The franchise now known as the Washington Commanders opened its doors for business in 1932. They were known as the Boston Braves in that first season. Through one major move south and several name changes, the football team founded by George Preston Marshall has claimed five NFL championships and been home to some of the greatest players in league history. Many of those legends announced their arrival with eye-opening rookie seasons.
Then again, some of the best rookie campaigns in franchise history were turned in by players who are mere footnotes. Flashes who, for one reason or another, never built on the promise of that first year.
Today, we count down the 25 greatest rookie seasons in Commanders’ history. Many come from players who are known to and beloved by fans both old and young. A few others may come from a more obscure pool. Regardless of whether they went on to Hall of Fame careers or largely disappeared from view after their strong beginnings, they all made a big impact and created an awful lot of good memories.
Honorable mentions
These players made big splashes early on — perhaps not enough to be included on the list — but had interesting stories.
Al DeMao, C (1945) – would almost certainly have merited a spot on the main list, but his rookie season was delayed because he wasn’t discharged from the United States Navy until after the 1945 season had begun. He played in the latter half and was excellent.
Charlie Gogolak, K (1966) – the first kicker ever chosen in the first round of the NFL Draft, and he established a franchise record for total points as a rookie.
Jim Yazoo Smith, DB (1968) -The promising defensive back’s career was cut short by a broken neck suffered at the end of his rookie season. He never played again.
Tony Green, KR (1978) - returned both a punt and a kickoff for scores and made the Pro Bowl in his rookie year.
Mike Nelms, KR (1980) - also a Pro Bowl return man as a rookie, but with a little more staying power than Green. The greatest returner in franchise history, prior to Brian Mitchell.
Now, onto the countdown…
25-20
25. Vernon Dean, CB (1982)
Washington drafted arguably the greatest player in franchise history in 1983, cornerback Darrell Green. Therefore, it is easy to forget that just one year earlier, they also drafted an excellent cornerback in San Diego State’s Vernon Dean. In his strike-shortened rookie season, Dean picked off three passes in just nine games and finished second to Cleveland’s Chip Banks for defensive rookie of the year.
He started all four games in Washington’s playoff run that resulted in the club’s first Super Bowl victory. That unit surrendered just 48 points in four playoff games, and Dean was an integral part. He has had a long coaching career since retiring, currently serving as defensive backs coach for the UFL's DC Defenders.
24. Charlie Brown, WR (1982)
After spending a season on the injured list, Brown made his debut memorable by catching a 78-yard touchdown pass in a thrilling overtime win over Philadelphia. It was his second touchdown catch in his first game. In the strike-shortened season, Brown led the league in yards per catch (the NFL counts Jim Smith, who had just 17 total receptions – I count Charlie Brown).
Brown would nearly match his deep-play prowess in year two, and would earn Pro Bowl honors in both seasons. A few years later, Gary Clark and then Ricky Sanders would arrive, and Brown would play his remaining years in Atlanta.
23. Reggie Brooks, RB (1993)
Brooks totaled fewer than 700 yards in the three seasons he played following his rookie campaign. But in that first year, he ran for more than 1,000 yards while contributing a few hundred more through pass catches. He finished third behind fellow running back Jerome Bettis in offensive rookie of the year voting.
This was the first season after Joe Gibbs’ surprising retirement, and the team struggled mightily. But Brooks, chosen in the second round out of Notre Dame, provided plenty of highlights. His nephew, Anthony Barr, has been a four-time Pro Bowl linebacker for the Minnesota Vikings.
22. John Adams, OT (1945)
The Commanders have had some of the best offensive tackles in the history of NFL. Some went on to have better careers than John Adams, but he was as good as any from Day 1. Adams was chosen out of Notre Dame in the third round of the 1945 draft. He was instantly recognizable due to his 6-foot-7 frame. It earned him the nickname “Tree.”
Adams was a force in his rookie season, playing right tackle and garnering first-team All Pro honors. He would follow that with a second All Pro selection in 1946 and would remain with the club for his entire five-year career.
21. Sean Taylor, S (2004)
Taylor was a can’t-miss prospect who was well on his way to fulfilling that potential when his life was cut tragically short in 2007. The Number 5 overall pick out of Miami made negative headlines before he ever took the field when he skipped the mandatory NFL rookie symposium before the season and was fined $25,000. He had a tense contract dispute and a poor relationship with the media.
But once he got on the field, those problems disappeared. One of the most extraordinary athletes to ever wear a Washington jersey, he was a terror. 78 tackles, four interceptions, two forced fumbles. Taylor’s adjustment to life as a professional athlete was rocky and that may have reduced his impact during his first couple of seasons. By the time he had figured it all out in Year 3, Taylor was arguably the best safety in football with Canton waiting.
20. Hugh Taylor, WR (1947)
Taylor’s lean, lanky 6-foot-4 frame earned him the nickname “Bones.” He also used his long stride and long arms to terrorize defenses on deep shots. In his rookie season, the undrafted player from Oklahoma City University averaged just under 20 yards per catch and scored six touchdowns in ten games. Those were the first six scores of the 58 he would amass for Washington, tied with Gary Clark for fourth on the club’s all-time list.
Talk about your sensational debuts… in his very first game, Hugh Taylor caught eight passes from Sammy Baugh, piling up 212 yards and finding the end zone three times. Baugh called Taylor the best pass-catching end the club ever had.
19-15
19. Russ Grimm, G (1981)
It was the greatest acquisition of talent in franchise history. An offseason that would lay the groundwork for three Lombardi Trophies in the coming decade. In the draft, GM Bobby Beathard added Mark May, Dexter Manley, Larry Kubin, Charlie Brown, Darryl Grant, and Clint Didier. He signed Joe Jacoby and Mel Kaufman as undrafted free agents. And in Round 3, he got a future Hall of Famer.
Really, Grimm is something of a stand-in for several other players like Manley and Jacoby who could be on this list. Grimm established himself first and therefore had a somewhat more successful rookie season. But they were all quite good.
This was Joe Gibbs’ first season, when he began 0-5 and was convinced he was about to be fired. Instead, he reimagined his pass-happy West Coast offense to better fit the talent he had. That meant running John Riggins behind the best line in football, anchored by Russ Grimm at left guard. Within a few years, the rest of the league would catch on, and Grimm would be chosen as an All-Pro in four straight years. But it was there from his rookie year on.
18. Brian Orakpo, LB (2009)
I’m calling Orakpo a linebacker because that’s how he was identified for most of his career. Today, he would be considered an edge rusher. He was selected out of Texas in the first round, and expectations were very high. In his rookie season, he did not disappoint.
The man with the deepest voice in the league recorded 11 sacks in his first season, a record for rookies that stands to this day. He added 13 tackles for loss and a forced fumble for good measure. For his efforts, he was chosen to the All-Rookie team and made the Pro Bowl. He would do that two more times before leaving Washington for Tennessee in 2015.
17. Steve Bagarus, RB (1945)
At 6-foot-0 and barely 170 pounds, Steve Bagarus didn’t exactly look like a football player. But according to Sammy Baugh, he was the best pass-catching running back the Hall of Famer ever threw to. Bagarus’ slight frame drove him to the Pacific Coast Professional Football League when he left Notre Dame in 1940. He wowed fans with his speed and elusiveness, often breaking big plays. And he caught the eye of the NFL as well.
In his first NFL season — five years after he finished college — Bagarus only ran for 154 yards. But he caught 34 of Baugh’s passes at an 18.1-yard-per-reception clip and scored five touchdowns in addition to his one on the ground. He also led the league in punt returns and forced a couple of fumbles on defense. His versatility and explosiveness earned him first-team All-Pro honors in his first season. He was traded to the Rams in 1947, but injuries effectively ended his career shortly thereafter.
16. Don Bosseler, RB (1957)
Bosseler led the team in rushing and in touchdowns in his rookie season. He also caught 19 passes out of the backfield, a skill he would develop in later years. Bosseler ran the way Los Angeles’ Kyren Williams and Blake Corum run today. He was undersized for a battering ram but still pounded the ball at opposing defenses with abandon. But he also had deceptive quickness and deft moves that could break bigger runs.
In his rookie season, Bosseler lined up at fullback in front of two other rookies — Jim Podoley and Ed Sutton. The infusion of youth helped revive an offense that had been struggling, and though the team didn’t have much success, Bosseler and his fellow rookies made things exciting. He played his entire eight-year career in Washington. When he retired, he held the club record for most rushing yards.
15. Lou Rymkus, T (1943)
Rymkus made a big splash with Washington in 1943, starting nine games and returning both an interception and a blocked punt for touchdowns. He helped anchor a line that ran over opponents on the way to the NFL championship game, which Washington lost to the Chicago Bears.
Rymkus’ time in Washington came to an abrupt end. A couple years of service in World War II kept him out of football until 1946. When he returned, the Cleveland Browns of the upstart AAFC offered him twice what George Preston Marshall was paying, so Rymkus joined the Browns, where he was an All-Pro and league champion for four consecutive years in the late 1940s.
14-10
14. Chase Young, DE (2020)
Things didn’t work out long-term for the No. 2 overall pick in the 2020 draft with Washington, but in that first year, Chase Young looked like a surefire superstar. His numbers were very solid — 7.5 sacks, four forced fumbles and three recoveries, 10 tackles for loss. He did all that despite a relatively slow start.
Young got stronger and stronger as the season progressed, highlighted by a game in mid-December against San Francisco in which the rookie simply took over. Six tackles, two pass breakups, and scoop and score that gave Washington a much-needed win during a push to the playoffs. For his efforts, Young was an overwhelming choice for defensive rookie of the year.
13. Larry Brown, RB (1969)
Larry Brown was never supposed to be Washington’s bell cow. They had chosen the physically imposing Ray McDonald in the first round of the 1967 draft. 6-foot-4, 248 pounds, with blazing speed, McDonald was supposed to revive the club’s anemic rushing attack. Brown, in comparison, was skinny and slow, and an eighth-round afterthought. 5-foot-11, 195 pounds. But it was all timing and vision and heart.
Brown also had a coach in Vince Lombardi who didn’t care how a player looked in gym shorts. He cared about how he performed. To say Larry Brown revived Washington’s rushing attack in 1969 is a massive understatement.
His 888 yards was the second most in team history at the time. Washington had not had a runner even break the 500-yard threshold in five years. Brown amassed over 1,100 total scrimmage yards as a rookie and tied for second in offensive rookie of the year voting. And he would get better and better over the next few seasons.
12. Champ Bailey, CB (1999)
A complicated series of trades put Washington in position to get a future Hall of Famer with the No. 7 pick in the 1999 draft. Bailey began paying dividends immediately. He was a Day 1 starter, picking off five passes as a rookie and returning one for a touchdown. He recorded 80 tackles and forced a couple of fumbles as well. He intercepted another pass in Washington’s playoff win over Detroit.
Jevon Kearse — AKA “The Freak” — would be a near-unanimous choice for defensive rookie of the year after amassing 14.5 sacks. Bailey stole one vote and finished second. But Bailey was just getting started.
Seven All-Pro seasons and 12 Pro Bowls later, he was considered one of the greatest cornerbacks of all time and coasted into the Hall of Fame. Unfortunately for Washington, he spent most of his career in Denver after being traded in 2004 as part of the deal that brought Clinton Portis to town.
11. Chris Samuels, OT (2000)
As part of a franchise that has had iconic left tackles from Turk Edwards to Joe Jacoby to Trent Williams, Samuels is something of a forgotten man. The No. 3 overall pick in the 2000 draft was even overlooked in favor of Lavar Arrington, who Washington chose with the second pick.
Arrington was the flashy player. Samuels was simply as steady as they come.
He started every game as a rookie. In fact, over 10 years with Washington, he started all 141 games in which he appeared. He would make the Pro Bowl in his second and third seasons, but he was just as good in his rookie year. Learning under the tutelage of Russ Grimm and later from Joe Bugel, Samuels continued improving. But it was all on display in his rookie season.
10. Mike Thomas, RB (1975)
Mike Thomas had a tough job on his hands. He replaced Larry Brown, one of the most-beloved running backs in franchise history. Thomas exploded out of the gate with 919 yards on the ground and another 483 on 40 pass catches, making him one of the most dangerous two-way threats Washington ever had.
He was named offensive rookie of the year and made his first and only Pro Bowl in Year 2 of his career. One thing you may notice on this list is that Thomas is the only player who began his career between 1971 and 1977. There’s a reason for that. Those were the George Allen years, and George Allen — architect of the Over-the-Hill Gang — didn’t trust rookies. With the exception of Mike Thomas.
9-5
9. Art Monk, WR (1980)
Franchise legend Charley Taylor’s last healthy season come in 1975. He caught 53 balls and scored six touchdowns. For the rest of the decade, no Washington wide receiver caught more than 50 passes in a year. The top wide receivers in 1977 and 1978 — Frank Grant and Danny Buggs, respectively — caught 34 and 36 passes. Neither gained more than 600 yards.
Art Monk, Washington’s top draft pick in 1980, began to change that.
In his first season, Monk led the team with 58 catches for 797 yards. He established a new record for most receiving first downs, though admittedly that had only recently become an official statistic. Monk was the first first-round draft pick Washington had since 1968. As previously stated, George Allen did not believe in rookies and traded away a decade’s worth of picks to load up on veterans. There was tremendous pressure that they get this pick right. They did.
In many ways, the dash toward glory in the 1980s begins with the drafting of Art Monk.
8. Alfred Morris, RB (2012)
Big things were expected of Art Monk. Alfred Morris, on the other hand, was largely an afterthought. Drafted in the sixth round out of Florida Atlantic — between a couple of journeyman offensive linemen — Morris went on to have the greatest season any rookie running back has ever produced for Washington.
He ran for more than 1,600 yards, scored 13 touchdowns, and picked up 86 first downs. He finished second in the league to Adrian Peterson in yards and first downs, and second to Arian Foster in touchdowns. For his efforts, he was awarded second-team All-Pro honors behind Peterson and Marshawn Lynch. 2012 was the year of the rookie quarterback, so Morris did not receive any votes for offensive rookie of the year. They all went to Russell Wilson, Andrew Luck, and the eventual winner, whose name you may be seeing soon.
7. Darrell Green, CB (1983)
Darrell Green announced his arrival in Washington with a play that lives on in franchise lore. Monday night, September 5, 1983. The opponent was the hated Dallas Cowboys, and at the end of the first quarter, their superstar running back Tony Dorsett broke a run around the right side of the defense with no one in front of him. He was 83 yards from the end zone. He came up six yards short.
Green chased him down. Dallas seemed so stunned, they couldn’t manage to get in the end zone on the next three plays and had to settle for a short field goal. The Darrell Green era — which would last for the next 20 years — had begun. Oh yeah, during the rest of his rookie season, Green started every game, picked off a couple of passes and was credited with more than 100 tackles. He finished second to Vernon Maxwell in defensive rookie of the year voting.
If you’re having trouble recalling Vernon Maxwell, you’re not alone. He had a couple of solid years and was out of the NFL by 1989. Darrell Green had 34 interceptions after Maxwell retired.
6. Cliff Battles, RB (1932)
Cliff Battles predates the NFL draft. He predates the franchise’s move to Washington. When the West Virginia Wesleyan star joined the NFL, he played for a team known as the Boston Braves. In his first season, he led the NFL in rushing, total touches, and yards from scrimmage. He was among the fastest and most exciting backs in the early days of the league.
Battles was not an All-Pro in that first season. Positions in the backfield were not quite as defined as they would become a decade later. Tailbacks like Battles often passed the ball like a quarterback. Battles didn’t do that.
He was simply the best runner in the league. He would be an All-Pro in four of his remaining five seasons. In his final year, 1937, he again led the league in rushing. He also went out as a champion. His team, playing its first season in Washington, D.C., claimed its first NFL title.
5. Paul Krause, S (1964)
Paul Krause was chosen in the second round of the 1964 draft and he kicked off his Hall of Fame career by leading the league in interceptions and being chosen as a first-team All-Pro. The tall, rangy Iowa grad was a classic deep safety. He had the speed to cover vast areas of turf and the instincts to know where the ball was going to be.
Krause repeated his All Pro honors in his second season, but was inexplicably traded away to Minnesota after his fourth year in one of the worst deals in franchise history.
At least the Champ Bailey trade resulted in Clinton Portis. With Krause, the team received Marlon McKeever. Look him up.
Krause remains the NFL’s all-time leader interceptions, and he never had more than in his rookie year. Despite playing just four years in Washington, Krause still ranks sixth on the club’s all-time interception list.
4-1
4. Robert Griffin III, QB (2012)
The player who really kept Alfred Morris from getting any votes in the 2012 offensive rookie of the year balloting was his own teammate, Robert Griffin III. The dynamic quarterback had one of the greatest years any rookie quarterback has ever had, leading his team to the playoffs for the first time since 2007.
His numbers were staggering.
Completing two-thirds of his passes, he tossed 20 touchdowns against just five interceptions. His 8.1 yards per attempt led the NFL. And passing was only part of his repertoire. Griffin was a devastating runner, going for over 800 yards and scoring seven more touchdowns. He finished third in the league in passer rating behind Aaron Rodgers and Peyton Manning. He finished 20th in the league in rushing. Cam Newton was the only quarterback to finish within 300 yards of his rushing total.
Griffin did all that as a rookie and then never repeated it. Had he not been injured — or had his injury been managed more professionally — who knows what Griffin’s career would look like today.
3. Sammy Baugh, QB (1937)
I am calling Baugh a quarterback because that is what he would eventually be known as. Arguably the first great modern quarterback in NFL history. But in his rookie year, he was technically considered a tailback in the single-wing formation that dominated the league’s early years.
Whatever you call him, Baugh was a sensation from the start.
He led the league in completions and passing yards as a rookie. Baugh threw for 1,127 yards in his rookie season. The next closest total was under 850. He also ran for 240 yards, 24th best in the league. He was chosen as a first-team All-Pro. And best of all, he led his club, newly settled in Washington, to its first NFL championship.
It was the beginning of a 16-year career in Washington, which saw Baugh smash all passing records. In time, he would also develop into an exceptional defensive back and one of the best punters in the history of the league. That is why he is often considered among the greatest all-around players in NFL history. As a rookie, he mostly just threw the ball better than anyone ever had.
2. Charley Taylor, WR (1964)
As great as he was, Paul Krause was not the best rookie playing for Washington in 1964. That honor went to Charley Taylor, the club’s first-round draft pick out of Arizona State.
In the same way that Sammy Baugh began as a tailback before evolving into a modern quarterback, Taylor began as a running back. But his speed, his length, and his exceptional receiving skills forced a change to wide receiver a few years into his career.
As a rookie, all he did was catch 53 passes for 814 yards, while running for another 755 yards. He scored 10 touchdowns. That made him fifth in rushing and 10th in receiving for the season. He tied for second behind the iconic Jim Brown in total scrimmage yards, and tied for fourth in total touchdowns. Taylor would go on to become one of the greatest receivers in league history.
1. Jayden Daniels, QB (2024)
Is there a recency bias at play here? I thought about that for a long time. As I write this, Jayden Daniels has just suffered a serious elbow injury for the second straight season, and nightmare visions of Robert Griffin III fill the heads of every Commanders’ fan.
But even allowing for statistical inflation in the NFL’s most pass-happy era, what Jayden Daniels accomplished in 2024 ranks with the greatest seasons ever produced by a rookie.
Any team, any position.
He completed almost 70 percent of his throws for over 3,500 yards and 25 touchdowns. He threw just nine interceptions. As a runner, he gained 891 yards and scored six touchdowns. He rushed for 64 first downs, consistently extending drives. Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson were the only other quarterbacks to run for more than 50 first downs. Daniels broke rookie records at every turn and took a team that had finished 4-13 the previous year all the way to the NFL championship game.
Just a few years later, that seems in the distant past. But it bears remembering that Jayden Daniels was the best rookie the NFL not too long ago, and all Commanders fans are waiting for the day when he is health and playing at that 2024 level again.
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