On his way to a second-team All-Pro selection last season, Frankie Luvu lined up at a traditional off-ball linebacker spot on 65 percent of the Washington Commanders' defensive snaps. When he wasn’t in the box, the eighth-year star was usually on the line, at an edge position outside the offensive tackle.
The Commanders’ defense changed in 2025. Adam Peters chose not to re-sign the club’s leading pass rusher, Dante Fowler Jr., bringing free agents Jacob Martin, Von Miller, and eventually Preston Smith to help fill that void.
Then, in short order, the Commanders lost their top three defensive ends — Dorance Armstrong Jr., Deatrich Wise Jr., and Javontae Jean-Baptiste — to long-term injuries.
At some point, the decision was made to help fill the gaps created by all this roster turmoil by redeploying Luvu as more of an edge rusher than off-ball linebacker. That decision has been ruinous.
Commanders need to rediscover the Frankie Luvu of 2024
It’s difficult to know how things might have turned out if not for Washington's injury issues.
Even before the players went down, there were indications that Dan Quinn and Joe Whitt Jr. would experiment with the Washington State product at edge rusher. Early versions of their NASCAR pass rush package had Armstrong shifting inside next to Daron Payne, with Luvu and Miller rushing from the outside.
When injuries struck, it seemed to cement Luvu’s new role.
Before Armstrong’s season-ender in Week 7, Luvu had averaged 42 snaps per game at his traditional linebacker spot. Out of those first six games, the only one in which he took fewer than 40 snaps in the box was the Week 5 match-up against the Los Angeles Chargers.
The Commanders’ first game without their star defensive end came in Week 8 against the Kansas City Chiefs. That game, during which Luvu played a season-low 11 snaps in the box and a season-high 48 snaps on the edge, was a trainwreck.
Washington seemed helpless against Patrick Mahomes and company, giving up 432 yards and losing 28-7. It almost certainly would have been worse had the Chiefs not committed nine penalties and turned the ball over twice.
That was also one of Luvu’s worst games of the year. According to Pro Football Focus, it was one of four games in which he graded below 50, indicating abysmal performance. He recorded just two tackles in the game and was beaten for a significant gain the only time he was targeted in coverage.
In subsequent games, Quinn and Whitt tried to strike a better balance between his snaps at linebacker and on the edge. But he still ended up playing on the edge far more than he did in 2024. His play, particularly his tackling, suffered.
Last year, Luvu showed how good a downhill, attacking linebacker he can be. Paired with Bobby Wagner, he was able to diagnose plays and blow up backs between the tackles or in the flat. When he did blitz, it came as a greater surprise, and he was generally very effective.
This year, he has seemed lost at times. He is running himself out of plays, often overpursuing. He is rushing the quarterback on more plays, but his sack total has plummeted from eight to three. His quarterback pressures and tackles for loss have taken similar dips.
Most distressingly, his missed tackle rate has skyrocketed. During his All-Pro season, he boasted an excellent rate of 5.7, his lowest number since becoming a starter. This year, it has ballooned to 15.2%, ninth-worst among all starting linebackers.
Luvu was one of Peters’ first free agent signings when he assumed the role of general manager early in 2024. Peters was attempting to rebuild a competitive defense on the fly. He was one of three young veterans to whom the front-office leader gave three-year deals worth around $10 million per season. The others, Armstrong and center Tyler Biadasz, were seen as cornerstone players.
Armstrong has been hurt, while Biadasz has been up and down throughout the year. Luvu, asked to take on new responsibilities, has often seemed downright lost.
One of the most essential jobs for next year’s defensive staff will be to figure out how to reignite Luvu. Moving him back to an off-ball linebacker would be a good place to start.