What critical factors were the cataylst behind the Washington Commanders finally cutting ties with defensive coordinatorJack Del Rio?
When Jack Del Rio joined the Washington Commanders as defensive coordinator in 2020, he inherited a defense that ranked near the bottom of the league in most important statistics. When he was fired this past week, his unit ranked even lower in most key metrics.
It was a precipitous fall for a highly respected defensive mind. One that eventually led to his removal despite head coach Ron Rivera's previous loyalty to his staff this season.
It wasn’t always like this for Del Rio in Washington. During his first season, his defense showed significant improvement. But that improvement was fleeting.
He could not sustain any level of consistency. Although there were flashes of solid play, the Commanders experienced a general decline since 2020.
It wasn’t all Del Rio’s fault. But he certainly deserves a lot of the blame for both personnel and scheme moves that seemed confusing at the time and in hindsight look even worse.
We’ll take a look at the major failings of Del Rio’s tenure here in a moment. But first, let me give credit where it’s due.
Understanding what he got right in 2020 helps explain what he would get wrong in the subsequent seasons.
Commanders defensive regression
The first major change Jack Del Rio instituted upon arriving was switching from the base 3-4 defense that the Washington Commanders had been using to a traditional 4-3. This made all the sense in the world because, for the most part, it put his defenders in their best positions.
Under previous coordinator Greg Manusky, Ryan Kerrigan and Montez Sweat were playing outside linebacker. Daron Payne played nose tackle, with Jonathan Allen and Matt Ioannidis occupying the 3-4 defensive end roles.
Other than Ioannidis, who was versatile enough to play anywhere along the line, this had every player essentially out of position. It’s not that Payne couldn’t play the nose or Sweat couldn’t play outside, but they weren’t best suited for those roles.
Del Rio moved Sweat and Kerrigan back to 4-3 defensive ends and shifted Allen inside to join Payne at defensive tackle. Kerrigan, who was toward the end of his career, went to the bench in favor of rookie Chase Young, who was an ideal candidate to play opposite his fellow first-round pick.
The team signed a classic weakside linebacker in Kevin Pierre-Louis and already had an ideal strong-side presence in Cole Holcomb. They did not have a good candidate to play the middle in a 4-3, so they settled on veteran Jon Bostic, who had played his natural 3-4 inside role in 2019.
Thus, by asking Bostic to play out of position, Del Rio was able to put the other six members of the front seven in their best positions. The results were immediate.
In 2019, Washington’s defense gave up 5.7 yards per play. In 2020, that number dropped to 4.9. Most importantly, they gave up over 100 fewer points in 2020. Late in the season, with virtually no quarterback to rely on, they rode that defense into the playoffs.
But that success would be short-lived. Though there were other factors involved, it’s hard not to see that Del Rio’s arrogance may have been a key factor in the subsequent decline.
I’m not overly concerned with his creativity - or lack thereof - or his individual play-calling. Nor do I care very much about his tone-deaf public comments on public issues. I have rarely known that to have much impact on how players perform on the field.
Commanders gave up on key rotational pieces
The Washington Commanders gave up on key role players from their successful 2020 defense. Some of this was inevitable. But it now seems that Jack Del Rio and the other decision-makers had a grass is always greener mindset when it came to evaluating their own talent.
Ronald Darby, Jimmy Moreland, and Fabian Moreau were key contributors to the secondary in 2020. None were re-signed after the season.
Neither was Kevin Pierre-Louis. Key reserves along the defensive front - Matt Ioannidis and Tim Settle - would depart over the next few seasons.
That kind of turnover is inevitable. On quality teams, new players are being continually identified and developed to step into the roles of departing veterans.
Draftees Jamin Davis, Benjamin St-Juste, and Phidarian Mathis were supposed to be those players. For whatever reason, none has so far lived up to their draft pedigree and are facing uncertain futures with further coaching alterations anticipated once the campaign concludes.
Mathis has been injured for much of his brief career and he is now beginning to look like a major blunder from the 2022 NFL Draft. I don’t blame Del Rio for that. But with regards to St-Juste and Davis, he does deserve criticism.
Commanders talent development and explosive plays
Benjamin St-Juste was a third-round draft pick in 2021. This season, the cornerback has become the target of a lot of fan vitriol because he has been beaten on several key plays and committed a couple of crushing penalties.
Despite this, I still believe St-Juste is a good player. He has the physical attributes you want in the boundary corner. He has the attitude you want.
Even though he's had troubles this season, there have been plenty of plays on which you can see how good he can be. With little pressure on the opposing quarterback, St-Juste has often stuck with his man for up to five seconds, eventually causing a throw-away.
St-Juste’s problem is more organizational. The Washington Commanders' coverage schemes - especially when they play zone - are very sloppy.
Linebackers do not move well enough to get into underneath lanes. Even since Darrick Forest went out with an injury, the Commanders have not had a legitimate deep safety who can provide reliable support over the top.
There have been far too many big plays in which opposing receivers are running free due to blown assignments. When that kind of thing keeps happening, the fault lies with Washington's coaches.
Del Rio and his team didn't find effective ways of communicating coverage schemes to their players. It is not surprising that defensive backs coach Brent Vieselmeyer was also relieved of his duties.
St-Juste represents one major failing during the Del Rio years. Good players rarely got better under his coaching. Often, they have actually regressed. Jamin Davis is another story - one that is even more maddening.
Commanders mismanaged Jamin Davis
Jamin Davis was drafted No. 19 overall in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft. He had an exceptional final college season at Kentucky and boasted impressive physical gifts.
Davis was a bit off-the-radar early in the draft process. But by the time he was selected, everyone knew the Washington Commanders had fallen in love with his potential. Much like they did with cornerback Emmanuel Forbes during the 2023 cycle.
I thought - as did most people I know - that Jack Del Rio would initially use him as a replacement for Levin Pierre-Louis on the linebacking weak side. He was bigger, stronger, and faster, and the thought of him wreaking havoc from this position was mouth-watering.
But Del Rio put him in the middle - the hardest position to play on defense.
Davis did not have a ton of college experience under his belt. Though you could envision him eventually getting comfortable as a middle linebacker, he was woefully overmatched trying to learn such a tough job on the fly. It was obvious from day one.
He would constantly overrun gaps. Opposing teams rarely had to block him because Davis would run himself out of the play. But Del Rio insisted on keeping him in there until mid-season when he finally admitted defeat and switched him to an outside position.
To compound the problem, playing Davis out of position necessitated shifting Jon Bostic to the weak side - leaving two players out of position. Thus, Del Rio abandoned the very thing he had gotten so right in 2020.
Commanders tried to fit square pegs in round holes
This insistence on using players in roles that they are not best suited for led to disaster. High-value free agent cornerback William Jackson III had been a quality man cornerback for the Cincinnati Bengals, but he struggled in Jack Del Rio’s zone schemes.
He was eventually benched. This year, free agent linebacker Cody Barton - who had his best success playing in a 3-4 defensive front with the Seattle Seahawks - has been asked to play in the Washington Commanders' two-linebacker set, and he has been lost for most of the season.
Barton probably would have been benched had the Commanders ever addressed their glaring hole at linebacker. Percy Butler is not a deep safety. He does not read and react in space well. He has the potential to play in the box, but due to Darrick Forrest’s injury, he is being to play a different role.
These things happen, and I don’t mean to say the players bear no responsibility for what happens. They clearly do. But Del Rio has at times seemed dead set on shifting people to new roles and I don’t understand why.
But I do understand this much - it has almost never worked.
So, as Del Rio departs, his defense is arguably the worst in the league. All of their key numbers - points allowed, yards-per-play, penalties, turnovers - are not only toward the bottom of the league. They are all worse than they were in 2019, the year before he took over.
With Chase Young and Montez Sweat now gone, an enormous black hole at linebacker, and no reliable young cornerbacks in the fold, Del Rio leaves a defense in worse shape than it was when he arrived. That is true despite the fact Washington has spent three first-round draft picks, two second-rounders, and one third-round pick on defense in his four years.
When Ron Rivera and Del Rio arrived in 2020, the task was to ride the defense for a few years while they rebuilt the offense. That offense - despite several crucial remaining problems - is making progress. The defense has witnessed a rather shocking regression.
That’s why Del Rio is no longer coaching in Washington.