Cover photo taken from Washington Commanders.
Welcome to 32 Teams in 32 Days, a daily series leading up to kickoff of the 2025 NFL season where I preview every team in the league as decided by a wheel spin and project what their season will look like. You can keep up with everything right here.
Now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for. Strap in folks, this one is going to be a doozy.
2024 was the best year of my life. I really didn’t think it would be. I’ll be the first to admit that I didn’t want Dan Quinn as head coach. For the first half of the offseason, I wanted Drake Maye at No. 2, not Jayden Daniels. I didn’t understand the moves to bring in Zach Ertz, Bobby Wagner, Austin Ekeler and the other vets. I was wary of hiring Kliff Kingsbury as the offensive coordinator. I thought the offensive line could be the worst in the league. I thought the roster might’ve been the worst in the league, too. I had extremely low expectations for the season, projecting us to finish with five or six wins.
In a shocking turn of events, I was wrong. Very, very wrong.
Last season turned into more than just a successful campaign. It was a rebirth. A burgundy and gold phoenix rising from Snyder ashes. A rejuvenation of a fanbase starved for success for three decades. An exorcism of Dan demons that seemed primed to haunt the franchise forever.
The Commanders — who entered the season with the second-lowest win total projection in the league — had the most magical year the league has seen in years, surging to a 12-5 record and an appearance in the NFC Championship on the back of a 24-year old kid who just might be the best thing since sliced bread.
I want to take my time with this one, so let’s start at the beginning with the last time we spoke before I came back a couple weeks ago. Complaining about the same old stuff to start the season after a lifeless opening loss in Tampa, insisting that we’d drop the home opener to the Giants. Then, radio silence. Again, I regret that, because I would’ve loved being able to document last year on a weekly basis. So let’s make up for lost time.
Week 2 win over New York. Jayden did his thing to be sure, even if the offense couldn’t punch it in the endzone. No matter. A key Malik Nabers drop and seven field goals will get it done.
Week 3 in Cincinnati on Monday Night Football. Jayden’s 91.3% completion and the dagger of the year — or so we thought — to Terry McLaurin. The breakout.
Week 4 in Arizona. The highest scoring output in nearly a decade behind another surgical performance from the quarterback.
Week 5 against Cleveland. Jayden’s best performance on the ground with a number of jaw-dropping plays in the air.
Week 6 in Baltimore. A battle on the big stage. Team fell short, but the QB sure as hell didn’t.
Week 7 against Carolina (I was there!). Game was over before it started, but an injury to Jayden on the offense’s first play — what was ironically his season-long run — soured it. Especially ahead of…
Week 8 against Chicago (I was there, too!). No. 1 vs. No. 2. Caleb vs. Jayden. Even with the rib injury, Daniels gave it a go. Offense couldn’t get out of its own way. Williams couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn until the waning moments, which saw the Bears take a three-point lead with 23 seconds left. We all know what happened next.
Week 9 in New York. Complete the ho-hum sweep of the Giants.
Then, the three-game skid. First, to the Steelers in a game we had no business losing — blame Benjamin St. Juste, Johnny Newton or the refs. Then, the Eagles on Thursday Night Football: a game we were always going to lose on a short week being desperate for a bye with a beat-up QB. And finally, the wackiest, stupidest game I’ve ever seen against Dallas, culminating in a miracle to rival the Hail Mary followed by a special teams debacle to ruin it all.
At 7-5, questions loomed all over as the team was crawling to the bye, but not before getting right by blowing out the Titans. After the off week, it was all systems go.
Week 15 in New Orleans. A game that had no business being as close as it was, nearly leading to a perfect storm for the Saints to come back and steal it. Alas, a win.
Week 16 against the Eagles. Five turnovers from the offense. No matter. Five touchdowns from Jayden — topped off by a nine-yard game winner with six seconds left — to fuel a furious comeback will play.
Week 17 against the Falcons on Sunday Night Football (of course I had to go). In the most electric regular season atmosphere Landover had seen in almost exactly 12 years, a marvelous second half on offense combined with a laughable finish to regulation put the ball in No. 5’s hands in overtime with a win putting Washington in the playoffs. And, amidst MVP chants from the whole DMV, there was never a doubt how that would end.
Then, the playoffs. In search of the franchise’s first postseason win in 19 years — which had come in the exact same building — Jayden’s poise and precision put his team in a position to win the game. A key third-down conversion on an improbable run set up the doink heard around the District to finally get the monkey off the back and end the drought.
Onto Detroit. Playing with house money in the electric, hostile home of the 1-seed Lions, who were coming off their best regular season in franchise history powered by an unstoppable, supercharged offense. Just another day at the office for Jayden Daniels. His excellence and five massive turnovers forced by the defense combine for a blowout win over the Super Bowl favorite in their own house to advance to the NFC Championship Game for the first time since 1991. It was the first time in franchise history that Washington won multiple road playoff games in the same season. Let that sink in.
We know what happened in Philly. We don’t need to talk about it. The Eagles were awesome last year and deserved to win the title, but what happened that day still stings. What hurts the most is knowing that the loss wasn’t on Jayden. It was the countless fumbles and idiotic penalties that buried a team that may have been punching above their weight.
Regardless, last season was a blessing and I still pinch myself when I think about it. I do the same when I remember that Jayden Daniels is my quarterback. We deserve this. After everything we’ve been through. We deserved 2024, and we deserve what’s coming next.
So, onto 2025. Despite all the success from last season, it was pretty clear where this team needed to improve: offensive line, running back, defensive line, secondary. Kinda nuts they won 12 games in the regular season and two in the ‘offs with that agenda.
Honestly, the offensive line held its own. They finished ninth in pass block win rate and second in run block win rate despite the run game completely fizzling out in the last month or so. Because of Jayden — who finished fourth in QBR and EPA — elevating the unit, the offense wound up finishing fourth in EPA/play and fifth in success rate. Still, it can’t hurt to add beef in the trenches to protect your unicorn at QB. Trading for superstar LT Laremy Tunsil — who graded out as PFF’s fourth-best pass-blocking tackle in 2024 — and drafting RT Josh Conerly Jr. in the first round will do just that. All of a sudden, a line of Tunsil, Brandon Coleman, Tyler Biadasz, Sam Cosmi (when he returns from injury) and Conerly doesn’t sound too bad. Plus, it should mean less chips on defensive ends from receivers, tight ends and backs, which we saw so much of last season. That means the downfield passing attack develops faster, giving Jayden more time to surgically pick apart defenses. Sounds like a winning formula to me.
It was pretty clear that Washington needed to give Daniels some more weapons on offense outside of Terry McLaurin. While they could’ve made some big free agent splashes like Tee Higgins, they opted to trade a fifth-round pick to San Francisco for Deebo Samuel, hoping to get some more juice out of him after a down year with the 49ers. Subject to many a fat joke, I think it’s clear he still has some gas left in the tank. In an offense that’ll use him the way he wants to be used, he should have a solid season. But we’re probably never seeing 2021 Deebo again. With the less-than-impactful departures of Dyami Brown and Olamide Zaccheaus, the Commanders will hope to see some real development from guys like Luke McCaffrey and fourth-round pick Jaylin Lane to round out the WR room.
Running back was a question because of how last season ended. Brian Robinson hit a wall and was a complete non-factor down the stretch, and while Austin Ekeler was reliable as always in spurts, he can’t be a bell-cow RB1. Perhaps seventh-round steal Jacory “Bill” Croskey-Merritt can help with that. More on that later.
The defense wound up finishing 22nd in EPA/play, so there was plenty of room for improvement across the board. I’d say the defensive line out-produced its expectation last season, particularly in the pass rush department. Washington finished seventh in pass rush win rate, largely thanks to one-year rental Dante Fowler turning in a pretty nice season off the end and Frankie Luvu proving to be a very effective blitzing linebacker. But, the lack of a blue-chip edge rusher caught up to them eventually. Plus, the run defense simply never materialized, finishing 23rd in run stop win rate and being absolutely gashed by Jahmyr Gibbs and Saquon Barkley in the postseason.
As such, seemingly every move on defense this offseason was about getting bigger in the middle and stopping the run. Javon Kinlaw was given a pretty solid deal to replace Jonathan Allen at tackle. Future Hall of Fame veteran Von Miller comes in on a one-year, incentive-laden deal to provide the situational juice needed off the edge, and Deatrich Wise was brought in from New England to provide depth.
The secondary entered last year in a laughable spot with Emmanuel Forbes and Benjamin St. Juste holding down the boundaries, but got better as the year went on with the emergence of second-round pick Mike Sainristil and the trade for steady vet Marshon Lattimore from New Orleans. When healthy, Lattimore was solid in spurts. But, staying healthy was a problem, and even when he was on the field, he had a propensity to get bullied by physical receivers like AJ Brown and Mike Evans. Second-round rookie Trey Amos should be able to help with that on the boundary, allowing Sainristil to dominate his natural spot at nickel with newcomer Jonathan Jones providing some solid depth. Plus, Will Harris replaces Jeremy Chinn at free safety, which is an upgrade if you ask me considering Harris’ versatility and better ball skills. With the beefier front, Bobby Wagner and Frankie Luvu holding down the middle and an upgraded secondary, the defense should be much better in 2025.
So, check all the boxes on upgrades across the board. Nothing crazy flashy, but it didn’t need to be. It’s about putting yourself in the best position to win with your ridiculous quarterback still being on his rookie contract before he inevitably becomes the highest-paid player in the history of the sport. These key signings are elementary moves to do so, as is extending your star WR1… right?
So we would think. But here we are: Aug. 20, and still no Terry extension. Everyone wants to point fingers in every direction, but it’s honestly a simple calculus. It’s a business. McLaurin is a staple of the franchise — a fan-favorite, a star who was with us through the mud and is now soaring. He finally got the QB he deserved, and it showed last year with 82 catches, 1,096 and a career-high 13 touchdowns. So, where’s the impasse? Shouldn’t this team want to lock him up no questions asked?
Well, Adam Peters is the type of GM to ask questions. Questions like, “How old are you again?” and “You really think you’re worth $30 million a year?” Unfortunately, those are pretty pertinent inquiries. Yes, we all love Terry more than anything else. He’s going to be in our Ring of Fame one day, and I hope he’s the last player to ever wear No. 17 in burgundy and gold. But he is going to be 30 next month, and he is asking for a pretty penny. Why these camps just can’t lock themselves in a room and agree on a $27-28 million deal boggles my mind, and Terry having to request a trade because negotiations are going so poorly is spooky. But I know in my heart of hearts that a deal will come soon enough, and No. 17 will be out there for Week 1. Lord knows we need it.
X-Factor: The Defensive Line
If this DL can simply be better in the run game while continuing to get similar production from its pass rushers, this defense will skyrocket. This team will have to get through Saquon Barkley, Jahmyr Gibbs, maybe even Bijan Robinson and Christian McCaffrey to get where they want to go this year. This line will have to step up to the challenge and do what they couldn’t in 2024. I do think an improved secondary will help the pass rush by giving those guys more time to get to the quarterback. But pass rush honestly isn’t my concern. It’s stopping No. 26 in midnight green. It’s the only major question mark I have on the whole roster. And it’s truly the one thing that could hold the team back once again.
Team MVP: QB Jayden Daniels
Forget team MVP. League MVP is within reach for Jayden Daniels in 2025.
This kid is the best thing to happen to Washington since George himself. Despite being overshadowed by Caleb Williams for the whole draft process and offseason, it was JD that wound up being the generational talent of the class while the kid in Chicago looked like a fish out of water for 17 games.
69% completion — a rookie record. 3,568 passing yards. 25 passing touchdowns. 100.1 passer rating. Sixth in EPA+CPOE. 891 rushing yards — also a record for rookie QBs. Six rushing touchdowns. AP Offensive Rookie of the Year. And status as a consensus top-10 quarterback in football.
But really, he’s a top-5 quarterback and clearly the best in the NFC. Don’t bother arguing with me, because I won’t listen. Jayden Daniels is everything you could want out of a franchise quarterback in the modern NFL. Pre-snap smarts. IQ at the line. Poise in the pocket. Lightning-quick release. Legolas-level accuracy. Deadly speed and an innate feel for rushing lanes to make something out of nothing. The only other QB in the league with those types of skills plays an hour up I-95.
But what Jayden has that’s truly special for someone his age is the pure ice water that flows through his veins. He’s cool as a cucumber no matter the circumstance — a true cold-blooded Terminator, regardless of situation. It’s rare for a player to be so clutch at such a young age. He has the Patrick Mahomes type of aura where he’s almost better from behind than he is with a lead. It’s unreal to watch.
It’s the embodiment of his character and work ethic. This is the kid that shows up to the facility every day at 4 a.m. to throw on the virtual reality headset and dissect defenses comprised of ones and zeroes, then replicates it on the field on Sundays. The kid who’s never too high, never too low, always thanking God and his teammates for his success. The kid who doesn’t really like the spotlight, but knows that he has the goods and deserves to be one of the faces of the league for years to come.
All of this to say that Jayden is a unicorn of unicorns. He’s the brightest young quarterback the league has seen this decade with a ceiling that might reach unknown galaxies.
Everyone loves to bring up the potential of a “sophomore slump” because they’re lazy sensationalists who chase headlines and point out a bad 2024 season from 2023 OROY CJ Stroud as a seemingly valid piece of supporting evidence. Last I checked, Jayden’s offensive line got better while CJ’s was horrendous; plus, Stroud dealt with a ridiculous amount of injuries to his receivers and backs.
But forget that for a moment. If we’re going to run with this logic of “X happened to Player A, so X must also happen to Player B,” then let’s talk about other notable sophomore campaigns. In 2018, Patrick Mahomes had the best passing season of the last decade en route to an MVP. In 2019, Lamar Jackson won an MVP unanimously and led the Ravens to a 1-seed. In 2021, Joe Burrow led the Bengals to their first Super Bowl in decades and came this close to winning it.
But no, it’s cool. Keep bringing up CJ Stroud. Keep being lazy. It’s all good. I keep receipts. We’ll talk in six months.
Breakout Candidate: RB Bill Croskey-Merritt
The wheel couldn’t have chosen a better time to land on the Commanders, because after playing on Monday Night Football — albeit in the preseason — people now know the name Bill Croskey-Merritt. The coaching staff, players, media and fanbase have been singing his praises ever since rookie camp as an exciting prospect that can finally bring the juice that this RB room has lacked since… Antonio Gibson’s rookie year?
Bill has a fascinating story. For starters, he goes by “Bill” because he was bald as a kid and people said he looked like Little Bill of Nickelodeon fame. So, that’s hilarious. But this is a kid who should’ve been a third- or fourth-round pick, but missed all but the opening game of last season with Arizona due to eligibility issues after transferring from New Mexico. So, he falls to Washington in the seventh, and might just be one of the best value picks of the class.
He’s got really impressive vision, a special ability to get skinny and quickly burst through a hole. He’s essentially the anti-Brian Robinson. It’s no wonder why Washington is shopping Robinson, who isn’t likely to be on the final 53-man roster. They know they have their RB1 of the future in Bill. He figures to be a massive part of this offense moving forward, which could help open up so much for the offense down the stretch if they’re able to consistently move it on the ground.
Record Prediction: 11-6
I may be me, but I’m a realist. When I think of this season, I think of a pretty simple vision: better team, worse record, potentially worse end result.
This team is undoubtedly better than the one that went to Tampa last September, and even the one that went back there in January. But they also played a last-place schedule a year ago, went 8-2 in one-score games including five consecutive wins on the final play from scrimmage and had a whopping 87% conversion rate on fourth down. As cool as it’d be to do that again, it’s not sustainable.
The schedule went from 0-to-100 with marquee matchups essentially every week, highlighted by Green Bay, Kansas City, Minnesota, Detroit, Denver, the Chargers and the Eagles twice. They play eight games in standalone windows and even more in 4 p.m. ET national windows, so the eyes of the nation will be fixated on the burgundy and gold all year long. I’d hate to let them down. But it’s just going to be tougher sledding.
I think the first couple months will be up and down. I have us at 4-4 at the midway point in the season with losses to Green Bay, the Chargers, Dallas and Kansas City. But after that Monday nighter against the Chiefs, there’s a chance to go on a run. They can beat the Seahawks, Lions, Dolphins, Broncos, Vikings and Giants consecutively to push up on the Eagles in the standings and assert themselves in the playoff race. Split with the Birds and beat Dallas at home on Christmas, and boom: another 6-seed in the playoffs, where Jayden Daniels will make his money once again.
I’d love to tell you that this team is going to win the Super Bowl. I’d love to believe that’ll happen. But winning a Super Bowl is hard. Sustained winning in general is hard. But, if all goes to plan, this should be the first time Washington has a winning season in consecutive years since 1992. What a stat.
Last year was fun. Now we need to prove that it wasn’t a flash in the pan. I haven’t been this excited for a football season in my life. I’m hoping and praying that it pays off.
As long as No. 5 is lining up under center, I know we’ve got a chance to do something incredible. And just being able to say that is enough.
Next up: 
Philadelphia Eagles
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