 2024.
D.J. Williams spent five years with New Orleans as an offensive assistant before joining Atlanta. He also spent 2018 working in the Saints’ football operations department. Williams participated in the NFL/Black College Football Hall of Fame quarterback coaching summit from 2019 to ’21, and again in ’23. He was the quarterbacks coach of the National Team at the 2023 Senior Bowl.
Washington Post (paywall)
Williams will be the third person to serve as the Commanders’ quarterbacks coach in the past two months. Tavita Pritchard left to become Stanford’s coach in November. Washington picked assistant quarterbacks coach David Blough to replace Pritchard on an interim basis. After the Commanders surprisingly parted with offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury last week, they made a similarly surprising move to promote Blough to that role.
Commanders.com
Jordan Magee saw an uptick in his playing time this season and showed noticeable improvement in his second season. Magee, a former fifth-round pick from Temple, suffered a knee injury prior to the start of the 2024 season that forced him to miss most of his rookie campaign. Now healthy, Magee showed the quickness that made him stand out during the draft process, recording 54 tackles with three stops for a loss. Although Magee still split his time between the defense and special teams, the coaching staff seems excited about his development and what he could accomplish in 2026.
What happens with Wagner? Wagner did not provide an answer on whether he intends to retire after the 2025 season, although he certainly showed that he can still be an NFL starter as one of the oldest active players in the league. Wagner is also set to be a free agent in March, and there could be interest from both sides to get a deal done. Wagner loves playing for Quinn as well as linebackers coach Ken Norton, and he was their most consistent defensive player. However, it’s possible that his future in Washington will depend at least partially on who the Commanders bring in as their new defensive coordinator.
What’s next for Magee? Magee took one of the biggest jumps last season and seemed like he was closer to being a bigger fixture in the Commanders’ defense. He was one of the few linebackers on the roster who had the speed to keep up with running backs in coverage, and his ability to run sideline-to-sideline started to flash more often in the second half...
