Who are the Washington Commanders’ leaders in 2022?

“Leadership – that’s all overrated.” It’s one of the most infamous quotes in Washington Commanders history – said by Jeff George a couple weeks before the starting quarterback was unceremoniously jettisoned by head coach Marty Schottenheimer, just two weeks into the 2001 season.

Who are the leaders on the 2022 version of the Washington Commanders? Normally, the quarterback would be a de facto leader, but that is a little bit tricky for Washington this year. Carson Wentz has two things to overcome in order to emerge as a leader.

He is new to the team, and he is not Tom Brady, walking into that new team with a fistful of Super Bowl rings. Nor is he Matt Ryan or Russell Wilson, arriving at their teams with long careers of HOF-worthy accomplishments. Wentz has had some success, but he is still a relatively young QB looking to prove himself.

And maybe more importantly, Wentz does not have the personality of a natural leader. He is thoughtful and on the quiet side. Plenty of teammates have spoken highly of his character, but few have talked about him as a leader.

Chris Mortensen, writing about the George/leadership turmoil back in 2001, quoted the venerable Giants’ GM George Young: “The quarterback has to be the toughest guy on your team, mentally and physically. And the guys who play around him have to know that.”

I do not for one minute question Carson Wentz’s toughness. But is he the toughest guy on the team? That remains an open question.

Washington has a different problem on the defensive side of the ball. One of the two obvious leaders should be Chase Young, whose talent, personality, draft position, and rookie-year productivity all scream “leader.” But in order to be an effective leader, you have to be present. And Young is hurt. He will miss some time at the beginning of the season.

Who fills the void – on offense, on defense, on special teams? Here are the likely candidates:

Commanders offensive leaders for 2022

Charles Leno Jr.

There was a time when the Washington Commanders were defined by their offensive line, and even in the fallow years, O linemen were often team leaders. The most recent crop of leaders – Trent Williams, Morgan Moses, Brandon Scherff – are all gone. Chase Roullier is the longest-tenured linemen and he has a long-term contract to boot, but he has the same problem as his namesake on defense. He is coming off a serious injury and simply hasn’t been as big a presence as you would want.

The rest of the starting line features two veterans, new to the team this season, and a promising second-year player, also coming off injury.

Then there’s Leno, who has quietly established himself as a steady presence at the crucial left tackle spot. Leno is a good player – he has size and agility – but he will never be the dominant mauler that Trent Williams was. But did you notice what happened after Antonio Gibson fumbled in Carolina pre-season game? Wentz came over and patted him on the back, the way a quarterback should. But it was Leno who stayed with him, putting his arm around a clearly upset Gibson, talking him up. That defines what leaders do.

Terry McLaurin

Some guys lead through talk. There have been receivers in the NFL – Steve Smith would be the most obvious example – who have willed much larger teammates to compete harder. Terry McLaurin, in his brief career, has shown that ability. He can and does talk, but there are other guys who can talk even better. In today’s NFL, few young players rev up their teammates through their sheer quality of play as well as McLaurin.

He showed it when he ran down Jaylon Smith in 2020. He showed when he made the extraordinary twisting catch against San Diego in 2021. And he even showed last week in a pre-season game against Carolina. The Washington offense was stagnant for its first two drives. Seven plays, 18 yards, one fumble, zero points.

The first play of the third drive – a 16-yard pass to Terry. Thirteen plays later, the first long touchdown drive of 2022 is completed. Good things happens when you get Terry McLaurin the ball, and I would hope that no matter what kind of misdirection Scott Turner may be envisioning to begin games – no matter how much he may want to establish the run, or get Curtis Samuel and Jahan Dotson involved – he will never lose sight of the fact that Terry McLaurin is the best skill-position player on this team, and that he needs to be leading this offense.