3 major storylines to watch at Commanders training camp
By Jerry Trotta
The Washington Commanders‘ 2022 training camp is right around the corner and fans can hardly contain their excitement. While there’s still a long wait until the team’s first game action of the offseason, fans are itching for Terry McLaurin, Jonathan Allen and Co. to take to the field for the first time in over a month.
Players should be well-rested after summer vacation, though some of the team’s offensive starters have been hard at work during their off time, as McLaurin, Jahan Dotson and others joined Carson Wentz in California for a recent workout.
Coming off another seven-win season, the pressure is on Ron Rivera to deliver a winning record this campaign. Getting off to a good start at training camp will go a long way towards improving Washington’s confidence and here are three major storylines we’ll be watching once camp gets underway on July 27.
3 major storylines to watch at Commanders minicamp
3. How Does the Secondary Look?
The Commanders did very little to address a secondary that performed like the league’s worst for most of the 2021 season. In fact, all they did was re-sign Danny Johnson, draft defensive backs Percy Butler and Christian Holmes in the fourth and seventh round, respectively, and add a couple undrafted free agents.
The lack of incentive to make upgrades proves Washington’s banking on continuity to fuel the group’s (expected) resurgence. Though a gamble, the secondary did perform better as the season wore on, seemingly hinting they needed to work through the growing pains of learning to play together.
While Kendall Fuller, Kam Curl and Landon Collins returned as starters, William Jackson and Bobby McCain arrived in free agency and both went on to start 16 games and play 93% of the snaps. That’s not insignificant, and Jackson had to adjust to playing in a zone after excelling in press man coverage with the Bengals.
Of course, the lack of continuity excuse is now out the window. The secondary needs to perform better if the Commanders have any chance of making the playoffs and it didn’t exactly look like a fine-tuned machine during spring practices.
Hopefully the group comes together and shows its potential at camp.