Breaking down the Commanders first unofficial depth chart

Reviewing the first unofficial depth chart put out by the Commanders ahead of their first preseason game.

Ahead of their preseason opener, the Washington Commanders released their first unofficial depth chart. Head coach Dan Quinn was keen to stress that it is unofficial and far from a finished depth chart. The team hasn’t even had two full weeks of practices yet after all, so we shouldn’t expect it to be completely accurate and reflective of what the depth chart will be at the start of the regular season. But it does at least give us some insight into how things stand right now and perhaps an idea of some different roles emerging within the team. 

We can see here the Commanders roster is currently at 89 players, with Efe Obada still on the PUP (physically unable to perform) list. They were at 90 but after practice on Tuesday they released back up tight end Armani Rogers, waived back up tackle Alex Akingbulu with an injury designation and signed back up center/guard J.C. Hassenauer. 

With the overall picture set, let’s dive deeper into the depth chart, starting with the offense. 

Offense

The two headlines here are obviously the two starting rookies. Jayden Daniels was widely expected to become the Commanders starting quarterback by the regular season, but there’s hardly been a negative report on him during training camp so far. He’s clearly ahead of Marcus Mariota and has earned his spot at the top of the quarterback depth chart. 

Third round rookie Brandon Coleman is listed as the starting left tackle, which is perhaps more of a surprise than Daniels starting at quarterback, but the reports on Coleman have been positive throughout camp too. His primary competition for the spot is Cornelius Lucas, who has been a career back up swing tackle for a reason. Coleman will have plenty of rough spots and polishing needed to develop into a solid starting left tackle in the NFL, but the upside is there and he appears to have outperformed Lucas so far. 

If he can earn that starting spot and hold his own, that would represent a huge boost to Adam Peters and his scouting staff. Coming away with a potential franchise quarterback and left tackle in the same draft would be a huge kickstart to this new regime, but as Dan Quinn said we can’t get ahead of ourselves. He’s only practiced against Washington’s defensive ends so far, who are solid players but there’s no elite talent there. He’ll face some tougher challenges in preseason and joint practices, which will go a long way to determine if he can maintain his spot as the top the left tackle on the roster. 

There’s no real surprises with the rest of the offensive line. Coleman is joined by Nick Allegretti, Tyler Biadasz, Sam Cosmi and Andrew Wylie as the starting offensive lineman. Lucas is the primary back up left tackle while Trent Scott backs up Wylie at right tackle. Micheal Deiter is listed as the primary back up at center but I suspect he would be the primary back up for guard too if someone were to get hurt. Chris Paul is the back up left guard wiht Mason Brooks on the bubble behind him while Julian Good-Jones is the primary back up right guard.