Washington Commanders general manager Adam Peters has quickly turned a middling franchise with virtually no postseason success over the last twenty five years back into a contender in the NFC in very short order.
Jayden Daniels rookie season was phenomenal, which has given Peters a window to make some aggressive offseason moves to surround a young franchise quarterback with expensive talent in an attempt to maximize this team’s potential with a superstar under center on a rookie deal.
Yet, there is still a question that remains entering the 2025 NFL season… Are these acquisitions enough to get the Commanders over the hump?
Last year, the Commanders’ passing offense generated 1,780 yards after the catch (YAC) with Daniels under center. Clearly, Adam Peters thought this was an area where the Washington receiver room could use another playmaker by trading for YAC savant Deebo Samuel this offseason.
Samuel definitely had a down year in 2024, but still finished 30th in the league with 421 YAC after finishing the three previous years as a top 12 producer in this metric.
The Commanders didn’t have much in the receiver room past Terry McLaurin for the majority of 2024. Sure, Dyami Brown did have a strong finish to the year and was productive in the postseason, but the addition of Samuel could help offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury get very creative with his RPO concepts with Deebo still very capable of punishing opposing defenses in the quick game as an underneath threat.
The other big offseason addition came in the form of OT Laremy Tunsil, who should immediately upgrade this offensive line in both pass protection and providing rushing lanes for Daniels and the Commanders’ running backs.
These two big moves did cost the Commanders some of their 2025 NFL Draft capital, but they still managed to hold onto the No. 29 overall pick in the draft.
Peters did not just stand on his two offseason trades and was very active acquiring players in free agency. Some of his biggest additions came in the form of Javon Kinlaw, Will Harris, Jonathan Jones, Deatrich Wise Jr., and Eddie Goldman — which mostly focused on providing depth to the defensive side of the ball.
This acts as a perfect segue to the Commanders overall outlook entering the 2025 NFL season. Did the offense get objectively better with these additions? Yes. Did the defense get significantly better with these moves? I would make an argument that we don’t have a definitive answer to that question.
The Commanders ranked 20th in total defense last year. Kinlaw is a nice player, but doesn’t feel like he is going to move the needle enough to elevate this group into a top 10 unit. Obviously, younger players can still develop and improve, and there is an NFL Draft still to play out — but if the Commanders are going to advance to their first Super Bowl in over 30 years, then it will likely come from the excellence of Jayden Daniels under center.
