Can the Commanders catch lightning in a bottle with Armani Rogers?

Logan Thomas, Brian Mitchell, Antwaan Randle El. Yes, all three are former or current Washington Commanders players, but what else do they have in common? If you guessed they all played quarterback in college before switching positions in the NFL, you’d be correct.

Drafted as a quarterback by the Cardinals, we’ve covered Thomas’ journey in depth on this blog, After short, largely unsuccessful stint with Arizona, Thomas bounced around multiple practice squads before he landed in Buffalo and got some chances at tight end.

With only eight starts over three years, Thomas didn’t really make a name in the league until he had a career year for Washington in 2020 at 29 years old and was seen as a top 10 tight end in the league. Julian Edelman converted from quarterback to receiver and had a largely unremarkable career until he hit his age-27 season.

It takes time to learn a brand new position and get traction in the league, but it is definitely possible and the Commanders are trying to catch lightning in a bottle again with Armani Rogers, who got a guaranteed $67,500 when he signed with the team as an undrafted free agent.

The athleticism is clearly there for Rogers, who set the record for the longest rushing touchdown by a quarterback in NCAA history.

Will Armani Rogers be able to serve as a Logan Thomas-lite and help the Commanders this season?

Or, will he go the way of Tyrone Swoopes, who was a former quarterback-turned-tight-end that flamed out with Washington last year, getting cut after not making it to training camp?

So far, Rogers has done the right things in practice, making the most of his opportunities with Washington dealing with multiple injuries at tight end, with Thomas out, and John Bates, Cole Turner, and Sammis Reyes all missing time during training camp.

During the FedEx field practice, Rogers showed flashes and followed it up with two acrobatic catches in Monday’s practice and a touchdown reception on Tuesday.

Yes, it’s just training camp. Yes, we haven’t even seen the team take part in a preseason game yet. But, when you see a player making the most of his opportunities, especially at a position of need given all the injuries, it should make every Washington fan pay a little bit more attention.

Rogers’ measurables are fairly similar to Thomas’ as he stands at 6-foot-5 and 226 pounds compared to Thomas’ 6-foot-6 and 248 pounds. At his Pro Day, Rogers’ 40-time was a hair faster than Thomas’ (4.56 vs. 4.61) and their verticals were comparable (34 inches vs. 35.5 inches).

Ironically enough, the quarterback scouting reports of both Rogers and Thomas also share quite a bit of similarity. Both had good zip and velocity as quarterbacks and were seen as being athletic, but struggled with sailing throws, lacking pocket awareness and throwing off their back foot.

Rogers can utilize Thomas as a mentor and see if he can find a place on Washington’s roster. It will be an uphill battle though as he is currently the sixth tight end on the unofficial depth chart.

Coach Rivera has been complementary towards Rogers stating he is making the most of his opportunities.

"Just a guy that’s taking advantage of his opportunity more so than anything else. You get a chance and you’re gonna run with the twos or the ones, you got to be ready to roll, and that’s what the young guys have to do, and he’s done a nice job."

However, he did also acknowledge there is a long way to go for the new tight end.

"[He’s] still making mistakes. He’s, been off on a couple of his formations, couple of his alignments, a couple of his routes. He’s got to learn how to run his routes a little bit better, you know, even though he’s made a couple of big plays, they could have been even better, [by] just understanding how you run those routes."

Can Rogers sneak onto the practice squad or force his way onto the active roster? Only time will tell, but for right now Commanders’ fans have an underdog to root for.