Hogs Haven
The Commanders’ preseason opener was not a good football game. At times it got difficult to watch. But if you tuned in to watch a competitive football game, you might have missed the point.
Normally, we can expect to see the starters knocking off the cobwebs for at least a series or two, before the backups and roster hopefuls hit the field. This year, Dan Quinn devoted the entire preseason opener to player evaluation. Hopefully that means he doesn’t have a lot of questions about the starting roster.
On Friday, Quinn only played around half dozen players with realistic chances to vie for starting reps or major rotational roles. Most of the players on the field were competing to move up in the depth ranks, or just to earn a place on the 53 man roster or the practice squad. That might help explain the sloppy play and poor execution.
And despite what you might have heard, if you stuck it out, there were actually some encouraging performances from the Commanders’ young players, depth pieces and roster hopefuls.
Here are some players who made the most of their opportunities to impress the coaches in the Commanders preseason opener against the New England Patriots.
Kliff Kingsbury called an unbalanced game on offense that would make Eric Bienemy blush, with 41 passing attempts to 25 rush attempts. The coaches might have more questions to answer about the passing game than the running game. There was something to see in both phases.
Offensive Line
The Commanders still have a few questions to answer about the starting OL lineup. But the bigger concern might be the state of their OL depth, which is still rebuilding after years of neglect. There were some encouraging signs on both levels.
RT Josh Conerly Jr. (6’ 5”, 311 lbs, 8.85 RAS) – The Commanders’ first round pick will be pushing to overtake veteran Andrew Wylie for the starting RT position. In New England, Conerly played 21/71 offensive snaps, exclusively at RT. According to PFF he allowed 1 QB hurry in 14 pass block snaps, equating to a 7.14% pressure rate. That’s a little bit higher than the 5% pressure rate you hope to see from a starting OT, but the sample size is too small to be really meaningful, especially against preseason competition. OTs more often than not take at least a year to round into starting form, if that’s where they are headed. PFF gave Conerly the highest run blocking grade on the team, a respectable 77.7 to those who believe in PFF grades.
RT/RG Bobby Hart (6’4’, 310 lbs, RAS 1.6) – Hart was drafted by the Giants in 2015, but will only be 31 this season. He started 67 games at RT for four teams to 2022, then was not picked up by a team in 2023 and 2024. Hart played 34 snaps at RT and 16 at LT against the Patriots. He allowed 0 pressures in 32 pass block snaps and earned...
