As the Washington Commanders began preparing Monday for their Week 1 opponent , the franchise named five season-long captains as it transitioned away from Dan Quinn's usual setup of choosing new captains weekly. The five: Terry McLaurin, Jayden Daniels, Frankie Luvu, Jeremy Reaves , and Tress Way. The team will continue to name one additional game captain each week. Quinn believes the roster has reached a different point in its development, one where permanent leadership roles make more sense. The players voted to select each captain.
Quinn said he hadn't done this in a while, and he was adamant that leadership isn't limited to only those five. "Yeah. And I hadn't done it in a long time, but this definitely - the group probably prompted that as much as anything to say, 'Man, these are some heavy hitters.' And I thought this is the right time," Quinn said. "I've changed up a number of things this year. I thought this is another one that would be in a good space. I couldn't be more thrilled to see these guys lead us as it's going through it. But yeah, I think there's always something that's rewarding about that, especially for the guys that were selected. That's a big deal, and certainly proud for them. This is a group that, man, like I said, I'd follow them anywhere." The fact that the locker room chose these five players tells you who they view as the leaders on the roster.
After telling his team he didn't want them to vote based solely on talent level, Quinn said, "So, I wanted to say, who's the people that you want that really represent the standard of what we wanna be about. Who walks the walk? Those were some of the things that I said. And then we were able to, you could list some on offense, list them on defense, list them on special teams," Quinn said. "And then from there, I just started tallying as we went. So it was certainly a good process to go through, but I did hit it on Wednesday and then announced that to them today. They didn't know that I was doing that Wednesday, so it was nice to do that. I wasn't surprised on the people that the players selected. I mean, these are some real heavy hitters as far as leading goes with our team, like proven and demonstrated. So that was cool to see."
Quinn referred to the group of five as heavy hitters in terms of what they brought to the leadership table. In essence, captains are culture-creators with the examples they set, not their contract status, draft position, or stat line.
"I think it was probably the team; there's a lot of leaders here, and that was probably the thing that prompted us to say, 'Hey, this is probably the right time to add some guys to it and really be an extension, for the team.' And like, man, these are five really heavy hitters and leaders here. And it was nice to see some others. There are a lot of guys that got votes on this year's team, and I think it kind of speaks to the trust that their teammates have in these five and the work that they've put in. So, for a guy like Jeremy just, he has been an absolute legitimate leader for a while. And so, to see that paid forward, I wasn't surprised one bit. Same thing for Jayden
to see all the stuff he went through and put the work in to know that, like, man, people see that. And all the work that he's put in there, so all the joy Terry's bringing. I could probably go on and on. But I think it was the group that, you know, said this is the right time to do this." Luvu and Way round out the five as established veterans whose leadership on defense and special teams has long been recognized inside the building.
The move to season-long captains says more about where Quinn believes this roster is than it does about the five names themselves. He called the group a representation of "who we are and where we are," and that feels like the larger point. Washington isn't handing out titles because of status or production; the players chose the teammates they trust to set the standard every day. Quinn changing a system he has used for years shows he believes this locker room now has enough proven leadership to make that responsibility permanent.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/nfl/commanders/onsi as Dan Quinn Changes Commanders Leadership Approach With 5 Season-Long Captains .
