Dan Quinn may have hinted at the fate of young player’s future that could be trending in the wrong direction for Commanders
The writing could be on the wall for a recent draft pick on defense.
The Washington Commanders’ season has been a disappointment with a 3-8 record heading into the bye week.
Injuries and the defense have deflated all the excitement from last season, especially with no Jayden Daniels and Terry McLaurin for the majority of the season. The defense has been the one frustrating factor the team can actually control; veterans have played worse than last year, and multiple younger players have regressed.
The defense looked improved against the Miami Dolphins, but Dan Quinn addressed how one young player got much less playing time on Sunday, and it doesn’t bode well for his future.
Quan Martin’s snap count dropped drastically against the Dolphins
Quan Martin was one of the younger players to be excited about heading into the season, and he looked good in preseason, but it’s been a disappointing season for the third-year safety.
He’s been the starting free safety in a struggling secondary, and his future might be coming to an end after what we saw on Sunday. Martin played a season-low 37 snaps on defense, and he wasn’t even injured. For context, Martin has averaged 61 snaps a game and just played 70 against the Detroit Lions in that blowout loss.
Quinn briefly mentioned Martin playing less on Sunday, and it sounds like they just wanted a change on defense.
“Just a change in personnel, yep,” Quinn said. “It was just some corrections that had to be made, and so, came back to play in it, but yeah, we just wanted to make some corrections to get it right.”
Quan Martin has struggled all season
It’s been a step back for Martin this year, and the struggles have been obvious, especially the missed tackles. Martin had 13 missed tackles all of last season, but he already has 14 through 11 games with six more to go. His coverage hasn’t been any better either, and he’s allowed 20 catches for 400 yards after allowing only 12 catches for 249 yards last season.
When Martin came out of the game on Sunday, it was the safety duo of Jeremy Reaves and Darnell Savage taking over. Savage actually ended up being the fourth-highest graded player for the Commanders on Sunday.
Losing Will Harris in Week 3 was a massive loss for the defense, and he might be back soon, but Martin’s play hasn’t helped fill in the secondary at all. It wouldn’t surprise me if Quinn rolls with Savage and Harris when he comes back, while rotating in Reaves. Savage is only 28 and was a late addition to the roster in September.
The Commanders’ defense needs an overhaul this offseason with a new defensive coordinator coming in, so Quinn needs to see what he has on the roster, and Martin’s time could be coming to an end.
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