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Commanders Make Huge Gamble in the Middle of their Offensive Line
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- Commanders Make Huge Gamble in the Middle of their Offensive Line
The Washington Commanders offensive line has been nothing short of frustrating all throughout training camp. With Jayden Daniels missing 10 games last year, his protection up front has been an area of concern all summer going into Week 1. After Laremy Tunsil went down with a torn tricep and is expected to miss most of the year, the Commanders have turned to Brandon Coleman and Nick Allegretti to fill the void .
For most of his time in the league, Allegretti has been a backup guard not spending much time in a starting capacity or even at the center position. Drafted in the seventh round by the Chiefs in 2019, "only 171 of his 2,432 career snaps (7.0%) have been at center," Ben Solak wrote .
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Allegretti has missed a handful of weeks during training camp with a calf strain and finally returned to practice this week but right before the team went into a long weekend. With Allegretti likely the starter for Week 1, General Manager Adam Peters feels confident that due to his pedigree and knowledge of the game, he'll be ready to go for the season opener. "Not having Nick for most of camp was something we had to work through, but we have a ton of confidence in him," Peters said . "And he's played, I think, 3,000-some-odd snaps in this league. And he's played good football for us before. He went through the whole offseason, so we're really confident. He's not a guy that needs a ton of reps, especially from a mental standpoint."
This type of constant shuffling on an offensive line is almost always a recipe for disaster in the league because a unit cannot build chemistry and strong communication if they're always moving pieces around. The Commanders drafted Matt Gulbin in the sixth round of the draft this year and while he's made improvements in his development, he has not shown enough to prove he's ready to start in the NFL.
The Commanders face a gauntlet of top-tier defenses during the first half of the season and will need their offensive line to stand tall and strong if they want any chance of competing. They'll face the Eagles and Giants twice in the first nine weeks and then face the Rams consisting of Myles Garrett and Aaron Donald in Week 9. Unfortunately, it does not get much easier down the stretch as they'll host the Houston Texans in Week 14, one of the best pass rush units in the league last year .
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Jayden Daniels and the rest of the offense will certainly go through their fair share of growing pains early this season with multiple new playmakers on the field. However, small procedural issues like snap counts and messy exchanges can hinder any growth for an offense and create wrinkles in the scheme that can be hard to overcome.
This story was originally published by Athlon Sports on Sep 4, 2026, where it first appeared in the NFL section. Add Athlon Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
