What DL Javon Kinlaw brings to the Washington Commanders

Examining what the Commanders are getting in DL Javon Kinlaw

The Washington Commanders were quick out the blocks when the NFL’s legal tampering period began on Monday. They agreed to a three-year, $45million contract that includes $30million in guaranteed money with defensive lineman Javon Kinlaw. Kinlaw was a first round pick for the San Francisco 49ers back in 2020, which is notable because current Commanders general manager Adam Peters was in the 49ers front office for that draft. Many media analysts and fans have questioned this move because Kinlaw has struggled for large parts of his NFL career.

The 49ers let him hit free agency last year, where he signed a one-year deal with the New York Jets, reuniting with Robert Saleh, who was his defensive coordinator in San Francisco during his rookie year. The Jets then let him go and now Washington is his third team in three years, but are giving him a significant contract, which many feel was unnecessarily large for a player of his production. However, it’s clear that those around Kinlaw believe strongly in him. It’s no coincidence that Saleh signed Kinlaw when he left the 49ers and now Peters is signing him. That tells you that people that know him and have been around him believe in his work ethic and his raw talent.

So what are the Commanders getting in Kinlaw? It’s true that he hasn’t been able to be a consistent force as a defensive lineman in the NFL to date, but the raw fundamentals are there. He’s a massive human being, listed at 6-foot-5, 319 pounds, but has good quickness despite that size. To add on to that, Kinlaw is also naturally very strong and hard to move off the ball despite questionable technique at times. Those three fundamentals - big, strong, quick - are traits that teams desire with defensive lineman and the Commanders will be hoping that Dan Quinn and his coaching staff, who have done well developing untapped potential previously, can do the same here.

So the tools are there for Kinlaw, but he doesn’t quite have the ability to put them all together on a consistent basis. There are plays where it all clicks and he gets it right, and on those plays he looks fantastic.

On this play against the Bills, Kinlaw lines up as a three technique defensive tackle on the outside shoulder of the right guard. At the snap of the ball, Kinlaw stays low and gets both hands into the chest of the guard. He punches the guard backwards and then suddenly jerks his hands down to pull him off balance.

From there, Kinlaw transitions into a nice club and swim combination, clubbing the guards hands away before using a swim technique with his left arm to skip past the guard and work into the backfield. The guard does just manage to stay with him and shove him right at the end, enabling the quarterback to step up and avoid the sack, but the pressure was enough to disrupt the play and the potential is clear to see.

Unfortunately, those plays come a little too infrequently for Kinlaw. On most of his pass rush reps, you can see the tools and the promise but it’s a little erratic.

Here against the Vikings, Kinlaw starts in the same three technique position over the outside shoulder of the right guard, but the Jets are running a blitz with the linebacker behind him. As part of that blitz, Kinlaw has to stunt inside to work against the center. You can see a lot of the raw tools here. He’s quick off the snap to slide inside a gap and engage with the center.

That quickness enables him to catch the center by surprise and land a punch to his chest. From there, you can see his arm length, which measures at nearly 35 inches. Most interior lineman have arms shorter than 33 inches, so that is a huge advantage for him inside. He uses that length to lock out his arms at full extension and knock the center back, keeping himself clean in the process.

Having been knocked back and unable to reach Kinlaw, the center has to resort to lunging at him. Kinlaw didn’t appear to have much of a plan beyond that initial punch, so he allows the center to start washing him down the line by lunging at him. The best defensive tackles would see that lunge and view it as a huge opportunity to beat an off-balance blocker, but Kinlaw can’t take advantage.

Despite that, Kinlaw does again show more promising potential. As he’s being washed down the line towards his teammate, Kinlaw spins out of the block to get back inside. That spin again shows his athleticism and quickness of feet. He gets back inside and the center has to pull on his jersey to buy the quarterback a bit of extra time to deliver his throw. Kinlaw closes quickly but the quarterback does just get his throw away to avoid the sack.

So you can see the tools are there for Kinlaw. The quickness and movement skills at his size are rare. The power and length will give almost all interior lineman issues if used properly. But he’s just a bit erratic with it all right now and that allows more savvy blockers to get the better of him. Dan Quinn came through the coaching ranks as a defensive line coach having played on the defensive line in college. So if anyone can unlock this potential and help Kinlaw develop a consistent pass rush plan, it’s him and this staff. But potential is just potential until it is realized and there’s no guarantee that the Commanders are able to get any more out of Kinlaw.

Kinlaw has a label of being more of a pass rush threat than a run stopper and has been routinely criticized for his run defense, but in the five games I’ve watched of Kinlaw, I see plenty of potential for him as a run defender too. Just like with his pass rush, he can be a little erratic, but I think there’s a lot more flashes of strong run defense than many would assume.