How the Commanders can manufacture a pass rush

Breaking down how the Commanders can get after quarterbacks while lacking a top defensive end

One of the biggest questions surrounding the Washington Commanders this offseason is how they can improve their pass rush. Defensive end was seen as a significant need this offseason and that was before Dante Fowler, who led the team with 10.5 sacks in 2024, left in free agency. The Commanders didn’t make a big splash in free agency, instead opting to go for a cheaper veteran edge rusher in Deatrich Wise and taking a flyer on Jacob Martin. In the draft, the Commanders passed on a strong defensive end class, not drafting even one late on.

So where does this leave the Commanders and their pass rush? Well for starters, it is only May and more moves could still happen. The Bengals still haven’t sorted out a new contract for Trey Hendrickson, which could lead to a potential trade option at some point. There’s also some veteran free agents like Von Miller and Za’Darius Smith who could be brought in during training camp to help boost the pass rush. But as things stand, it seems like the Commanders are content with their current group. They lack an elite edge rusher, but that doesn’t mean they can’t still generate pressure.

From a schematic standpoint, I think this defense was more in need of reliable cornerback play rather than a defensive end. That’s why the team traded for Marshon Lattimore at the trade deadline last season, and why the team drafted Trey Amos in the second round over any of the defensive ends available. With a more reliable coverage unit, I think we’ll see head coach Dan Quinn and defensive coordinator Joe Whitt Jr. dial up a lot more blitzes to help manufacture a pass rush.

If we look back at last season, we can see examples of this, but they failed to sustain it due to the coverage issues. In the opening game of last season, the Commanders generated a ton of pressure against the Bucs, but the coverage failed to hold up behind it consistently. We saw Quinn and Whitt come out with quite an aggressive game plan, blitzing regularly to generate consistent pressure. When the coverage held up, it worked well.

On this play, the Commanders blitz six defenders, leaving just five in coverage behind the blitz. The front four defensive lineman all rush while linebackers Bobby Wagner and Frankie Luvu execute a stunt inside. With the threat of six rushers, the Bucs have to keep their running back in to pass protect, taking away one of the five eligible receivers. That back is also faced with a tough matchup of trying to block Wagner, a matchup the Commanders loved to manipulate all season.

The Bucs actually manage to pick up the blitz fairly well. Most of the offensive lineman manage to pick up their blocks and gain control. Left tackle Tristan Wirfs is the only one to give much ground, but he simply looks to run Commanders defensive end Clelin Ferrell beyond the quarterback, which he does effectively. The problem for Tampa Bay is Wagner. He explodes into the running back, driving him backwards into the lap of the quarterback. That not only takes away the quarterback’s ability to step up in the pocket and potentially scramble, but it forces him to work deeper and try to bail out of the back of the pocket. That brings Ferrell back into the play. Wrifs did his job at left tackle running Ferrell by the quarterback, but with Wagner forcing the quarterback backwards, Ferrell is there and ready to bring him down for the sack.

This is what blitzes can do. Even if the majority of rushers don’t win their matchups, adding more rushers stresses the protection and increases the chances that at least someone will win a matchup, which can be all that is needed to create pressure and disrupt the quarterback. However, that strategy is risky as it can only work if the coverage can hold up on the back end. On that particular play, the coverage did hold up well. But that was a rare occurrence in that game.

This play comes from that same game against the Bucs in the opening game of the 2024 season. This time, the Commanders look to rush five, blitzing Mike Sainristil off the slot. They have a couple issues with this blitz. The first is that Sainristil was playing his first game and so he understandably was a bit too eager to get into his blitz. The Bucs used a fake exit motion to bait any blitz looks from the defense to show, and Sainristil took the bait. The Bucs were then able to adjust their protection and slide the line to the right in order to get the right tackle working outside to pick up Sainristil off the slot.

But while that negated the blitz on that occasion, it’s also important to look at the coverage. The idea of this blitz is that Sainristil blitzes off the slot and safety Quan Martin rotates down to replace him. However, as Martin rotates down, he and cornerback Benjamin St-Juste have a miscommunication error. Both end up trying to cover the receiver running up the seam, leaving the outside receiver wide open in the flat. So even if Sainristil’s blitz hadn’t been so easily picked up by the line slide, he was unlikely to have gotten to the quarterback before that throw would have come out anyway.

A key component to their blitz schemes is linebacker Frankie Luvu. He was one of the priority free agent signings of the 2024 offseason for a reason. His blitzing ability from the linebacker position is exactly what Dan Quinn and Joe Whitt Jr want.