The Washington Commanders will open the season at home against the New York Giants as they seek to build on last year's shocking run to the NFC Championship game.
Washington's official Week 1 depth chart was released before preparations ramped up. Unsurprisingly, it came with a few surprises.
Notably, seventh-round rookie running back Jacory Croskey-Merritt, who has been the darling of the offseason, is listed fourth on the depth chart when he was expected to be splitting lead back duties with veteran Austin Ekeler following Brian Robinson Jr.'s trade to the San Francisco 49ers.
Commanders could adopt a committee approach at right guard without Sam Cosmi
Another thing that stood out to fans is the Commanders' approach at right guard. Nick Allegretti is listed as the starter, but in his backup role, the chart reads "or Andrew Wylie."
Obviously, neither Allegretti nor Wylie is Washington's starting right guard on a fully healthy roster. That would be Sam Cosmi, who tore his ACL during the Commanders' upset divisional round playoff win over the Detroit Lions. The 2021 second-round pick is expected to return at some point during the season, but he'll miss the first four games at least.
In the meantime, the Commanders have done some shuffling. Allegretti has moved over from left guard to the other side of the line. Brandon Coleman, who played left tackle as a rookie last year, takes over for him after the Commanders traded for Laremy Tunsil.
Wylie, the team's right tackle in 2024, is also now listed as a guard after the emergence of first-round pick Josh Conerly Jr., where he'll compete with his former Kansas City Chiefs teammate for a starting role. It sounds like the competition is still ongoing.
It's unclear what Washington's plan is for Allegretti and Wylie. Have the Commanders not determined their Week 1 starter yet? Or does this simply mean the two of them will be playing a fairly even amount of snaps?
In addition to being listed as the (presumably) starting right guard, Allegretti is also the backup center to Tyler Biadasz. If Washington intends to have him split reps between two positions, then it makes sense to have Wylie more involved.
At the end of the day, there's only one way to find out what the Commanders are doing here, and that's to wait for Sunday. Regardless of who gets the start, someone will need to hold down the fort until Cosmi gets back, and perhaps a committee approach is the way to go.