Expectations for 2026 Commanders 'GMFB'
"GMFB" debate the expectations for the 2026 Washington Commanders.
Video Transcript
Because the expectations for a while have not been high up there and then you get a quarterback in Jaden Daniels and everything changes overnight, right?
And then immediately this team is the darling, and then they drop off because of obviously his injury, an incredible rookie season.
Last year Daniels gets injured, this team completely falls apart.
You fast forward to right now, early returns show that Jaden Daniels is healthy.
He is ready to go.
With that notion, what do you expect from the Commanders compared to that 2024 version?
Yeah, I'm, we're all kind of rooting for it, right?
We all want to see it.
I mean, Jane Daniels was prolific in that rookie season in 2024.
Last year, of course, the elbow injury, it's a different story.
That being said, Injuries do happen in this league.
It's partially luck, whatever, but you had 12 players last year who played significant roles, either starters or significant key backups that missed the better part of his, you know, a whole season or half a season.
So the luck bug you can only do so much with and you can only talk so much about it, but also this defense has got to figure it out.
I know I feel like this might be just kind of the same.
Songbird, we were just singing with the Dallas Cowboys, but 32nd total defense, no matter who you have in there, you gotta figure that thing out.
And then also this is just a little hill to die on .
I need some more under center run game, under center pass game, open this thing up because listen, we know Jane Daniels is a transcendent football player when he is healthy, but you have to create an organism that can, you can have a plug and play that you can, you can increase the facets of this thing.
And give an opportunity for anyone to step in there and do well.
Yeah, I wanna think about this question, the expectations for the 2026 commanders.
I think it's OK for me to say I don't know.
Like I, I, I honestly don't know what to expect of the, the commanders, and this is why I think overnight he mentioned overnight.
There was, they went overnight of having guys that you knew, right?
You had Bobby Wagner, you had Von Miller, you had Marshawn Lattimore, you had Austin Eckler at running back, and then overnight your middle linebacker is a rookie.
His name is Sonny Styles.
Your RB1 is a second year player, Bill Cros Croske Merritt, who we love.
You went from Cliff Kingsbury and now you have David Blau.
David Blau has the same amount of years coaching as Jaden Daniels has playing in the NFL.
So these guys are, they came into the league.
David was a first time coach.
Jaden was a rookie in 2024.
Now he's the offensive coordinator.
So I don't know what to expect of the 2026 commanders.
What I will say is the 2024 commanders taught me this don't sleep on them.
Don't sleep on Jaden Daniels at quarterback.
I mean, not too long ago, the guy was winning Hail Marys against the Chicago Bears at home in, in DC.
So I don't know what to expect.
What I will say is Jaden Daniels has taught us to never sleep on the Commanders because in the first year they went all the way to the NFC championship, and I'm not gonna sleep on them this year, especially when Dan Quinn is the head coach.
Um, I, I, I, I trust LG that Dan Quinn will get things back on track for that defense.
Yeah, no, I'm, I'm with you on that.
Um, I think that Jaden Danis is a, a great player.
I mean, he's the best thing that they have on offense right now, um, and he's a, he's an astounding player , um, but I feel like, um, defensively they gotta be able to fix some things, right?
Uh, they're in the bottom half of the league in the defense.
They did add, uh, Chick Aquanno Aquanco from, uh, the tight.
From the, from the Tennessee Titans, um, that's a big, that's a big, that's a big addition for those guys, but I mean not going to get a running back and, you know, things like that, obviously losing Debo and things like that is not gonna help your offense whenever your defense can't get stops.
In order for you to be able to do what you wanna do and be a successful organization, a successful football team, you have to be able to get stops, and I know that's a, a. reoccurring theme for us right now, but in order for you to be out there and be able to compete, no matter how good your offense is, no matter how good or explosive your offense is, you have to be able to get stops.
Well, Mitch, you talked about you want to see them under center more, right?
You know what David said, the new offensive coordinator said that he wanted to do this year was put Jaden Daniels under center more.
You have to.
I mean, they were, what is it?
11% under center last year.
They were the lowest by far.
And then the second lowest was the Bengals at 17.
So why do you want them in, in, in under center more?
Like what, what change does that make for somebody like Jana Daniels?
What change does that make offensively?
It just opens up his possibilities, especially in the pass game, in my opinion, in that third and short, right?
Like they were a prolific shotgun, uh, you know, shotgun running team.
They're 4th in the league in rushing, and, and that was when they were still giving up all those points and having to throw the ball.
Give yourself an opportunity to do some play action passes to give the running back, I mean, you talk about a running back like Eric can probably speak on this, like what does it look like when you're a running back and you're under center and you have more opportunities and it just opens up the run game more.
Oh, it looks, it's, um, it's a night and day change, right?
Obviously with Manti he knowing that when a running back is offset, he's not gonna come, he's not gonna.
Run, he's, he's has to come to the quarterback and he's gonna have to turn his shoulders or he's gonna have to, you know, get, do whatever he has to do, open step crossover to get downhill, whatever it is, but when you're, when you're under the center, um, they can't determine what you're doing.
The running back is in the home position.
It gives you a lot of advantages if you wanna play, run plays like power and counter, right?
If you run those type of plays when you're in the gun.
It's easy for guys on the defense to be able to determine, OK, this run is going to the left or to the right.
You mentioned you didn't, you didn't know really what the expectations should be, but I just think there was a lightning in a bottle situation right that first year for Jaden, and you expected him to be good because you knew who he was, but nobody expected them to do that.
And then I think, and, and not that that's a bad thing at all, but I think when you do something like that, the weight on.
His shoulders now because that's what you do out of the gate year one.
I think that there's this idea that he can step back out on the field healthy and just like run.
Like everyone thinks the carryover if you went to the NFC championship game that first year, well then the next year you're going to the Super Bowl, right?
And now, and now you gotta hit the weight on his shoulders because of what he did that first season if he's healthy, and you gotta realize like he's gotta have the pieces around him, OK.
