5 Commanders in increasingly precarious situations despite Week 3 triumph

Dante Fowler Jr. - Commanders OLB

It's no secret that the Washington Commanders are having difficulty on the defensive side of the football. This is surprising when one considers the accomplished background of Dan Quinn and Joe Whitt Jr. It was a problem that rose quickly once those in power traded Montez Sweat and Chase Young, which signaled the start of a dramatic and necessary rebuild for this struggling organization.

Quinn turned to players he's worked with previously to potentially rectify the issue. Dorance Armstrong Jr. was the marquee addition. The Commanders also signed Dante Fowler Jr. to be their rotational pass-rushing specialist despite moving Jamin Davis to this role over the summer.

Fowler's production has been modest at best from 45 percent of the team's defensive snaps. He's got 0.5 sacks and one pressure to his name so far. Even from a situational role, that's disappointing.

The Commanders have a chance to speed up their rebuild looking at the offense's resurgence with Kliff Kingsbury and Jayden Daniels leading the charge. That comes to an abrupt halt if Washington's defense continues to falter, leaving Fowler and others with slimmer margins heading up to the trade deadline.

Percy Butler - Commanders S

The Commanders' defense is not playing well. That's no secret to anyone who's followed their progress closely, evidenced further by another poor outing at the Cincinnati Bengals. Very few have emerged from the opening three games with any credit, so they should be thankful Washington's offense is taking some scrutiny off their shoulders.

Joe Whitt Jr.'s unit cannot generate pressure. This is having a ripple effect, with the Commanders' secondary also looking devoid of any significant talent despite getting almost no help from the defense's other two levels.

Percy Butler's featured in 41 percent of Washington's defensive snaps and is being preferred to Darrick Forrest. This could be down to his special teams presence more than his production as a rotational safety over the opening three weeks of the campaign.

Just why Forrest has fallen so out of favor is anyone's guess. But if Butler cannot improve his run-stopping closer to the line of scrimmage and his coverage support on the backend, it might not be much longer before changes arrive in some capacity.