4 Commanders who must excel for potential playoff push in 2024
It is a dangerous time of year for Washington Commanders fans.
The perennial winners of the offseason are back once more. Yet even those from afar can't help but recognize that something this time around feels different. Perhaps something special is building at long last.
The surface feeling runs deeper than normal. However, if this feeling is going to be as promising as it seems, the following players are going to have to perform exceptionally well for the Commanders to have a shot at the wild card, or perhaps even at the division crown.
Some of the following faces Commanders fans know and know well. Others, not so much.
Nonetheless, here are four players who have no choice but to buckle up and play the best football of their careers. If they do, the Commanders can get a head start on the rebuild. If not, it could be another long, tortuous season for the burgundy and gold.
Andrew Wylie - Commanders OT
It's no secret that Andrew Wylie underperformed in 2023, which is being kind. The Washington Commanders simply can't afford to have the right tackle give up nine sacks once more - a number that tied him for the fourth-most allowed during the previous campaign.
Having brought in a new center and reinforcements along the left side of the offensive line through both free agency and the draft, the Commanders have seemingly chosen to keep the right tackle around for another year. Perhaps they see ways in which the previous regime did not use him to his potential and believe that he can return to performing more along the lines of how he did with the Kansas City Chiefs.
If the Commanders are going to make strides this season - and if new franchise quarterback Jayden Daniels is going to begin making his mark in the NFL - it is going to come because he has solid protection. For this to occur, Wylie must vastly improve his play.
If he does, with everything else the Commanders have shored up, they most certainly could find themselves fighting for NFC East contention. But if Wylie shows more of the same, the new regime will surely face a lot of backlash.
Keeping Wylie around as a starter is not something many envisioned. It is a position many want to change, so the veteran has no choice but to put up or shut up.