Washington defeats Miami, 20-7, at Northwest Stadium.
The Washington Commanders won their preseason opener, 20-7, against the Miami Dolphins on Friday night at Northwest Stadium. They won’t play at home again until they host the Seattle Seahawks on Sept. 27, in Week 3 of the regular season.
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After hosting the Dolphins for a joint practice Wednesday, the Commanders sat most of their starters in the game. Given those players had already gotten extensive competitive reps against another team, the team decided it wasn’t worth the injury risk.
Roster cut-down day is still a couple of weeks away — teams don’t have to make any decisions until Aug. 30 — but General Manager Adam Peters and Coach Dan Quinn are well into their evaluation.
Here’s my initial 53-man roster projection:
Quarterback (2)
Running back (4)
Wide receiver (6)
Tight end (4)
Offensive line (9)
Physically unable to perform list: Laremy Tunsil
The most difficult decisions here come at running back and wide receiver. Washington made a lot of additions at both spots, and it’s created a logjam for the front office to sort through.
It’ll largely come down to the offense’s priorities. If third-down pass protection is a concern — which could be the case given the loss of Laremy Tunsil — then perhaps McNichols makes the roster, and they keep four running backs. He’s the best pass protection back on the roster by far, and a capable runner and receiver.
At wide receiver, the locks are McLaurin, Diggs, McCaffrey, Lane and Williams. That group, however, creates a lot of overlap. McLaurin and Diggs are the only two who’ve shown they can win consistently on the outside. If Williams doesn’t show more growth in that area, it’ll be difficult for the Commanders to go without rostering Burks or Brown. Since Williams hasn’t displayed that skill set yet, I decided to keep Burks to provide depth at outside wide receiver.
The other thing to note here: The Commanders aren’t shutting the door on Tunsil returning from his torn left triceps this season, so they’ll almost certainly place him on the physically unable to perform list. That frees up a roster spot, while also allowing him to return any time after the first four games.
Defensive tackle (4)
Defensive end (3)
Outside linebacker (4)
Inside linebacker (4)
Cornerback (5)
Safety (5)
This is fewer linebackers than the Commanders usually keep. Given defensive coordinator Daronte Jones uses a multiple defense that frequently calls for five-man fronts, however, defensive line depth is paramount.
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Jones’s affinity for three-safety formations also gives that position the edge over linebacker. The question is whether the fifth spot will be held by Butler or Owens.
The Commanders would be hopeful they could get players such as Jackson and Medrano back on the practice squad, but they could get claimed by other teams.
Kicker: Jake Moody
Cut: Drew Stevens
Punter: Tress Way
Cut: Matt Haack
Long snapper: Tyler Ott
Cut: N/A
Moody and Stevens are locked in what may be the most important position battle on the roster. Although Moody played well in his six-game stint with Washington last season, he’s had some costly lapses throughout his career. As someone who was part of the San Francisco 49ers front office that drafted him, Peters knows that as well as anyone.
That led the Commanders to sign Stevens as an undrafted rookie. He has a big leg, but his accuracy came and went during his college career at Iowa.
The competition has been neck and neck throughout training camp, and both players have largely been accurate. But they each started to have more hiccups this week. On Monday, Moody missed four field goals while Stevens missed three of his own. Both kickers bounced back with strong performances Tuesday and Wednesday.
During the preseason game, Moody and Stevens alternated as kicker — and each player went 1-for-1 on both field goals and extra points. This battle won’t be decided until after the final preseason game, but I’ll give Moody the edge for now.
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