The Washington Commanders didn’t just embrace pressure last year—they relished it.
Head Coach Dan Quinn’s motto of “anybody, anywhere, anytime” reverberated throughout the building. The Commanders went 9-4 in one-score games and had six fourth-quarter comebacks including six game-winning drives en route to an appearance in the NFC Championship Game.
“Pressure, pressure is a privilege,” Quarterback Jayden Daniels said early in his marvelous rookie campaign last fall.
Less than two years after finishing 4-13 and with the second overall draft pick, the Commanders now enter 2025 expected to compete for their first Super Bowl title since 1992.
There’s enough pressure to go around the locker room, although there are several players who stand out as having the most to prove. Here are the top five Commanders who have the most to prove during the 2025 NFL season.
WR Deebo Samuel Sr.
Samuel is coming off the undoubtedly worst year of his career, when he reportedly showed up to offseason activities overweight and later dealt with a calf strain, a rib sprain, and pneumonia that required hospitalization.
The 2021 first-team All-Pro’s yards per route run dropped from a strong 2.26 in 2023 to a mediocre 1.60 in ‘24, which was only 55th of 141 players who ran at least 100 routes. He still led the NFL in average yards after catch, but he struggled to break tackles at the rate he did earlier in his career.
The Commanders only traded a fifth-round pick to acquire Samuel, who is on a one-year prove-it deal in D.C. Jayden Daniels will be the most talented quarterback he’s worked with in his NFL career, but he will be asked to play a large role to ease the burden on star teammate Terry McLaurin, provided his holdout ends with a contract extension.
There’s still reason to believe that a healthy and motivated Samuel can at least be one of the best number-two receivers in the league, given that was still very productive in 2023. However, a continuation of his downward trajectory will likely result in him wearing a third uniform in three years and a significant pay cut.
CB Marshon Lattimore
Lattimore became the first “win-now” move of Commanders General Manager Adam Peters once the team realized what they had in Daniels. He only made five appearances after a mid-season trade, and three—two against the Philadelphia Eagles and one against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers—were abject failures.
Like Samuel, Lattimore had the injury excuse on his side. He missed a month immediately after he was traded due to a hamstring injury, one that never fully healed during the season.
Lattimore’s coverage grade last year was the worst of his career by a wide margin, per Pro Football Focus (PFF). At his usual standard, he’s easily one of the 10 best at the position and is capable of playing aggressive press-man coverage against even the best receivers in the world.
Washington’s pass defense was the second-worst in EPA per dropback among all playoff teams. They drafted Lattimore’s potential replacement, Trey Amos, in the second round of the draft and have not gotten anywhere close to what they’d hoped for when they traded for the four-time Pro Bowler.
The Commanders also have a potential out with no penalty against the cap if they cut him after the 2025 season, making this the most important season of Lattimore’s career professionally and financially.
OL Brandon Coleman
Coleman, a third-round selection from TCU, was the Commanders’ fifth pick in the 2024 draft. He was given immediate work and took over as the full-time starter in Week 9 after rotating with Cornelius Lucas earlier in the year.
At 6-foot-6, 320 pounds, and with tremendous natural gifts, Coleman had all of the measurables of a future star. His production fell flat of that projection as he allowed 10 sacks, which tied for the third-most in the NFL at his position.
The sophomore will kick in from tackle to left guard and will line up between Laremy Tunsil and Tyler Biadasz for his second professional season. He should benefit from playing on a more talented offensive line and in a position where he isn’t required to spend as much time on an island, though he still needs to prove himself as a bona fide starter in the NFL.
Daniels was the great eraser in that his individual brilliance allowed him to mask his teammates’ mistakes, though the Commanders were only 3-3 when Coleman allowed at least two pressures.
There’s a clear relationship between Daniels’ protection and Washington’s ability to win games, and Coleman was the weak point last year. Another poor showing could put him at risk of losing his starting spot.
TE Ben Sinnott
Sinnott is behind fellow tight ends Zach Ertz and John Bates in the team depth chart. The hope is that he’ll one day become a combination of both, though he was unable to become even a facsimile of either one during his rookie campaign.
A second-round pick last spring, Sinnott caught six passes for 51 yards and a touchdown across the regular season and playoffs. He was 11th in pass-blocking and 39th in run-blocking success, per PFF, and was targeted on just 5.4 percent of his routes.
Daniels excelled over the middle of the field in the short game but was less effective when throwing the ball at least 10 yards downfield between the numbers, going 52/84 for 897 yards, eight touchdowns, and five interceptions.
Sinnott’s capacity to develop into a capable blocker and receiver would keep opposing defenses off-balance and give Daniels a greater chance to expose the heart of the defense.
Conversely, an inability to fulfill the potential the front office saw in him would leave them scrambling for answers. Ertz will be 35 years old next season, and Bates’ single-season career-highs are only 20 catches, 249 yards, and a touchdown. Second-round picks are expected to make a positive impact early in their careers, and Sinnott, while not out of time, is on the clock.
DT Javon Kinlaw
Kinlaw was the San Francisco 49ers’ 14th pick in the draft just five years ago. He played a total of 10 games in his second and third seasons, but despite playing all 17 each of the last two, he failed to live up to his billing as a first-round selection.
A burly 6-foot-5, 320-pound defensive tackle, Kinlaw was an uninspiring 79th in PFF’s position rankings last year. That was three spots below Sheldon Day, a 30-year-old rotational player the Commanders originally signed to their practice squad last August.
“Worst deal of the day BY FAR was the Commanders giving DT Javon Kinlaw $45 million… he’s terrible I watched every single snap with the Jets, mind-boggling move,” Bleacher Report’s John Frascella posted on X (formerly Twitter) after Kinlaw inked his three-year deal.
The Commanders were only 22nd in EPA allowed per dropback and 27th per rush. Kinlaw’s productivity last year doesn’t suggest that he’ll create a seismic shift in those rankings, but he was 29th in stops and 33rd in hurries among defensive tackles in 2024.
The Commanders saved $11 million in cap space by releasing Jonathan Allen and subsequently bringing in Kinlaw, though that doesn’t guarantee this is a savvy deal. Kinlaw is expected to start next to Daron Payne in a four-man front, and another disappointing season would confirm the fears that echoed around the DMV when he signed his contract.
