Washington Commanders Initial 53-man Roster Projection

Projecting who makes it onto the Commanders initial 53-man roster ahead of the roster cut down deadline.

With the third and final preseason game in the books, it’s time now for the Washington Commanders to cut down their roster from 90 to 53. Head coach Dan Quinn likes to say its really a 70-man roster now with the practice squad being extended to up to 17 players, a handful of which can be called up to play each week. But to get guys to the practice squad, the Commanders will have to cut them first and then re-sign them a day later after they’ve cleared waivers. 

It’s time for a look at an initial 53-man roster projection. Notice I’m calling it an initial 53 because there will be changes before the end of the week. The Commanders have the second priority in waiver claims, so they will likely be able to add a few players that are cut by other teams if they choose to, but that would then mean they’d have to cut a few of their own player to do so. They will also have guys that have injuries, like rookie linebacker Jordan Magee, who will need to make the initial 53 before then being placed on injured reserve while he deals with his current injury. 

I’m going to go position by position but then at the end, I will also look at some guys I would be prioritizing for the practice squad and name a few players that might still be at risk if the Commanders make any waiver claims in the next few days. 

Quarterbacks (2): Jayden Daniels, Marcus Mariota.

Jayden Daniels was always going to be the starting quarterback from the moment he was drafted and Mariota signed an expensive enough free agent contract to make him the back up. The question at this position is if the Commanders should keep a third or not. Jeff Driskel played pretty well in preseason and Sam Hartman was given plenty of bonus money to sign as an undrafted free agent, but I don’t think the Commanders would have any real issue getting either, or indeed both, to the practice squad. I don’t think any other team out there is jumping at the chance to sign either, but if they somehow both are picked up elsewhere, Trace McSorley showed in the final preseason game he could still run the offense and would be a solid practice squad option. So given they have up to three options that could make it to the practice squad, I don’t think they will feel the need to keep a third quarterback on the active roster, saving them a spot for another position. 

Running backs (3): Brian Robinson, Austin Ekeler, Jeremy McNichols.

Robinson and Ekeler have long been locks as the top pair of running backs that will take the vast majority of the workload. It appears as though Chris Rodriguez has been overtaken for the third spot on the depth chart. Veteran Jeremy McNichols has shown some nice ability out of the backfield and solid pass protection skills while undrafted free agent Michael Wiley has flashed a lot in preseason too. There could be a case for a fourth running back here, but I think both Rodriguez and Wiley would probably make it to the practice squad and McNichols probably just has the edge as the veteran, particularly with pass protection ability. 

Wide Receivers (5): Terry McLaurin, Dyami Brown, Olamide Zaccheaus, Luke McCaffrey, Jamison Crowder.

Here’s where we start to have some real debates. Trading away Jahan Dotson came as a bit of a surprise, but this group clearly values physicality at the receiver position and Dotson doesn’t bring that. Even with Dotson, this group felt a bit light, but with him gone I think we’re still likely to see more moves coming. I’m not suggesting they'll make a big trade for Brandon Aiyuk, but I could see making a similar trade to the Dotson one if they can find a team with a receiver in a similar situation. They might also just wait to see who gets cut and claim a player or two off waivers. So this is one position that I think isn’t done and will see some change by the end of the week. 

For now though, it looks like Dyami Brown is set to play the Z receiver spot on the outside opposite McLaurin while Zaccheaus will have first shot at playing in the slot. McCaffrey has shown some flashes, particularly in the second preseason game against the Dolphins, but he doesn’t necessarily have the consistency or the detail in his routes to win consistently yet, so I don’t see him cracking the top three spots just yet. The fifth spot was a tough one to pick from. It certainly feels like the Commanders have given a number of guys a chance to beat out Jamison Crowder, but when you factor in his return ability and his reliability as a receiver, he just about makes it as the fifth guy. 

Brycen Tremayne has a solid camp by most reports and Martavis Bryant turned a few heads against the Patriots. The team has also been quick to praise Kazmeir Allen in press conferences. Kliff Kingsbury even went as far as to say Allen could play a similar role to Deebo Samuel, so clearly the team is thinking about him as an option here. But I just think Crowder is more reliable at this stage and I’m fairly certain the Commanders could get just about any of these receivers to the practice squad anyway. Because of that, I don’t think they’ll keep six on the active roster. I think going with five and then signing three or four guys like Tremayne, Bryant, Allen and maybe a Byron Pringle or undrafted free agent rookie Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint to the practice squad will give them enough to pick from on game days. 

Tight Ends (4): Zach Ertz, John Bates, Ben Sinnott, Cole Turner.