State of the Roster Update: Commanders Offense

Breaking down where things stand with the Commanders offense after the initial wave of free agency

With the majority of the major moves in free agency done, now is a good time to examine where the Commanders roster stands ahead of the NFL Draft next month. At the start of the offseason, I wrote a few “State of the Roster” posts breaking down both the offensive and defensive side of the ball entering the offseason. Today it’s time to update that with the post-free agency moves, starting with the offense.

Quarterback

On the roster: Jayden Daniels, Marcus Mariota, Sam Hartman.

Short term need: Low.

Long term need: Low.

Analysis: I’ll never get tired of saying quarterback is not a need for the Washington Commanders. Jayden Daniels is firmly entrenched as the starting quarterback and should be for a long time as long as he remains healthy. The biggest question entering the offseason was who would be his back up. Marcus Mariota played well in the few opportunities he had last season and given the league always needs competent quarterback play, it might have been enough to see Mariota land a job with a chance to start elsewhere. That didn’t materialize for Mariota, so he returned to the Commanders on another one-year deal to back up Daniels yet again. I wonder if in a years time, Mariota might leave and follow offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury if he gets another head coaching job, but that’s nothing to worry about now.

Sam Hartman came in as an undrafted free agent and quickly developed a good bond with Daniels. In an ideal world, he can work his way up the ladder and eventually develop into being Daniels’ back up. He was the fourth quarterback last year behind Daniels, Mariota and Jeff Driskel. At this point, Driskel hasn’t been re-signed, which suggests the team thinks Hartman can step up into being the third quarterback. Of course, Driskel could easily be signed at any point in the offseason as an extra arm for OTAs and training camp, but right now it appears as though Hartman is QB3. If he can continue his development path, he could be ready to take over from Mariota in a year to be the primary back up, giving Washington two young quarterbacks that could stabilize the position on the roster for a while.

Running Back

On the roster: Brian Robinson, Austin Ekeler, Jeremy McNichols, Chris Rodriguez, Kazmeir Allen, Demetric Felton, Michael Strachan.

Short term need: Low/Medium.

Long term need: Medium/High.

Analysis: As of today, the running back room remains the same from last season. Brian Robinson is set to be the starter again with Austin Ekeler playing his role as the third down back. Jeremy McNichols re-signed with the team in free agency after impressing last year as a back up to Ekeler, with his skills as a pass protector standing out. Chris Rodriguez is also back to recreate the room that ended last season. They also have three more guys from the practice squad/futures contracts in Allen, Felton and Strachan that will likely be camp bodies.

I know there is a clamouring from the fan base for some more explosion from this position and I don’t disagree with that idea. Adding an explosive back that can rip off some long runs when the defense is too concerned about Daniels keeping the ball on a read-option run or a guy that can be a threat catching passes out of the backfield would definitely add a big dimension to the offense. But I think there are other priorities to address first and if they go into the 2025 season with the same running back room as 2024, it wouldn’t be the end of the world. So short term, I don’t think the need is that high.That being said, I do expect them to look to add a running back in the draft, especially given the apparent strength of the running back class. I’m not sure they’d take one at 29, but after the first round I think it’s certainly an option on the table.

Looking longer term, the need does become more significant. All four running backs at the top of the depth chart are entering into the final years of their contracts, which means currently they have no running back under contract beyond this season. That makes the long term need a lot higher, but running backs are so undervalued that they could probably replace the entire running back room next offseason and get a similar level of performance from a group made up of free agents and a draft pick. By that point, they might have built up the roster enough to make running back more of a priority too. But still, I expect they will add a running back in the draft and probably an undrafted free agent or two to try out in camp as well.

Wide Receiver