Offense:
Total Yards Gained: 1,619 3rd, Total Yards Gained Per Game: 323.8 16th, Total Passing Yards: 1,619 2nd, Passing Yards Per Game: 232.8 11th, Total Rushing Yards: 455 15th, Rushing Yards Per Game: 91.0 23rd, Total Points Scored: 109 9th, Points Score Per Game: 21.8 18th. Turnovers (Giveaways) Total: 10, Interceptions: 6, Fumbles: 4 5th worst.
Note: Do not let the rankings confuse you. I am writing this Friday 10/6/2023, after the Bears and Commanders game, but before the other slate of games this weekend. Washington ranks highly in totals due to that, their per game averages are the indicators of where they stand.
Quarterback:
Sam Howell: Passing Attempts: 191, Completions: 131, Completion Percentage: 68.6%, Yards: 1,349, Passing TDs: 6, Interceptions: 6, Passing yards per attempt: 7.1, Rating: 86, QBR: 48.8. Rushing Attempts: 15, Rushing Yards: 101, Rushing Touchdowns: 1
Sam has shown the Commanders a lot of things both good and bad through 5 weeks of the 2023/2024 season. The TD/INT ratio of 6:6 is concerning. However, that ratio is heavily dragged down from a 4 INT day vs the Bills in week 3. I believe that game was an outlier, I do not think the INTs will continue at a high rate. Sam has made some awful decisions at times, heightened by the fact that he holds the ball too long at times as well. Those two things are the perfect combination to throw interceptions at a high rate. In the last two games since that Bills meltdown, we’ve seen Sam make quicker and more decisive decisions with the ball. He did throw an INT vs the Bears on Thursday night, but it was a tight window opportunity throw and the DB made an excellent play on the ball. You can live with those from time to time just don’t make a habit of trying to win those. Sam’s tendency to hold the ball as he works through his reads is also leading to more sacks than we should be giving up. The o-line has been terrible during stretches, and Sam has been improving with it as of late, but it is still something he has to keep chipping away at. Overall, I think Sam has shown the traits that you see in the elite QB’s. All of his flaws are ones that can be cleaned up with proper coaching and more time in a NFL offense. Eric Bieniemy does not run a vanilla offense; Sam has done a good job in a tough system with a rough offensive line. The Commanders may have found their QB.
Running Backs:
Brian Robinson: Rushing Attempts: 67, Rushing Yards: 271, Rushing Yards Per Carry: 4.0, Rushing Yards Per Game: 54.2, Touchdowns: 3, Fumbles: 1, Receiving Targets: 11, Receptions: 9, Receiving Yards: 88, Receiving Touchdowns: 1.
BRob is turning into not just a bruising back with underrated burst/sneaky speed, but he’s turning into a pass catching threat out of the backfield as well. The Commander’s defense has been hemorrhaging points early and often, so the Commanders find themselves abandoning their run game every week. The stats may not jump off the page, but when BRob gets the ball, a positive play is likely to be made. If the Commanders can find a way to get it together defensively, BRob stats should see a healthy increase.
Antonio Gibson: Rushing Attempts: 13, Rushing Yards: 54, Rushing Yards Per Carry: 4.2, Rushing Yards Per Game: 10.8, Touchdowns: 0, Fumbles: 2, Receiving Targets: 16, Receptions: 12, Receiving Yards: 132, Receiving Touchdowns: 0.
Gibson is being used more as a pass catching threat in year 4 as BRob has taken over as the lead back. This is a role many felt Gibson would thrive in, he’s made some great plays, but I think most were expecting more. There are a lot of receiving targets for the Commanders, so it’s not entirely on Gibson for not having more production as a receiver. He has limited touches in the run game, but he has had a few nice runs when he has gotten some looks. His vision is still off at times, and I think it is safe to say that him being a full time back is long gone, at least in D.C.
I included Chris Rodriguez in the week 1 wrap-up, but he has seen little to no action since. Considering the Commanders often abandon their run due to lack of defense, there just have not been many rushing opportunities. With BRob and Gibby in front of Chris, I do not expect much to change any time soon.
Wide Receivers:
Terry McLaurin: Targets: 31, Receptions: 25, Receiving Yards: 261, Receiving Yards Per Reception: 10.4, Touchdowns: 1
Terry is still Terry, he’s a top 10 WR in this league. Which makes it puzzling that he only has 31 total targets through 5 weeks. The Commanders, as mentioned above, have multiple talented pass catchers, but Terry should be seeing double digit targets each game. Terry is too talented, and Sam throws too damn good of a ball for opposing defenses to stop them consistently. I think EB has been night and day as the OC of this team, his gameplans move the ball and score points when we are executing, but he needs to get Terry more involved starting next week vs the Falcons.
Jahan Dotson: Targets: 30, Receptions: 17, Receiving Yards: 140, Receiving Yards Per Reception: 8.2, Touchdowns: 1
Han is in the same boat as Gibson, many thought he would thrive in this offense with Terry taking most of the attention. It is not that Dotson has played poorly, he had one critical 3rd down drop against the Eagles, but that’s about it. He gets open, but the combination of sacks and sharing the ball around have prevented him from having a year 2 breakout. There is still a lot of season left to be played, like Terry, Dotson needs to start seeing more targets each week.
Curtis Samuel: Targets: 27, Receptions: 23, Receiving Yards: 243, Receiving Yards Per Reception: 10.6, Touchdowns: 1, Rushing Attempts: 3, Rushing Yards: 20, Rushing Touchdowns: 1
Curtis is probably the most underrated player on the Commanders roster. I still see many Commanders fans on twitter claim he was a FA bust, despite him being prodctive and only making 13 million. When he signed, he was WR2, that is not bad value at all for what he provides on the field. He’s a threat at both receiver and running back, as well as being dangerous after the catch/in open space. He has quietly been the Commanders best receiver in terms of pure production, and he’s seen less targets than both Terry and Jahan. Still just 27 years old, I would like to see Curtis return, he’s on the last year of a 3-year deal.
Dyami Brown: Targets: 10, Receptions: 6, Receiving Yards: 87, Receiving Yards Per Reception: 14.5, Touchdowns: 0
Dyami is used primarily as a field stretcher, Sam throws an excellent deep ball, they were a great duo in college. Going into the season I felt Dyami was a dark horse X factor considering his history with Sam, and he still can be each week. He just let a big TD slip by his finger’s vs the Bears. He needs to make the most of those opportunities because they do not come around often.
Tight Ends:
Logan Thomas: Targets: 25, Receptions: 18, Receiving Yards: 183, Yards Per Reception: 10.2, Touchdowns: 2
After taking a nasty hit week 2 vs Denver, Thomas missed week 3, returning in week 4 vs the Eagles. Logan has been not only productive but clutch for the Commanders this season. He’s made several tight window grabs knowing he’s taking hit, 10 of his 18 catches have been for 1st downs. Young QBs tend to lean on TE’s as a safety valve, so it should be no surprise that Logan has seen a fair number of targets through 4 games. Thomas has been a legitimate weapon for Howell to lean on, so I expect to see this trend continue moving forward.
John Bates and Cole Turner: With Logan Thomas looking like a true TE1 in the pass game, Bates has been regulated to mostly blocking. He’s one of the best blocking TEs in the NFL, and this o-line at times needs all the help it can get. Cole Turner is more of a threat in the passing game, and specifically in the redzone. I am surprised that EB has not utilized him more within the offense. He is a matchup nightmare for almost any defensive player due to his lanky 6’6 frame.
Offensive Line:
The offensive line has been up and down each week. To make matters more complicated, each member of the line has had up and down games each week as well. It makes the entire line hard to gauge, at times guys individually look great, othertimes they look awful. What this has created is an o-line that never looks cohesively good at the same time. We’ve talked about how some of Sam’s flaws have contributed to extra sacks, but this team has given up 29 sacks through 5 games, TWENTY-NINE! Thats almost 6 sacks per game, on pace for 101. Right tackle Andrew Wylie was the Commanders big splash in FA, signing for 24-million over 3-years. The Commanders should not only bench him, but just move on after the season and eat the less than 10 million in dead cap. The guy is undoublty the worst memebr of an already shaky group, hes just not good enough. Charles Leno is getting older and this may be his last season as a starter for Washington, maybe even anyone. It hurts to say that, Leno is a great man, hes not a bad LT either, but hes also not a great one. The tackle spots are weak areas, its open season for opposing pass rushers, and Sam is still learning at QB. Looking at the guards Sam Cosmi and Saahdiq Charles, both have been surprisingly good. Each has had rough games, but overall Washington has some young promising guards. Another FA addition was Center Nick Gates. Gates may actually be the epitome of inconsistency. You wont hear his name called for long stretches and then bam, a blown block leading sack. Boom, a terrible block leads to the running back getting blown up behind the line of scrimmage. These plays start to add up over the course of a game and ultimately the season, and with Gates the bad is starting to outweigh the good.
Defense:
Total Yards Allowed: 1,861 30th, Total Yards Allowed Per Game: 372.2 25th, Passing Yards Allowed: 1,193 29th, Passing Yards Allowed Per Game: 238.6 21st, Rushing Yards Allowed: 668 30th, Rushing Yards Allowed Per Game: 133.6 23rd, Points Allowed: 160 31st, Points Allowed Per Game: 32.0 30th, Turnovers Produced: 5, 2 Interceptions, 3 Fumbles 16th, Sacks: 16 tied for 1st.
Defensive Line:
The D-line is taking some unnecessary heat. They are the only unit that is performing at a high level, tied for 1st in team sacks, they’re doing their jobs with the best of them. The issue is that they’re getting gashed in the run game and not getting home consistently enough throughout the game to save a DB group that is spiraling out of control. It is nice to see the Commanders among the top teams in sacks, but it’s not leading to wins, the line has to play a consistent 4 quarters of football and stop letting running backs easily get to the second level of the defense.
Linebackers:
The linebackers continue to be an issue for the Commanders, who knew? Jamin Davis continues to develop into a good player, he still makes mistakes but the good is starting to outweigh the bad. Cody Barton on the other hand? He has been awful, he does lead the team in tackles, but he’s always slow in pass coverage and gets picked on often. On a 1-year deal with a base salary of just 2.5 million, he could easily make the move to the bench. The Commanders did not give themselves many options however, they did sign Jabril Cox to their practice squad a few weeks ago, maybe it is time to see what he’s got?
Defensive Backs:
This DB group is officially a major problem. I tend to avoid unnecessary filler such as “major” problem, but this needed to be emphasized. Each week this secondary group gives up multiple big plays. Kendall Fuller had been the lone DB to avoid criticism, until the Bears game. At this point, each of Washingtons DBs from the corners to the safeties have been torched the through air. You expect it from QBs like Allen and Hurts, but Dobbs, Russ, and Fields? What are we doing here? To make it worse, the biggest offender has been rookie 1st rounder Emmanuel Forbes. I am not going to pile on and kick the young man while he’s down, but he needs to play better. It is not fair on the offense to need to score over 32 points per game to have a shot to win, especially with a young QB trying to find his way. There are no changes that can be made outside of making a trade, so this group just has to play better or else the season is toast. There are some heavy hitting offenses left on the schedule; Philly again, Dallas 2x, Miami, SanFran. With what we have seen from this group so far, I am afraid of what some of those offenses may do to them.
Special Teams:
Field Goals: 8/11 72.7%, Longest = 51 yards. 20-29 Yard Range: 1/1, 30-39 Yard Range: 3/3, 40-49 Yard Range: 2/4, 50+ Yard Range: 2/3. Joey Slye has been ok, his missed kick vs the Bears on Thursday night likely killed the remaining momentum and chance Washington had at a comeback, but putting the loss on him is wildly unfair. Overall, he has not cost the Commanders any games, he has a ton of leg power, his issue is his accuracy at times. Unless he starts missing at a larger rate or losing games, he is fine for now.
Tress Way: Tress had an awful game vs the Eagles and you could factor that into why the Commanders let that upset slip away from them. That last poor kick in OT gave the Eagles great starting field position in a game they won off a 54-yard field goal. Outside of that ugly game, Tress has been his usual pro-bowl level self, he’s rarely ever going to hurt you with poor field position.
At 2-3 the Commanders are off to a slow start once again. Many believed that 2-2 heading into the Bears game would be a great place to be, and it was. If Washington was legit, 2-2 with the; Bears, Falcons, Giants as your next 3 and 5-2 was feeling like a real possibility. The loss vs the Bears was not only embarrassing, but it is going to be a game you look back on and go ‘that was the one’ if the Commanders ultimately miss the playoffs. With 12 more games left to go the Commanders have plenty of time to turn this thing around and surprise a lot of people, but will they?