Hogs Haven
The 2024 Washington Commanders made the NFC Championship game for the first time since 1991, which is also the last time the franchise won a Super Bowl. The 55-23 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in the 2024 conference title game was a heartbreaker, but expecting that to happen in the first place for a franchise that hadn’t even had a winning season since 2015? Well, Commanders fans could be forgiven for being happy with what they had and severely excited for the future.
Unfortunately for the Commanders, every season tells its own story and, for the 2025 team, it was back to a harsher reality. This team inverted its previous 12-5 record to 5-12. The defense fell apart, dropping from 23rd to 28th in DVOA. The offense experienced a more drastic downturn, from sixth to 23rd.
Jayden Daniels, who may have had the best rookie season any quarterback has ever had, missed 10 games with multiple injuries, and the coaching on both sides of the ball was more suspect than expected.
Offseason turnaround was as severe as one might imagine. Offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury was replaced by former assistant quarterbacks coach David Blough and defensive coordinator Joe Whitt Jr. (who was stripped of play-calling duties at midseason in favor of head coach Dan Quinn) was replaced by former Minnesota Vikings defensive backs coach & pass game coordinator Daronte Jones.
So now, the optimism is back!
“I feel like this is an elevated group with a lot of versatility,” Quinn said at the owners meetings in March. “I like the speed that we added to the team and for me, the thing I love the most is the competition that comes with putting a good group together. When you look at some of our positions… man, that is going to be a battle. And the thing that comes from that is where everyone lifts up and goes. So, having the new players in the building, we’ve had a lot of the current guys, so I get to see them on a pretty regular basis, but having the new guys in for their days when they signed, I enjoyed that. Because after a tough end of season into January and February, to get some of these guys in here to see their enthusiasm doing it all together, that was really cool.”
To take that cool into the new season, Quinn will need serious contributions from everyone on the roster — not just the obvious stars. So, here’s three Hidden Gems for the 2026 Commanders — one underrated veteran, one underrated free-agent signing, and one underrated draft pick.
A primary reason the team replaced Whitt with Jones was the pass defense.
Which was… well, let’s be diplomatic.
It sucked.
The 2025 Commanders allowed 350 completions on 540 attempts (64.8%) for 4,400 yards (8.1 YPA), 33 touchdowns, eight interceptions, and an opponent passer rating of 104.2, which was the NFL’s fifth-worst. Blown assignments were the norm as opposed...
