‘4 Downs’ with Rich: the Commanders’ Biggest Questions Heading into the 2026 NFL Season

Rich pulled a crumpled piece of paper off the desk that he had assumed was garbage, and it turned out to be four legitimate questions about the Washington Commanders. The set immediately accused him of writing a metaphor for their season. He insisted otherwise.

First down: how good can Sonny Styles be right away?

Not eventually. Right away. Rich pointed out that Washington's roster last year was filled with a ton of veterans, an older group they have been actively working to refresh. Bobby Wagner is the shorthand for that. So the rookie is not a luxury pick, he is a need.

"They could use him to be defensive rookie of the year great right from jump," Rich said, and noted that putting him in the hands of Dan Quinn is very helpful in that regard.

Second down: who are the playmakers on offense?

Terry McLaurin is the answer, and Rich made a point of saying he is not supposed to like the guy but does anyway. After that the depth chart gets thin fast. Rachaad White arrives from Tampa to headline the running back room. Bill Croskey-Merritt is in there too, a name Rich enjoyed so much he built a bit around it, imagining a running back who hands you a business card at the Elks Lodge.

Everyone had penciled, if not Sharpied, Brandon Aiyuk into this offense. That does not appear to be happening.

Treylon Burks is on the roster, and Rich flagged the long-running what-if attached to him. Burks had the height, weight and speed comp to A.J. Brown, which is why the Titans drafted him after trading Brown into this very division, where Brown no longer resides.

The fantasy test Rich applied cuts to it. How many guys are you taking early from this team? Maybe the quarterback. Maybe not even him.

Third down: what do the new coordinators actually look like?

Washington has two of them, one on offense and one on defense. Rich's question is not whether the hires are good but how they manifest. New voices on both sides, an offense still searching for its playmaker, and a defense trying to figure out what it has.

Fourth down, and the one everything else hangs on. Which year does year three look like for Jayden Daniels?

"Year one, is he the revelation at the position that we saw in his rookie season," Rich asked, "or is he a guy who is slight of body who will get knocked around, who will take unnecessary shots potentially and then doesn't answer the bell because he's hurt?"

Rich was careful to note that would be no fault of Daniels's own. But if Daniels is the man, the entire playmaker question gets a lot less interesting, and a lot less stupid.

The down Rich chose not to make a down is Quinn's own future viability, which everything above feeds into. He did like the defensive additions, naming Leo Chenal from the Chiefs and calling Mike Sainristil a dynamite back-end guy and a leader, while admitting bias on the last one.

The framing question underneath all four: can Washington put together enough wins to get back in the mix, or was the first season together for Daniels and Quinn a rocket ship they cannot rebuild?

Asked whether he had missed anything, the set said no and landed in the same place Rich did.

"I think it all kind of hinges on the quarterback and who can make some plays for him," came the answer. "Can Terry McLaurin get back to that guy from a couple years ago? I mean, last year just got so derailed."