What CB Marshon Lattimore brings to the Washington Commanders

Breaking down the game of new Commanders CB Marshon Lattimore and why Washington traded for him

The Washington Commanders made a big move at the trade deadline on Tuesday, trading for Saints cornerback Marshon Lattimore. The 28-year-old Lattimore is a four-time Pro Bowler and has two years left on his contract that carry little guaranteed money, essentially making them team option years. To acquire Lattimore, the Commanders gave up their third and fourth round picks in the 2025 draft while also sending the Saints back their own sixth round pick that the Commanders landed in the John Ridgeway trade before the season. In addition to Lattimore, the Commanders also picked up the Saints fifth round pick. 

So why have the Commanders made such a big move and what does Lattimore bring to Washington? Let’s break it down. 

It’s no secret that the Commanders cornerbacks have struggled this year. They had a tough time early in the season matching up in man coverage against teams like the Buccaneers and the Bengals, giving up an average of over 300 yards passing in those games. That forced Commanders head coach Dan Quinn and defensive coordinator Joe Whitt Jr. to go away from the style of play they wanted to use. They want to be able to play man coverage, commit more bodies to the pass rush and pressure the opposing quarterback to hurried passes underneath that the defensive backs can try and intercept. 

Adding Lattimore should help this to an extent. The other corners need to continue to improve in this area, but Lattimore has a track record for matching up consistently well in man coverage against all sorts of receivers in all types of situations. This season is no different. 

This clip shows two very similar reps of Lattimore in press coverage against a receiver running a fade. The first play comes against Falcons speedster Darnell Mooney. Lattimore isn’t super aggressive at the line. He doesn’t look to jam Mooney or disrupt him largely because he doesn’t need to. Lattimore has enough speed to feel comfortable running down the field if he needs to, so instead of trying to jam the receiver at the line, he displays great patience. His feet remain calm at the snap and wait for Mooney to declare his intentions. Once Mooney commits to an outside release, Lattimore opens his hips and turns to run with him. Lattimore stays on top of the route the entire way, placing his hand on the shoulder of the receiver to gently guide him towards the sideline. By staying on top of the route, Lattimore is able to force Mooney to work wider and wider, closing any potential throwing window as Mooney is eventually forced to the sideline. 

The second play of the clip is very similar. This time, the Bucs send Sterling Shepard out to Lattimore’s side and have him try to run a fade. It plays out almost exactly like the previous play did, with Lattimore staying patient at the line, forcing the receiver to declare his intentions before reacting. Once the receiver works outside, Lattimore opens his hips, stays on top of the route and guides the receiver to the sideline, closing the throwing window and taking the route away. 

It’s not just on fade routes that Lattimore’s press coverage ability stands out. Cornerbacks like Lattimore often are left on the side of the single receiver with three receivers on the other side of the field. In that situation, the single receiver will typically run a form of basic cross, getting 10-15 yards of depth before breaking over the middle of the field to give the quarterback an option to work back to on the back side of the play. Lattimore knows this and has been playing these routes for years now, so is very effective at covering them. 

Here are two examples of Lattimore covering back side basic crosses. The first comes from Chiefs receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster. Lattimore lines up in press coverage but again we see him patient at the snap. He’s not looking to step forwards towards the receiver and jam him at the line, instead he waits for the receiver to declare which way he’s releasing. Once the receiver declares his release inside, that’s when Lattimore gets more physical. He gets both hands on the receiver to disrupt his release and force him further inside than he wants to go. That knocks the receiver off his path and messes up the timing of the play. 

Lattimore sticks tight to the receiver all the way down the field, sitting on his outside hip as the receiver works vertical. At about 15 yards, the receiver attempts to cut inside and break away from Lattimore. However, Lattimore knows exactly what’s coming and stays right next to the receiver as he breaks over the middle. Patrick Mahomes was always taking the deep shot on the other side of the field anyway, but Lattimore had the basic cross on the back side completely locked down. 

The second play of the clip is similar. This time Lattimore faces Mooney again, who offers a bit more speed than Smith-Schuster, but the process is largely the same. Mooney attempts to use a stutter step release off the snap, stuttering and faking a release outside. Some corners might bite on this and open up, panicking about getting burned down the sideline, but Lattimore shows good patience with his feet, trusting his speed to recover if he needs it. With the stutter step not working, Mooney admits defeat and works back inside on his crossing route. At that point, Lattimore attaches to the route and gets physical again. He sticks tight to Mooney in and out of the break, taking away any chance of the ball being thrown his way. 

Lattimore is clearly proficient in press coverage and shows great patience at the line which enables him to force the receiver to declare their intentions before he then locks on and sticks tight to them throughout the route. This is a trait that Washington has not had in its secondary for years. That alone makes this a big addition to the Commanders secondary. But Lattimore is only able to be so patient at the line because he has great speed. 

This play is a great example of the speed Lattimore has when he needs it. The Chiefs look to run a bootleg pass here, with Patrick Mahomes faking a handoff before rolling out to his right. Receiver Xavier Worthy, famous for running the fastest ever 40-yard dash at the combine with a time of 4.21, lines up tight to the left of the formation. His job is to sift back across the offensive line and out into the flat for Mahomes to throw a quick dump off and let Worthy’s speed after the catch pick up a big gain. This is a very effective way to get fast receivers in space. Kyle Shanahan used to do this all the time with Julio Jones in Atlanta, for example. It’s a simple concept but one that is incredibly difficult to cover simply because of the speed required to do so. But Lattimore stands up to the challenge. 

Despite having to work around the traffic in the trenches, Lattimore runs stride for stride with Worthy as he sifts back across the line. There’s zero delay from Lattimore here, he reads the play perfectly as soon as the ball is snapped and that is critical, because any false step would be enough for Worthy to run free. But because he read the play so well and ran stride for stride with the receiver, Lattimore was able to match Worthy and take away the easy throw in the flat, forcing Mahomes to go elsewhere. 

I can’t stress enough just how impressive that play is. Worthy is about as fast as it gets in the NFL and Lattimore stayed with him, despite being massively disadvantaged. You’ll often hear defenders talk about how hard it is to run with crossing routes, which this effectively is, but Lattimore made it look easy. He might be 28, but he still clearly has the speed to be a top cornerback in the NFL. 

While Lattimore’s press coverage is a strong trait and one the Commanders will certainly look to use, I think Quinn and Whitt will be just as encouraged by his ability in off coverage. In Dallas, Quinn and Whitt played a lot of man coverage, but their cornerbacks didn’t play press coverage that often. Guys like DaRon Bland and Trevor Diggs played off coverage so they could play with more vision. With the heavy blitz packages that Quinn and Whitt used up front, the Cowboys would generate a ton of pressure and force quick throws that those aggressive, ball-hawking defensive backs like Bland and Diggs could try and jump. The Commanders haven’t yet been able to play that way because the cornerbacks haven’t held up well enough in man coverage, but Lattimore could change that.