After finishing 4-13 in 2023, the Washington Commanders hope to field a much better roster in 2024. These position
s should be up for grabs when the team opens training camp.
Cornerback
After losing Kendall Fuller to the Dolphins, the Commanders signed free agent Michael Davis and added Michigan’s Mike Sainristil in the second round of the 2024 NFL Draft. Sainristil earned AP All-Big Ten honors with the Wolverines last year, but at 5-foot-9 and 182 pounds, he’s expected to start at nickel-cornerback at the NFL level.
That leaves Davis, Emmanuel Forbes Jr. and Benjamin St-Juste to fight for the left and right cornerback positions. Davis deflected a career-high 15 passes for the Chargers two years ago but was benched for several games in 2023 after allowing career highs of 13.8 yards per completion and nine yards per target.
Forbes was the team’s first-round pick in 2023 but struggled as a rookie and was benched in for a Week 6 game against the Falcons. Pro Football Focus ranks St-Juste 30 spots ahead of Forbes as the NFL’s 82nd-best cornerback, but unlike Forbes, St-Juste remains unsigned beyond 2024.
One way or another, new head coach Dan Quinn needs to get better results from last year’s 32nd-ranked secondary.
No. 3 receiver
Washington passed on more established wide receivers like Adonai Mitchell and Ja’Lynn Polk in the draft to take Luke McCaffrey, a former college quarterback with 24 games of experience at wide receiver. On the bright side, his competition for the No. 3 spot isn't fierce.
Dyami Brown has 29 catches for 476 yards in three years with the team. Olamide Zaccheaus had 10 catches for 164 yards for Philadelphia last season while 31-year-old Jamison Crowder gave Washington even less, leaving a spot wide open behind wide receivers Terry McLaurin and Jahan Dotson.
Left Tackle
Who will protect Jayden Daniels blindside in 2024? At the moment the choices are veteran swing tackle Cornelius Lucas or third-round pick Brandon Coleman. Lucas joined the team in 2022 and started 16 games at left tackle over the past three years.
Lucas signed a one-year deal in the offseason but Washington would love to see the rookie win the job. Having grown up in Germany, Coleman didn’t play football until 2016 but that didn’t stop him from playing multiple positions at TCU.
His Relative Athletic Score (9.96) at the NFL Scouting Combine ranks seventh out of 1,583 offensive guards tested from 1987-2024 but how those numbers translate to the NFL remains to be seen. If he can’t show the ability to protect the team’s young quarterback, Washington will surely ride with Lucas.
