Commanders need David Blough to unleash Chig Okonkwo against the Giants

They have barely any able-bodied wide receivers left, but the Washington Commanders do have a $27 million weapon languishing in obscurity. It's time for offensive coordinator David Blough to take tight end Chig Okonkwo out of mothballs for the New York Giants' Week 5 visit.

As luck would have it, the Commanders' NFC East rivals present the ideal matchup for Okonkwo to finally get on track. The Giants have been burned by tight ends more than once this early in the season.

Okonkwo has the receiving skills to do the same. Fortunately, those same wide receiver-type traits can also help the Commanders' offense beat the Giants in another crucial phase.

Chig Okonkwo is the Commanders' answer to wide receiver injuries

As a 6-foot-3, 238-pounder, Okonkwo's pretty close to a wideout trapped in a tight end's body. That's a handy dichotomy because the Commanders will be without Stefon Diggs at Northwest Stadium, while Terry McLaurin's dodgy hamstring might not handle a full load.

Missing two multiple 1,000-yard receivers is not the ideal context for franchise quarterback Jayden Daniels' return to the lineup. Okonkwo can mitigate the problem by aligning out wide more than he's attached to the offensive line.

Coincidentally, that's always been the plan for Okonkwo in Blough's scheme. Unfortunately, he hasn't put the theory into practice.

That has to change against the Giants because the Commanders need viable targets. Preferably big bodies capable of winning outside the numbers.

Okonkwo qualifies, as Terrance Ferguson did when the Los Angeles Rams' hybrid tight end-receiver ran riot against the Giants in Week 2. He snagged six catches for 54 receiving yards, including a five-yard touchdown grab.

The Commanders' primary tight end can repeat those numbers. Big Blue's defense is still traveling behind a lot of man coverage.

Okonkwo should be too quick and too agile for 6-foot-4, 240-plus-pound inside linebackers Tremaine Edmunds and Arvell Reese between the numbers, but the Commanders should get the Maryland product onto the perimeter more often this week.

Blough and Daniels can take advantage of all that man coverage by isolating towering targets in one-on-one matchups against the Giants' starting cornerbacks. Okonkwo can body Deonte Banks and tower above Greg Newsome II.

So can Treylon Burks, a wideout with the physical dimensions to help the Commanders move the ball in other ways.

Tight ends are key to the Commanders beating the Giants on the ground

Outside-zone runs are the key to the Commanders winning in the running game. Doing so will require sealing the edges, starting with cracking back against edge-rushers Abdul Carter and Kayvon Thibodeaux.

Okonkwo and Burks boast enough mass to collapse corners and help offensive linemen and other mobile blockers get onto defensive backs in space. That's a good combination when Blough can use motion to get Okonkwo's fellow tight ends Ben Sinnott and John Bates to the second and third levels of the Giants' defense.

Using three tight ends with Burks in the lineup will show the Giants run-heavy looks. Those looks are how Daniels gets to run the under-center, play-action passing game that Blough was supposed to make a feature of this season's playbook.

Blough's instead stayed tethered to a lot of the read-option, pistol formation stuff predecessor Kliff Kingsbury designed and called. The new offensive coordinator has also been guilty of barely featuring tight ends.

Washington's tight ends have seen 15 targets, snatched nine receptions, and tallied just 59 yards. Numbers this paltry are not what the Commanders paid Okonkwo to provide.

He can still be a matchup problem against the Giants, but only if Blough revives the original plan for Okonkwo.

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