The Washington Commanders crushed expectations and reached the NFC Championship Game in 2024, but three unheralded linebackers could be the reason they go one step further in 2025.
Adam Peters’ and Dan Quinn’s cohesive audaciousness gave them an opportunity that unproven team officials often shudder at the thought of: taking a risk.
That risk was not dropping Bobby Wagner and Franke Luvu into the center of the defensive lineup—that was fairly straightforward.
Their boldness actually came in their plans for the evolution of the defense, a metamorphosis that could begin as early as Week 1.
Time for a change
With names like Jayden Daniels, Wagner, Luvu, Laremy Tunsil, Marshon Lattimore, and Deebo Samuel all in play, it takes more than a moment of thought to consider that multiple Day Three linebackers, all in their first or second year, could be the key to unlocking the defense’s full potential.
The idea becomes even more intriguing when considering that two of these three players are position converts.
Enough anonymity. Jordan Magee, Dominique Hampton, and Kain Medrano are the players under the spotlight.
Magee is the most senior of the three, having played 171 total snaps (155 on special teams) in his rookie campaign a year ago. Hampton played six snaps in Week 18, and Medrano was drafted in April.
What the trio lacked in draft-day cachet, they made up for in size and athleticism. That’s the first piece of what separates them from Wagner and Luvu and more established members of the Washington defense.
The Commanders primarily operated out of a 4-2-5 base formation a year ago, placing a hefty burden on Wagner and Luvu to take away the middle of the field and to contain the run. Despite both making the All-Pro second team, the Commanders were only 27th in EPA allowed per rush play and 22nd in EPA allowed per dropback.
Even worse, they were 31st in yards allowed per rush play and 21st in yards allowed per pass attempt.
Washington’s proactive staff can only draw one conclusion from last year’s film: Improvement is a non-negotiable.
Speed kills… and saves
The best teams are usually the ones that ask questions of their opponents. In other words, if their fastball isn’t locating, they have an off-speed pitch they can fall back on.
The Commanders’ defense, despite playing well in moments, was usually the unit searching for answers as it surrendered 30.3 points per game from Week 16 through the run to the NFC Championship Game.
A catalyst in their inability to ask questions was their predictability. Wagner and Luvu were often right between the hashes on first and second down, and at least one of them regularly supplemented the pass-rush on third-and-long.
Magee, Hampton, and Medrano—all at least 6-foot-2 and 220 pounds—add an entirely new layer to the defense because of their range. That isn’t just theory; it was already confirmed by defensive coordinator Joe Whitt Jr.
“I’m really hopeful that [Magee] can stay healthy,” Whitt Jr. said after a voluntary OTA session. “And then there’s some other guys at the linebacker position that we want to have some three-linebacker defenses that we can get a little bit bigger versus 12 (one back, two tight ends) and not play as much nickel to shore up on some of the run on that aspect as well.”
The 40-yard dash doesn’t always translate to play speed, but having a fast time will never hurt a prospect.
Magee (4.55), Hampton (4.51), and Medrano (4.46) all posted standout marks in the event during their NFL Combine workouts. Compare that to Luvu, who ran 4.89, and Wagner, who ran a 4.46 in 2012 but is now 34 years old, and the difference is massive.
Swapping out Wagner and Luvu—two excellent but range-limited players—with high-speed backers would allow Washington to better set the edge, take run-support pressure off of secondary players, and help limit explosive plays.
The Commanders could also get bigger closer to the line of scrimmage without sacrificing much of their coverage ability. Hampton has plenty of experience defending against the pass after spending six years at safety in college, and Medrano is a former wide receiver who posted a 76.3 coverage rating during his last year at UCLA, per Pro Football Focus.
Magee is the least likely to handle coverage responsibilities of the three, although two (12.5 percent) of his 16 defensive snaps last year came at slot corner.
Can the experiment work?
Many physically gifted prospects have failed to pan out in the NFL, whether that be down to their tackling ability, cognitive processing, coverage instincts, or any of the other considerations that have to be made before a coach can greenlight a player for action. Those roadblocks remain for the young Commanders, all of whom have potential but are yet to prove themselves.
Starting with Magee, coach Quinn told him on his Draft Day call that he wanted him “to bring that run-and-hit style to D.C.” The sample size is very limited, but he did not miss (or record) a tackle on defense, and he did not allow a completion the one time he was targeted.
Hampton spent the last season acclimating to his new position and bulking up. When last seen on the field at the University of Washington, he whiffed on an average 13.7 percent of tackles, recorded two interceptions, and gave up one touchdown and 34.4 receiving yards per game. He also took 37.6 percent of his snaps at free safety, 30.4 percent in the box, and 25.6 percent in the slot.
Medrano missed a huge percentage of tackles (26.0) in his final UCLA campaign, and he allowed four touchdowns and 27.3 receiving yards per game and caught two interceptions. 56.5 percent of his snaps came in the box, and 19.7 percent were in the slot.
It’s unrealistic to expect the three youthful defenders to share the field at the same time, barring injuries to Wagner and Luvu. However, rotating them into the action one or two at a time could provide a solution that Washington didn’t have a year ago.
Outside zone runs were a huge problem for the defense—would it be unfair to say that their lack of speed in the middle of the field contributed to that? Probably not.
A 4-3 front with Wagner in the middle, Luvu on the weak side, and Hampton on the strong side would keep their best off-ball backer on the field and with less surface area to worry about, along with a first-ballot Hall of Famer in the middle. Hampton could use his speed to get out to the boundary and still be strong against the run and pass.
The same could be said with Medrano, who could line up in the nickel and have the size and speed to disrupt the edge blocker or cover the middle of the field.
Magee could be used as a speedy alternative to Wagner against teams that favor outside runs and look to stretch the field horizontally in the passing game.
The Commanders’ defensive outlook
Speed is at a premium in the NFC East. Washington is going to have to contend with players such as Saquon Barkley, CeeDee Lamb, and Malik Nabers, all of whom tortured them over the middle of the field in recent years.
Barkley led the NFL in runs of at least 10 yards and had nine such carries in three games against the Commanders. Lamb had a down year due to injuries to him and his quarterback, Dak Prescott, while Nabers had 19 catches for 186 yards and a touchdown as a rookie despite catching passes from Daniel Jones.
Washington’s potential versatility and ability to cover extra turf with Magee, Hampton, and Medrano would make them more equipped to deal with their talent-rich rivals. That will be especially important against the Philadelphia Eagles, who are -135 to win the division at FanDuel Sportsbook and who beat them 55-23 in the NFC Championship Game in January.
Washington is +230, which translates to a 30.3 percent implied chance.
Another benefit of having extra game-ready players would be allowing for more rest for Luvu and Wagner, giving them more juice when they’re on the field. Luvu set career-highs in sacks and pass deflections last year, and Wagner had his 13th straight season with at least 100 total tackles, both despite being asked to take very few plays off.
Mike Sainristil, rookie Trey Amos, and others have important roles to play, but hitting on late-round draft picks is what separates elite front offices from the pack, and Washington’s braintrust clearly has a “type.” This is the year to show that they’re ready to break out of their comfort zone and commit to a long-term relationship with immense upside.
