3 most important players on the Commanders roster who are not starters

1. JD McKissic

The No. 1 spot simply had to go to McKissic. A surefire way to determine a player’s value is watching how his/her team performs without them. To say Washington’s offense stalled out after McKissic’s neck injury against the Seahawks in Week 12 of last season would be an understatement.

In six games without McKissic, the offense averaged 17.6 points. That’s not to say the offense was scoring points at will with him in the lineup, but his presence was sorely missed as he posted 43 catches for 397 yards and two scores before the injury, adding 212 yards and four scores on 4.4 yards per attempt as a ball-carrier.

Despite missing six games, McKissic’s 43 catches ranked in the top 15 at the running back position and his 123 catches since he joined Washington in 2020 rank third at the position behind stars Alvin Kamara (130) and Austin Ekeler (124).

You could make the argument McKissic is one of the most valuable non-starts in the entire NFL, let alone on Washington. Despite the arrival of Brian Robinson Jr., the 28-year-old should maintain his familiar role as the third-down back behind Antonio Gibson. Tough to put into words how huge it is that he got re-signed.