Hogs Haven
Last season, Adam Peters appeared to have a free agent steal on his hands with the signing of Frankie Luvu. The former Panther recorded 99 total tackles, 54 solo tackles, 8 sacks, 1 forced fumble, 2 fumble recoveries, and 1 interception. He was also effective rushing the passer, logging 29 total pressures, 4th among all off-ball linebackers, with a 27.6% pressure-to-sack conversion rate, which was good for 2nd in the NFL. Luvu represented the identity of the Washington Commanders defense in 2024:
Fast forward to the midpoint of this season, and once again Frankie represents the identity of the Commanders defense, but for very different reasons. Last year’s second-team All-Pro has mostly been ineffective during his sophomore season in Washington. While Frankie is still on pace to record a number of tackles in 2025, the quality of his play has significantly decreased. The splash plays are gone, replaced by frustrating lapses and miscues, while his impact in the rushing game has been minimized.
So what happened to Luvu between last season and now? In this article, we will explore some reasons for his regression and discuss options going forward.
Last season, Luvu was deployed as a hybrid linebacker-edge rusher as Dan Quinn and Joe Whitt used various stunts, disguised blitzes, and wide alignments to strain the offense and take advantage of interior protections occupied by Jon Allen and Daron Payne. The net result was the ability to attack gaps uncovered by defenders to disrupt both running and passing plays in the backfield before they could develop. The video below shows the All-22 from every one of Luvu’s sacks and quarterback pressures through Week 12 last season:
The video is lengthy and, fair warning, does contain advertisements, but it does not take much time to see Luvu was at his best when played closer to the line of scrimmage and was schemed to penetrate gaps. From there, his aggressive style and energy took over to provide huge dividends via impact plays. So how have things changed this season?
Joe Whitt had Luvu playing more snaps in a traditional stacked alignment role, which requires the player to operate in space, scraping laterally based on run-pass keys. This means Luvu has to play with more discipline, taking away some of the instinctive style he thrived on last year. Additionally, the defensive front is requiring Luvu to shed blockers and provide run-fills. The results so far have been underwhelming.
The clip below comes from Mark Bullock’s work detailing the issues the team had defending the perimeter run versus the Bears in Week 6.
After the initial snap, note how quickly Johnny Newton is sealed off by the center. This allows the right guard, Jonah Jackson, to quickly work to the second level. Realistically, the 235-pound Luvu does not have much chance to take on the 320-pound offensive linemen straight on, but he does manage to get the running back to commit to the inside. Unfortunately, he has no chance to make...
