State of the Roster Update: Defense

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

Yesterday I put together an updated State of the Roster post breaking down how the offense looks after the initial wave of free agency. Today, it’s the turn of the defense to see how things have changed since the start of the offseason. Let’s dive into it.

Defensive End

On the roster: Dorance Armstrong, Deatrich Wise, Clelin Ferrell, Jalyn Holmes, Jacob Martin, Javontae Jean-Baptiste, Viliami Feheko, Andre Jones.

Short term need: High.

Long term need: High.

Analysis: After all the talk of a big trade for Myles Garrett or Trey Hendrickson, or signing a high profile free agent like Josh Sweat, the Commanders opted against a high profile addition at defensive end. They might not have had much choice in the matter given the Browns weren’t trading Garrett, the Bengals appear to be trying to retain Hendrickson and Sweat went to Arizona to play for his old defensive coordinator. So in the end, the Commanders focused on retaining most of their own. Only Dorance Armstrong and Javontae Jean-Baptiste were under contract for 2025, so the team re-signed Clelin Ferrell and Jalyn Holmes to help fill out the group.

The team did lose Dante Fowler in free agency. Fowler was expected to be a role player as a pass rush specialist when he signed last year, but ended up becoming a starter and playing a significant role due to injuries. He took his chance and had one of the best years of his career, getting double digit sacks. He clearly felt his production merited a bigger contract than what the Commanders were willing to offer and tweeted as such before free agency officially began. In the end, Fowler opted to return to Dallas and the Commanders lost their sack leader from last season.

I don’t blame the Commanders for holding their ground with Fowler. He did take a step forward as a pass rusher last year, but will be 31 in August and wasn’t a well-rounded player. He struggled against the run and while he took a step forward as a pass rusher, his history suggests he won’t replicate that type of production again. It would have been good to have him back, but at a set price and clearly Fowler wanted more, which is completely fine for him too. Losing Fowler does mean the Commanders have to replace his sacks, and as a unit they need more pass rush production than what they got last year anyway. An upgrade is needed but as of now has yet to be found.

The team did add some free agents. Deatrich Wise is a veteran pass rusher with a nice variety of pass rush moves available to him. He’s also got the size and positional flexibility to kick inside and rush from different spots, something the Commanders like from their defensive ends. That could lead to some of his pass rush potential becoming unlocked more than it was in New England, but ultimately he’s unlikely to match Fowler's output last year, let alone surpass it. Jacob Martin was also brought in to see if his raw traits can be tapped into a little more, but he’s still more of a depth piece with no guarantee to make the roster, not a starting option.

So all of that leaves the Commanders with a significant need of quality at defensive end. At this point in the offseason, that’s probably only like to come in the draft with a high draft pick. Fortunately, it appears to be a deep class of defensive ends so the Commanders should be able to land one in the first round if they want to. Asking a rookie to step in and be the top pass rusher on the team straight away is a tough position to put them in, but I do think the Commanders can help lessen that burden.

Dan Quinn’s philosophy with the Cowboys was to play man coverage and free up extra defenders to join the rush and blitz more. That meant that the Cowboys could generate pressure up front almost regardless of who they had rushing. Now they also had Micah Parsons, one of the best pass rushers in the NFL, but he was helped by this strategy rather than hindered by it. By committing so many extra rushers, offenses typically had to try and block everyone one-on-one, meaning they couldn’t get extra hands on Parsons. If Quinn can replicate that this season, then any rookie pass rusher would be helped by getting more one-on-one situations rather than having protections slide his ways and chippers doubling up on him.

Having an explosive rookie rusher to add into the mix would take the defense forward a step by enabling the Commanders to feature him and move everyone else down on the depth chart. Dorance Armstrong could then take his place as the second rusher, which he fits nicely after stepping up from being the third man in the rotation in Dallas. Then guys like Wise and last year’s seventh rounder Javontae Jean-Baptiste can mix in as part of the rotation and play their particular roles without being exposed to situations they aren’t ready or suitable for. It’s still not the strongest unit on the team and one or two injuries would be quite troublesome, but a first round rookie and Dorance Armstrong wouldn’t be a terrible pair of starting defensive ends. It is definitely a position they need to add in the draft unless another surprise trade candidate becomes available.

Defensive Tackle

On the roster: Daron Payne, Johnny Newton, Javon Kinlaw, Eddie Goldman, Sheldon Day, Norell Powell

Short term need: Low.

Long term need: Medium.

Analysis: For the first time in what feels like forever, Jonathan Allen is no longer the leading defensive tackle in the Commanders defensive line room. I still feel that if all things were equal, the Commanders would have probably preferred to keep Allen over Daron Payne, but Allen’s contract was much easier to move on from this offseason while Payne’s would have left a significant dead cap hit. This time next year though, Payne will be in the same situation as Allen and could end up being cut. He hasn’t played up to the level of his contract and doesn’t offer much as a pass rusher these days. Perhaps with Allen leaving, Payne will see that as an opportunity to step up and take the reins, but the impression I’ve always got from Payne is that he’s not necessarily that type of character.

The Commanders will hope Payne does step up and take on a leadership role, but they will also be hoping for a big step forward from Johnny Newton too. Newton was a surprise pick in the second round last year, but Adam Peters drafted him on the basis of him being too good value to pass up. He was the top defensive tackle on a lot of draft boards last year but fell due to his injury. That injury turned out to be worse than they knew when drafting him, and it had a big impact on Newton’s offseason. He hardly took part in OTAs, was very limited in training camp and missed preseason games. By the time he was healthy, the season was already in full flow and he was trying to get himself up to speed with everything despite being months behind.

Newton did show flashes of the talent that led the Commanders to draft him. His quickness and pass rush juice did show up, especially later in the season. But he really struggled in the run game, especially when teams double-teamed him. They quickly worked out that Newton wasn’t stout enough at the point of attack and would frequently send double teams his way in the run game. Newton failed to handle those double teams well and was often driven back off the line of scrimmage, creating a lane for opposing running backs to work with.

With a clean bill of health and a full offseason, Newton should be much better equipped to handle the rigors of the NFL game in his second season. I suspect the Commanders will have drawn up an offseason programme to help him put on a bit more muscle to withstand those double teams better, but not add so much weight that he loses his quickness. Him stepping up and developing into the player they thought they were drafting would be huge for the defensive line.

With Allen gone, the Commanders have lost their main source of interior pressure. Newton was drafted with the intent to eventually take over that role, but those are big shoes to fill. If he can, and he certainly has the talent to, then it will be a big plus as Newton can pencil in his name as a foundational piece of this team. If he struggles again in his second year though, the defensive tackle position could become a significant need in a year's time.

The Commanders did make their one big free agent splash at defensive tackle, signing Javon Kinlaw to a big contract. Kinlaw has a lot of skeptics in the media and rightly so because he failed to live up to expectations as a high first round pick of the 49ers back in 2020. The Commanders are obviously betting on untapped potential in a guy with a rare combination of size, quickness and raw strength. It’s a boom or bust play. The upside is it could give the Commanders a versatile piece that can replace Payne in passing situations and offer the flexibility to play three-man defensive fronts or even kick outside to defensive end to help lessen the issues there. But it could just as easily blow up on them and leave them needing another defensive tackle while also having Kinlaw on a significant contract taking up more cap space than he’s worth.

Eddie Goldman was also signed in free agency. He won’t offer much as a rusher but he’s a big body familiar with playing nose tackle in three-man defensive fronts. The Commanders now have more personnel suited to shifting their fronts so Goldman could see some time at nose tackle in run situations to help provide some more stoutness against the run. But I’m also not sold that he’s a lock to make the final roster. Being a one-dimensional player is fine but his run defense was a bit up and down at times last year. There were games he was very stout and occupied double teams, beat down blocks and was hard to run the ball against. But there were also games where he was easily reached on blocks and cut off quickly, creating huge holes in the middle of the defense.

I like the re-signing of Sheldon Day. He faded a bit down the stretch last year but he popped up quite a lot early on, despite only making the team initially as a practice squad player. He provided better run defense than Newton and offered more pass rush than Payne. He proved to be a solid rotational piece and deserved to be back at least in training camp to try and make this team again. He’s been a bit of a journeyman in the NFL, so we’ll see if he can keep up that level of play next season or if he drops off, but he deserves another shot.

I think the theme of this defensive tackle group is boom or bust. The upside is there for everyone involved. Payne has the talent to step up in Allen’s absence and become a dominant force on the defensive line, but he’s entering his eighth season in the NFL and has never really fulfilled his potential as a pass rusher. Newton is the one I’m most hopeful for being able to take a step up now that he should have a full offseason to build up and prepare for the season. Getting a chance to practice, use the offseason to get into football shape and work on techniques against NFL caliber offensive lineman every day should be a huge benefit to him.

Last year he spent most of the offseason taking mental reps while recovering from his injuries. But obviously, there is still the unknown of if he can step up. Then there’s Kinlaw, who has failed with two other teams but still offers this rare blend of talents that if used correctly can be absolutely dominant. The Commanders are betting a lot on this staff being able to tap into that, but there’s no guarantee they can get more out of him than his two previous teams managed. So there’s potential for a very strong trio of defensive tackles here, but also the chance that all three can crash out and leave the Commanders needing to completely overhaul their interior defensive line next offseason. For now, there’s enough upside there for them to not need to go into the draft looking for a defensive tackle, though it is a very deep class and they might want to take advantage of that anyway. But there is potential for it to become a significant need down the road.

Linebacker