Washington Commanders 2025 Profile

Coaching Staff

Head Coach: Dan Quinn
Offensive Coordinator: Kliff Kingsbury
Defensive Coordinator: Joe Whitt
Special Teams Coordinator: Larry Izzo

2024 Summary (W-L Record: 12-5)

The Commanders shocked the NFL world in 2024, largely by riding the hot hand (and legs) of rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels. Washington won two road playoff games, including a 4th-quarter come-from-behind win against the Buccaneers and a huge upset of the #1-seeded Lions. They reached their first NFC Championship Game in 33 years, only to be completely run over by the Eagles, 55-23:

The most remarkable aspect of the season was the performance of Jayden Daniels. He completed almost 70% of his passes for 3,568 yards, 25 TDs, 9 INTs, and had a 100.1 passer rating. He also added 891 yards and 6 touchdowns on the ground.

A rookie quarterback completing nearly 70% of his passes, scoring over 30 touchdowns, and running for almost 900 yards is unheard of. But what was more impressive was his poise. He had a 104.6 rating vs. the blitz, led five 4th-quarter comebacks wins, and never seemed to be bothered by the enormity of any situation he was in.

The Commanders’ versatile rushing attack was also instrumental to their success last season. They ranked 4th in the NFL in rushing yards per attempt and 3rd in yards per game.

An interesting aspect of their ground game is that 58.6% of their runs came against light boxes, according to NFL Next Gen Stats. This is the Kliff Kingsbury factor. Spread the defense out and end up with a light box. Then run it with Jayden Daniels and get him in space.

On the other side of the ball, Dan Quinn orchestrated an impressive turnaround of the defense. The Commanders were dead last in the NFL in points and yards allowed a year before and had the worst pass defense in the league.

Quinn got them to 18th in points, 13th in total yards, and 3rd in pass defense. He did it with the same approach he used in Dallas, leaning on single-high coverage (cover-3 and cover-1), lots of blitzes, and lots of speed on the field. Washington utilized almost all nickel and dime personnel (~90 % according to

Cody Alexander

of Match Quarters).

Unfortunately, that often left the Commanders too light against the run, which they struggled to stop all season. They ranked 30th in rushing yards allowed, 28th in yards per attempt, and 26th in plays of 10 yards or more.

That was ultimately their undoing against the Eagles in the NFC Championship Game. Philadelphia rushed for 229 yards and 7 (not a typo) touchdowns.

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Key Additions

RB Jacory Croskey-Merritt (7th Rd, 245th Overall)
WR Deebo Samuel
WR Jaylin Lane (4th Rd, 128th Overall)
LT Laremy Tunsil
RT Josh Conerly (1st Rd, 29th Overall)

DL Javon Kinlaw
DL Eddie Goldman
EDGE Von Miller
EDGE Deatrich Wise Jr.
EDGE Jacob Martin
CB Trey Amos (2nd Rd, 61st Overall)
CB Jonathan Jones
S Will Harris

Key Losses

RB Brian Robinson
WR Olamide Zaccheaus
WR Dyami Brown
LT Cornelius Lucas

DL Jonathan Allen
DL Sheldon Day
DL Phidarian Mathis
DL Jalyn Holmes
EDGE Dante Fowler
EDGE Clelin Ferrell
CB Benjamin St-Juste
S Jeremy Chinn

Did They Address Their Holes?

Washington’s offseason approach seemed to be to put everything in place to support their young quarterback instead of necessarily focusing on their weaknesses, which I think was the right move.

When you draft a quarterback #2 overall, your franchise is tied to the success that he has. The mistake we’ve seen so many teams make is they desert their young QB instead of making sure he has everything he needs to be successful. The Commanders made sure to go the opposite route.