Sportsnaut
The Washington Commanders are off to a 1-1 start, which is exactly where they were last year after two weeks of play. Next up is another intriguing matchup against the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday, but before the team takes the field, there’s been a change to coach Dan Quinn’s starting lineup.
The crazy part is, none of the beat writers or national reporters knew. It took the Commanders releasing their weekly inactive list for Week 3 for everyone to realize that starting left guard Brandon Coleman has not only been benched, he won’t even dress up for the game on Sunday.
It’s a peculiar move. Oftentimes, we see these surprise benchings, which sometimes are just for a play, a series, a quarter, or a half. In this case, it’s an entire game.
Sometimes, it’s because a team is disciplining a player for some sort of infraction.
Though, there have been no reports on why the Commanders made this move with Coleman. It could simply be a performance-based decision.
Coleman ranks 73rd among all guards graded by Pro Football Focus, 79th in run block grade, and 43rd in pass-blocking. He started both of Washington’s first two games this season after earning 12 starts as a rookie.
Yet, there’s plenty of room for improvement along the offensive line, and now the Commanders will get a chance to see whether a change to the starting lineup can provide better protection for backup quarterback Marcus Mariota, with Jayden Daniels also out of the lineup today.
Related: 1 Bold Prediction for Every Game in NFL Week 3
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