The 10 best defensive linemen in Washington Commanders franchise history

During the NFL’s first several decades, it was common for players to line up on both sides of the ball. Offensive backs played in the defensive secondary. The offensive linemen were also the defensive linemen. Since almost no defensive stats were kept, it can be hard to look back at players from the earliest era and do any kind of proper evaluation.

Sammy Baugh, Clint Battles, and Turk Edwards all began their careers in Washington (actually, the latter two began when the franchise was still in Boston) and wound up in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. When we think of them today, we tend to rate them strictly as offensive players.

If you weren’t there to see it, you have no way of knowing what Edwards was like on defense.

We do have some criteria to go on with those early players. We also have a good deal of historical reporting to consider, but it remains a work of art more than one of science. With more recent players, we have more data.

In the 1980s, the NFL began keeping track of key numbers like sacks and tackles. Other sources allow us to go back a decade or two earlier, though those numbers can be contradictory.

The Washington Commanders have had many outstanding defensive linemen. Unless you count the late-career stopovers for Bruce Smith, Deacon Jones, or Jason Taylor, the franchise has never had a defensive lineman make it to Canton.

Criteria for selection

We can rank those early players based on several key factors. Various organizations have chosen All-Pro teams and given out other awards from the very beginning. There has almost always been a Pro Bowl, though the standards for inclusion have been quirky over the years.

We can also look at how long a player was with the team, and how the team - especially the defense - fared while he was there. Fortunately, there is a good deal of contemporaneous reporting that quotes teammates and coaches on the talent and impact of many individual linemen.

In addition to the plethora of statistics we have on more recent players, we also have our own eyes. This can be crucial when evaluating a position like the defensive line.

The linemen function as a unit. A tackle may tie up two blockers allowing an end easier access to the quarterback. The end gets the sack, but the tackle may have played a more crucial role in the outcome. In other cases, a quarterback pressure that leads to an interception may be more valuable than a sack, though the sack total tends to be more highly valued.

In the rankings I am about to offer, two defensive tackles - Bob Toneff and Daron Payne - will not appear. However, tackles who played next to them will show up. You could easily argue the unranked players were the equals of the ranked ones.

I’m saying all this because I am about to list the 10 greatest defensive linemen in Washington Commanders franchise history. From experience, the top of this list will be highly contentious. Several of the top players were on the same line, and there were debates back then as to which player was the best.

Those debates have never been resolved. So let’s continue the discussion.

The 10 best defensive linemen in Washington Commanders history

10. Paul Lipscomb

When playing for the Green Bay Packers, Paul Lipscomb was thrown out of two different games for brutal hits on Washington players. Before the 1950 season, the now-Commanders traded Len Szafaryn, a promising young lineman, to Lambeau Field for the veteran bruiser.

Lipscomb rewarded his new team by going to the Pro Bowl for four consecutive seasons. He was a second-team All-Pro in 1951.

That year, Washington was hoping to hire Hunk Anderson as their new coach. This was just a nickname - his given name was Heartly.

Anderson had a contract with the Chicago Bears and owner George Halas demanded the towering 6-foot-5, 250-pound Lipscomb in exchange for releasing the coach. There’s some dispute as to whether the league would have allowed such a transaction midway through a season, but it didn’t matter. Washington was not parting with the player.

9. Joe Rutgens

Joe Rutgens played 110 games for Washington throughout the 1960s. Often, those defenses were not very good, but you could not blame the defensive tackles.

For the early part of the decade, Rutgens and Bob Toneff (who just missed inclusion here) formed a very solid interior.

Rutgens made the Pro Bowl twice during his nine years in Washington after emerging as a very good pass rusher from the interior. He finished his career with 40 sacks, and he often saved his best for the arch-rival Dallas Cowboys.

During one memorable game in 1965, Washington had climbed back from an early 21-0 deficit to take the lead with a few minutes remaining. Rutgens sacked Cowboys quarterback Don Meredith twice on Dallas' final drive. Lonnie Sanders would eventually block a potential game-tying field goal to preserve the victory.

8. Wilbur Wilkin

Nobody called him Wilbur. Maybe that’s because several years into his playing career, there was a popular comic book with a character by the same name. Maybe it was because Wilkin stood 6-foot-4 and weighed 260 pounds. He went by “Willie,” or more commonly, by his ironic nickname, “Wee Willie.”

Wee Willie Wilkin was a standout for Washington from 1937 to 1943. He played offense and defense, making the Pro Bowl three times. Twice, he was selected as a first-team All-Pro. Only one defensive lineman in franchise history surpassed that total.

He not only was an immovable boulder on the line, but Wilkin also made big plays in other ways. In 1939, during one of the most notorious games in franchise history, Washington was trailing the New York Giants 9-0 late in the proceedings. A spot in the playoffs was at stake. Wilkin blocked a punt and set up the game’s only touchdown.

Washington would end up losing the game on a disputed field goal call.

7. Jonathan Allen

Jonathan Allen had a forgettable 2023 season. After playing at a very high level for six years, he seemed to hit a wall as his frustration with the Commanders' managerial incompetence grew.

It looked for a while like he might be traded away as part of a rebuild. Fortunately, that talk has died considerably and Allen seems to have embraced the new ownership and coaching regime.

That’s good because the team needs him. He has been the steadiest defender they have had over the past seven seasons. After a rookie season hampered by injury, Allen has started all but three games over the last six campaigns. He has developed into one of the best interior pass rushers in the league.

Though his 39 sacks do not look all that impressive, Allen has consistently been one of the league leaders in quarterback hurries. His 67 total quarterback pressures in his first of two Pro Bowl seasons (2021) was an exceptional number for an interior lineman.

The following season, Allen recorded 16 tackles for loss, proving he was a force against the run as well. Even more importantly, until his difficulties late last year, the former Alabama star had been a genuine leader through some difficult seasons.

His return to form in 2024 is crucial for the defense to have success.

6. Diron Talbert

Diron Talbert was one of the many veterans George Allen brought along when he came to Washington in 1971. At the time, he was just 27 years old, but it seemed he had been playing football for 50 years.

Talbert was one of the defensive anchors on a team that prided itself on tough defense through the 1970s. Overall, he played 142 games for Washington, went to the playoffs in five seasons, and recorded 65.5 sacks from an interior line position. He hit double figures in sacks for three consecutive seasons, from 1974 to 1976, and was rewarded with his first and only trip to the Pro Bowl in 1974.

Best of all, Talbert was the personification of the rivalry between Washington and the Dallas Cowboys. He grew up in Texas and could have passed for the third member of the popular wrestling tag team, the Blackjacks. The interior force adopted Allen’s hatred of 'America’s Team'. His battles, both on the field and in the press with quarterback Roger Staubach, were always in the headlines.

It seems that not a game between rivals could take place without Talbert threatening to knock Staubach out of it. Fans loved him for that more than anything.

5. Dexter Manley

There is very little that separates the top five players on this list. Quite frankly, you could rank them in whatever order you choose and not be wrong.

All were highly productive. All were beloved by fans. None of them may have been more beloved than Dexter Manley.

He was among the most mercurial players to ever suit up for Washington. At his best, few were better. Manley’s 18.5 sacks in 1986 earned him a first-team All-Pro selection and probably would have gotten him NFL Defensive Player of the Year honors had Lawrence Taylor not recorded 20.5 sacks the same season.

Manley arrived as a fifth-round pick in 1981, the draft that more than any other created the dominant team of the 1980s. Manley made his mark early by combining his blazing speed and lineman size to become a kickoff coverage terror on special teams. But he soon moved into the starting defense and remained a fixture for most of the decade.

He benefitted from playing alongside three excellent all-around defenders which allowed Manley to concentrate on getting to the quarterback. In the mid-80s, he did that as well as anyone, averaging almost one sack per game over four years.

Oddly, his biggest play came when he backed off the pass rush. During the 1982 NFC Championship game, after knocking out Cowboys starting quarterback Danny White in the first half, Manley read backup Gary Hogeboom’s eyes and was able to deflect his pass. Fellow lineman Daryl Grant intercepted and scored a touchdown that clinched Washington’s second trip to the Super Bowl.

It was the first of two championship teams Manley would be a part of.

4. Ryan Kerrigan

Ryan Kerrigan came up just short of Manley’s franchise-leading sack total. He left the team with 95.5 to Manley’s 97.

Kerrigan, who was listed as a 3-4 outside linebacker for most of his career, was among the most versatile defenders Washington has ever had. Though it was not a strength, he was capable of dropping into pass coverage. And he had a real knack for causing fumbles. He was credited with 26 forced fumbles during his 10 seasons in D.C.

The edge rusher didn’t have a lot of help on defense for many of his years in town. Throughout his prime, after Brian Orakpo left in 2014, Washington didn’t have any premium pass rushers to take the focus off Kerrigan. Still, he produced year after year, earning four trips to the Pro Bowl along the way.

Along with offensive tackle Trent Willimas, Kerrigan was often the only real star Washington had during some lean years after Robert Griffin III’s injury. When he returned to take a position coaching defense, it warmed the hearts of many fans.

He was one of the few coaches retained by Dan Quinn after most of Ron Rivera’s staff were released this past spring. Kerrigan is coaching linebackers and will have a special focus on pass rush.

3. Dave Butz

If Dexter Manley was beloved for his exuberance, Dave Butz was equally revered for his stoicism. For 14 seasons, through more than 200 games, the mammoth defensive tackle worked in the trenches and ruined many of the best plans of opposing offenses.

Butz is not in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but some have argued that his helmet should be. Iconic sportswriter Jim Murray once penned an entire article about that oversized helmet, battered and gouged, as the perfect symbol of the violence that occurs in the trenches of a football field.

George Allen may have preferred old veterans to youngsters. But when the 24-year-old Butz became available during the 1975 off-season, the coach moved heaven and earth to acquire him.

It took Butz a few years to feel comfortable around veterans like Diron Talbert. Once he did, there was no moving him. In 1983, he made his only Pro Bowl and was a first-team All-Pro. The following year, he received second-team All-Pro Honors.

Butz was a starter on Washington’s first two Super Bowl-winning teams and started a total of 180 games. Considering the physical toll defensive tackles endure, it is one of the most remarkable achievements in franchise history.

2. Gene Brito

Gene Brito is among the forgotten greats in Washington football history. He played on a lot of underwhelming teams throughout the 1950s, as hubris, penny-pinching, and outright racism saw a once-proud franchise drift steadily toward insignificance.

Through it all, Brito stood tall. He played from 1951-1953, and then from 1955-1958. The year away was due to disputes with owner George Preston Marshall over salary and decisions related to coaching. He was one of several stars who jumped ship to play in another league. Both issues were resolved in 1955, resulting in his return.

Brito played on offense during his first two seasons. When he was shifted full-time to defense in 1953, he made his first Pro Bowl. During the remainder of his time in Washington, he never failed to return to the Pro Bowl. He was selected as a first-team All-Pro for three consecutive seasons and made the second team another year.

We don’t have many stats from the 1950s, but we do know he was credited with six fumble recoveries in 1955 alone. They only played 12 games back then. That’s a fumble recovery every other game.

His outstanding speed made him almost impossible to block. One famous story, as reported by The Coffin Corner, tells of how an opposing quarterback, tired of being pummeled all day by Washington’s end, ordered his offensive tackle to hold Brito if necessary. The tackle said, “But I have been holding him.”

Health problems, which would take his life at age 39, forced Brito's early retirement. At his final home game, the vice president of the United States presented him with the keys to a new car, and fans carried him off the field when the game ended.

Had he played on better teams, Brito would be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

1.  Charles Mann

Charles Mann wasn’t as flashy as Dexter Manley. He wasn’t as imposing as Dave Butz. But he was the most complete defensive lineman the franchise ever had.

Mann could rush the passer - he finished his Washington career with 82 sacks in 163 games. Excluding his first and last years, he averaged 80 tackles per season over nine years. He made the Pro Bowl four times and was second-team All-Pro twice. He started in 14 playoff games, including three Super Bowls, and was part of two championship teams.

Manley and Mann always had a friendly rivalry over who would get the most sacks. Early on, Mann would humbly credit Manley with tying up double teams which allowed him to flourish. But it eventually became clear that both ends required attention.

It is no coincidence that Manley began posting his sensational sack totals once Mann arrived. The better Mann played, the higher Manley’s sack numbers went.

The year after Manley’s standout 1986 season, Mann made his first Pro Bowl. He would receive that honor four times over five years. It is very difficult to disentangle the achievements of Mann, Manley, Butz, and the other defensive tackle on those elite teams, Darryl Grant.

Mann was the final piece to arrive. They all made big plays, but if you had the pleasure of watching those teams play, it seemed as if he made more of them than anyone else.

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