The Washington Commanders will enter the 2026 season facing a number of question marks, thanks to general manager Adam Peters' drastic roster overhaul. Most of the adjustments should be upgrades on paper, but there's at least one that everybody is holding their breath about.
The Commanders inexplicably released starting center Tyler Biadasz as a cap casualty, hoping to pursue bigger fish during free agency. But they struck out on Tyler Linderbaum, and now Washington is stuck with Nick Allegretti as their projected starter and sixth-round rookie Matt Gulbin as his backup.
With the Commanders' organized team activities set to begin next week, we're about to find out whether or not that's enough.
Commanders fans will finally get the chance to see center gamble unfold
Allegretti has been a starter before, for all 17 games of the 2024 season, but that was at left guard. The line was shuffled around last year after the trade for Laremy Tunsil, with Brandon Coleman expected to replace the former Illinois standout, but it ended up being Chris Paul for the bulk of the campaign.
That pushed Allegretti down the depth chart, and he ended up stepping in at center in Week 18 when Biadasz was out with a knee injury. Evidently, that audition was enough to give Washington faith that he can be a viable option to snap the ball to star quarterback Jayden Daniels.
It's a gamble that comes with low upside and high risk.
Biadasz was an average starter during his two seasons in Washington, but Allegretti is far from a guarantee to even be that. He makes for an ideal plug-and-play backup due to his versatility around the line. Trusting him to be anything more is a dangerous game.
Then, there's Gulbin, whom the Commanders desperately hope turns out to exceed draft expectations.
The Michigan State product was an All-Big Ten honorable mention last season nd received the best center grade in his class, per Pro Football Focus. He's been praised for his football intelligence and reliability, playing every snap of his first 11 games last season.
But whether or not Gulbin translates to the NFL is a different story.
His athletic measurables aren't great, and that matters more at the highest level. At the end of the day, if you're looking to a sixth-round rookie for answers, you're probably doing it wrong.
It would be a huge development for Washington if Allegretti or Gulbin end up providing quality production. But if the experiment goes as many fear it will, it'll be up to Daniels to protect himself from another injury-riddled campaign.
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