The Washington Commanders hoped to leverage the 2026 preseason to vault back into the rest of the NFL's good graces, but the early wear and tear of training camp action has put the team with plenty to prove through the wringer.
They're seemingly losing a notable contributor every day over their slow succumbing to the injury bug, making it easy for a young defensive tackle like Jer'Zhan "Johnny" Newton to get lost in the shuffle while more notable contributors like recent entrant running back Rachaad White and starting center Nick Allegretti deal with their own ailments, but his is an absence to worry about.
Jul 25, 2024; Ashburn, VA, USA; Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels (5) shakes hands with Commanders guard Nick Allegretti (67) during day two of Commanders training camp at OrthoVirginia Training Center at Commanders Park. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports | USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Connect
Now the question is how the Commanders' coaching staff plans to fill their needs on the fly, and why they worry that they don't have enough pieces worthy of deployment. Washington is teetering on a hole of their own making, another reminder that NFL Draft returns will always come back to bite those who don't strengthen their ranks the old-fashioned way.
The Commanders had big things planned for Newton entering year three. The defensive tackle seemed to be slowly coming into his own as a rotational sophomore, tallying five sacks and 27 pressures across 17 appearances and two starts- just enough to keep fans hopeful that he could continue ascending with another offseason of work.
He'd yet to tab a full-time starting role alongside positional peer Tim Settle , but his recently announced pectoral muscle tear has already required surgery while demanding a lengthy rehabilitation process. With Week 1 of the regular season waiting just weeks away, it seems safe to assume that getting anything out of Newton in 2026 will be a win for the Commanders' thinly spread roster .
He really needed a step-up campaign, especially considering what he represents to the franchise as a patience-testing prospect. Newton was the second player ever scooped up by this front office, right behind star quarterback Jayden Daniels , earning the 36th-overall selection out of the 2024 NFL Draft .
That could have been a vicious one-two punch for Commanders fans looking to bolster both sides of the ball, a potentially defining combination even if Newton were half as productive as Daniels was during his Offensive Rookie of the Year-winning effort . Alas, not all timelines add up as outsiders hope, leaving Newton to continue attempting to prove himself as a workable asset to a business-minded front office and a less-than-complacent fan base.
Oct 27, 2024; Landover, Maryland, USA; Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams (18) is sacked by Washington Commanders defensive tackle Jer'Zhan Newton (95) during the first half at Commanders Field. Mandatory Credit: Peter Casey-Imagn Images | USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Connect
What's less forgivable, though, is the trend that Newton unknowingly contributed to among new-coming Commanders.
Outside of Daniels and his regular star flashes, that year's draft class remains a mishmash of semi-playable talents who've yet to convincingly win over the football-consuming populous. Fellow draftees like Mike Sainristil , Luke McCaffrey , and Brandon Coleman remain ancillary pieces who occasionally look disruptive, but are generally lacking much consistency to go around.
He'll still have a chance to earn his stripes upon his return, whenever that's mapped out to be, but the Commanders' need for Newton goes beyond their patchy, reworked defense. Good teams like the 12-5 2024 squad stay on top by continually connecting on their draft swings, and Daniels ' incandescent upside has successfully distracted many viewers from the slew of questionable evaluations that led the organization to this point.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/nfl/commanders/onsi as Johnny Newton's Injury Further Exposes Commanders' Poor 2024 NFL Draft Returns .
