ESPN points out glaringly obvious issue with the Washington Commanders, but it’s nothing Jayden Daniels can’t fix himself
The Commanders have plenty of questions at the skill positions on offense, but Jayden Daniels can help provide answers as long as he’s healthy.
The Washington Commanders offense is a unit in transition, which is something Jayden Daniels and several others are used to, already.
I mean, guys like Daniels, Terry McLaurin, and various Commanders players went through this back in 2024 when Kliff Kingsbury was at the helm. Everyone had to learn a new offense and that’s what’s currently happening under David Blough.
The effectiveness of Blough’s offense and how quickly it’s picked up are easily two of the biggest questions surrounding the Commanders in 2026. On top of that, there are plenty of personnel questions and ESPN’s Bill Barnwell recently identified the holes. As a result, he ranked the Commanders’ offensive position group 27th out of the possible 32 NFL skill groups.
For context sake, Barnwell had the Commanders ranked 13th heading into last year and 26th in 2024.
The Commanders naturally hope that McLaurin will be back to his usual self with a full season alongside Daniels in 2026, but he’s also turning 31 in September. There’s a wider range of outcomes for McLaurin this upcoming season than his résumé might suggest.
And if McLaurin is not a legitimate No. 1 wide receiver, well, there isn’t a lot to get excited about elsewhere. … The Commanders might be more of a 12- or 13-personnel team in 2026, but Chig Okonkwo didn’t show sustained receiving ability across multiple schemes or with different quarterbacks in Tennessee, and 2024 second-rounder Ben Sinnott has 16 catches across 33 pro games so far.
bill barnwell
ESPN
Jayden Daniels can help mitigate any questions surrounding the Commanders’ skill group
Everything Barnwell said is legit and he didn’t even mention the running backs, which are void of a clear-cut No. 1 guy there, also. The Commanders are fine with a running back by committee approach, but the point still stands: Who can they count on to get the necessary yards when it matters most?
Regardless, Daniels can help offset all the question surrounding these guys. He’s already shown he can do just that in 2024 when he didn’t have any valid playmakers outside McLaurin. I mean, Daniels is the reason Dyami Brown inked a one-year, $10 million deal with the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2025 free agency – he elevated his game that much.
That aspect also helps chill Barnwell’s take on Okonkwo a bit, too. Yes, the soon-to-be fifth-year tight end mostly underperformed in Tennessee, but he didn’t have anywhere close to the caliber of quarterback Daniels represents.
Okonkwo’s quarterbacks were the ghost of Ryan Tannehill, a rookie Malik Willis, journeyman astronaut Joshua Dobbs, mayonnaise aficionado Will Levis, whatever you want to call Mason Rudolph, and then a rookie Cam Ward.
Daniels obviously represents a massive upgrade over those guys and he’ll keep the Commanders offense afloat as long as he’s healthy. You don’t want to make this a yearly tradition, however, so the Commanders do need to find more answers at some point.
It still doesn’t take away from the fact the Commanders need more firepower on offense
And I don’t think Brandon Aiyuk is the answer (Stefon Diggs could very well be, though).
This is something the team will have to prioritize in 2027, sans any kind of unexpected breakout from names like Treylon Burks, Ben Sinnott, Luke McCaffrey, etc. McLaurin is only getting older each year and he can’t be expected to remain a top-tier playmaker for too much longer.
The good news is the Commanders will have the salary cap space and draft picks to do just that. But until then, they’ll have to make do with what they have.