The Washington Commanders era might just be starting, but this season has further proved there’s never a dull moment with this franchise on the field. The latest commotion surrounds linebacker Jamin Davis, who’s bizarrely become the scapegoat for the team’s defensive struggles through two games.
Jack Del Rio and Ron Rivera have both criticized Davis to the media. While neither the defensive coordinator nor head coach brought Davis up out of the blue (they were both asked about his play), fans didn’t take kindly to the fact they berated his performance while letting all of the other underachievers off the hook.
Nothing about publicly criticizing Davis makes sense. At the start of the season, where did he rank in terms of player importance on defense? You could probably rattle off seven or eight players before you get to last year’s first-round pick.
And some of them have performed just as bad, if not worse, than Davis. To put the absurdity of Del Rio’s and Ron Rivera’s comments into proper context, let’s highlight players who are more worthy of being scolded than Davis.
4 Commanders defenders worthy of criticism more than Jamin Davis
4. Kendall Fuller
We take PFF’s grading system with a grain of salt, but Fuller’s 42.7 coverage grade ranks 102nd of 111 qualified cornerbacks through two games. A chunk of that can be attributed to his woeful Week 1, when he produced a 31.9 grade after allowing 74 yards, culminating in a 49-yard reception to Christian Kirk.
Fuller was better in Week 2, but he was far from perfect. He got lucky DJ Chark dropped a long touchdown, though he made a great recovery to get himself back in position, and applied maddeningly soft coverage against Josh Reynolds on the final play of the first quarter. The Lions went on to kick a field goal after play resumed.
Fuller allowed a touchdown later in the game and has looked markedly more vulnerable in coverage this year relative to last season.
3. Bobby McCain
To say McCain misses Kam Curl’s steadying presence would be an understatement. Luckily, Curl could return Sunday against the Eagles. Through two games, though McCain’s 45.5 player grade from PFF trails only Fuller for the lowest on the defense. That speaks volumes given he’s only been targeted twice in coverage.
McCain was re-signed with the hope that he’d piggyback off his strong finish to last season. Objectively speaking, McCain was one of the Commanders’ best defenders in the second half of the schedule and his ability to cover both safety positions and defend the slot makes him incredibly valuable.
But his 2022 is off to a dreadful start, and it starts with the fundamental aspect of tackling. No play encapsulated McCain’s struggles more than his whiff on D’Andrew Swift’s catch-and-fall touchdown. McCain came flying in and Swift, just getting his balance back after the tumble, juked him out of his cleats before waltzing to the end zone.
Just inexcusable.
2. Cole Holcomb
It’s absolutely dumfounding that Holcomb, Davis’ partner in crime at linebacker, hasn’t been mentioned by the coaching staff for his poor play. We implore any Commanders fan to go back and watch the Week 2 loss to the Lions.
From getting pancaked against the run on two occasions — including D’Andre Swift’s 50-yard run in the first quarter — filling the wrong gaps against the run, and showing a shocking lack of awareness in coverage, Holcomb was a net negative against Detroit. And he didn’t set the world ablaze in Week 1 by any means.
Fans feared regression could be in store for Holcomb after his breakout 2021. It was even speculated that he could be next in line for a contract extension. Right now, though, he’s playing himself out of receiving a second contract.
1. William Jackson III
We take zero pleasure in continuing to shed light on Jackson’s poor performance, but what else are we going to do? Lie and pretend like he’s playing well?
Through two games, Jackson has allowed nine catches on 10 targets for 137 yards, which averages out to 15.2 yards per catch. According to PFF, he’s allowed 48 yards after the catch, which emphasizes how soft his coverage has been, and the touchdown he gave up to Amon-Ra St. Brown on Sunday wasn’t pretty.
And finally, Jackson is surrendering a 152.1 passer rating when targeted. Remember, the Commanders have played Trevor Lawrence and Jared Goff. Not like we’re talking about Patrick Mahomes or Justin Herbert. Far from it.
Why hasn’t Jackson’s play been criticized? Wish we had an answer.