Commanders fan favorite makes PFF’s All-Pro Team

The Washington Commanders have no shortage of candidates for the Pro Bowl. Between Jonathan Allen, Terry McLaurin, Daron Payne and Montez Sweat, you could argue all four players are deserving. We’d also be remiss if we didn’t acknowledge Kam Curl as one of the game’s top-performing safeties.

While Pro Football Focus’ player grades reflect that, Curl continues to be grossly underrated by the general media, and is thereby a long shot to get voted in.

As of the latest voting update (Dec. 7), McLaurin has the best chance of making the Pro Bowl, as he’s generated the third-most votes among NFC wideouts. Allen and Payne, however, face an uphill climb to make it as the conference’s premier defensive tackles, ranking fourth and fifth at the position, respectively.

In a perfect world, all three players would make an All-Pro team, too. McLaurin likely needs a scalding hot finish to warrant consideration, but can you name two defensive tackles who’ve been more consistent in 2022 than Allen?

With three quarters of the season complete, PFF predicted this year’s All-Pro team. Sadly, McLaurin and Allen were snubbed, and four Eagles, including AJ Brown (rolls eyes), made the cut, but it wasn’t a complete loss for Washington.

Near the bottom of the article, PFF listed Jeremy Reaves as the leading candidate among special teams gunners!

Commanders fan favorite Jeremy Reaves named an All-Pro by PFF.

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While surprising given the lack of recognition Washington players summon in terms of end-of-season accolades, Reaves’ spot is fully-deserved.

Go back and think about how many times Reaves has made a show-stopping tackle on special teams. His snaps at safety have been few and far between with Curl and Darrick Forrest forming an exciting young duo, but Reaves has been a special teams ace from jump street this season.

Per PFF’s Sam Monson, Reaves has logged more special teams snaps than any other player in the league, and STILL has the highest special teams grade (91.0). He features in all five phases — kick return, kickoff coverage, punt return, punt coverage and field goals — and has 15 tackles to show for it; two more than the next-closest player.

Despite the abnormally large volume (305) snaps, Reaves has just one missed tackle on his resume. Incredibly, Reaves has missed just four special teams tackles over four years (701 snaps) with Washington. Think about how impressive it is to come flying in full-speed and have what is essentially a blemish-less tackling record.

Just par for the course with Reaves, who fought tooth and nail during OTAs, training camp and preseason to earn a spot on the 53-man roster. For a player who’s been released a handful of times, and bounced around the practice squad, it’s awesome to see Reaves’ weekly contributions get proper praise.

Hopefully, this prediction manifests itself at season’s end. What a tremendous story that would be given how hard Reaves fought to get to this point.

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