Hogs Haven
The Commanders are coming off an impressive performance on Monday night. The first team offense looked dominant in the run game, with Bill Merritt and Chris Rodriguez combining for 108 yards and a touchdown. Jayden Daniels picked up right where he left off last season by creating a touchdown off-script. After the starters left, the quality of play dropped significantly, as Josh Johnson and Sam Hartman struggled and Bengals backup quarterback Jake Browning picked apart the back end of Washington’s secondary. Since the starting group is expected to be “customized” for the final game of preseason, fans might think there’s nothing to watch, but here are five players worth tuning in for Saturday when the Commanders finish out their preseason schedule at home versus the Baltimore Ravens.
Magee is practicing and has the potential to suit up after missing time due to an undisclosed injury. Seeing Jordan on the field has become a rare event as the result of multiple injuries since his rookie season. Magee got his first defensive snap in Week 15 against the New Orleans Saints and played 12 snaps against the Philadelphia Eagles the following week, but was inactive for the team’s final two games. He played 10 total snaps in the playoffs against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers but was inactive for the Divisional round and NFC Championship.
Since he is once again missing time in the preseason, coaches and fans are understandably frustrated, but Magee has enough potential they should still be excited to evaluate his ability to help stop the run and the possibility of adding depth to a shallow LB pool. A strong performance in Week 3 and the coaches and fans would be right back behind the fifth-round linebacker. Less than a month ago everyone was still talking about a breakout year.
McCaffrey returns to the list after being absent last week. One reception for minus-one yard through two games will put you under the microscope. Admittedly, he sat quickly in Week 1 due to illness and didn’t have the highest caliber of quarterback play on Monday night, but his quiet preseason goes hand in hand with reports that he hasn’t stood out in camp and struggled despite receiving ample time with the ones. At this point, there isn’t much positive for the late third round pick, other than some separation statistics. Logan Paulsen debunked those same statistics in a podcast) before training camp started, indicating they were skewed by running chip routes or the defender dropping off McCaffrey as the quarterback went through his progressions.
While you may point out that Luke has always been a developmental project since he transitioned to wide receiver in college, I think the coaching staff will need to see significant signs of progress soon to continue to invest in McCaffrey. None of the other back end wide receivers have made a significant run to overtake his draft status, but there is a possibility the coaches only keep five wide...
