Best and worst-case predictions for every Commanders offensive player in 2024

The Washington Commanders' 53-man roster is set, so it is time for rose-colored glasses. Therefore, we will do our annual best-case scenario for each player on the team. Mind you, these are realistic best cases.

For instance, it would not have been realistic last year to have predicted that the NFL Pro Football Hall of Fame would suspend their rules to allow rookie Ricky Stromberg immediate entrance into Canton after his first season in the league. It might have been realistic to predict that he would at least make it through his second-year training camp. Alas, that was not to be.

Since I believe in the Yin and Yang of the universe, it is also time to do a worst-case scenario prediction to balance those best cases. Again, these are realistic.

It would have seemed ludicrous to predict that a third-round draft choice at a position of genuine need would be cut before the start of his second season. That is what has happened to Stromberg. I am hopeful that he will catch on with another team because though he didn’t show much in Washington, he was a pretty good prospect coming out of college.

Let’s get back to the players still with the Commanders. Let’s consider some quick stat lines or other achievements that would constitute good and bad seasons for each player. I will try to balance what might be good for the team with what would also be good for the player when doing this.

When looking at the worst cases, I will leave injuries out of the conversation. Of course, any serious issue is always a worst-case scenario for a professional athlete.

Today, we will look at the 25 players on the Commanders' offense in alphabetical order.

Best, worst, and realistic cases for Commanders offensive players in 2024

Nick Allegretti - Commanders OL

Best-Case: Starts all 17 games at left guard with a Pro Football Focus rating of 75, which is around what Brandon Scherff posted the last time the Commanders had a good left guard.
Worst Case: The second coming of Nick Gates. Benched six games into the season for a practice squad call-up.
Realistic-Case: Closer to the former. Starts 14 games with a PFF rating in the high 60s.

John Bates - Commanders TE

Best-Case: Kliff Kingsbury learns his name. 35 targets, 26 catches, two touchdowns, and ESPN temporarily revives the long-departed Jacked Up! to show him blowing up an unnamed linebacker on a division rival who may or may not wear No. 11.
Worst-Case: Kingsbury takes Zach Ertz and Ben Sinnott out for beers, and Bates’ invitation accidentally winds up in the hands of Colson Yankoff, who moves ahead of him on the depth chart.
Realistic Case: Bates catches 18 passes but is on the field for more than 500 snaps.

Tyler Biadasz - Commanders C

Best-Case: Pro Bowl alternate. Makes Washington fans finally forget Chase Roullier.
Worst-Case: Nick Gates … oh, wait, I already used that one. Playing with a completely new left side, Biadasz starts slowly. Goal-line and short-yardage offenses are inefficient. Fans start longing for Ricky Stromberg.
Realistic Case: Basically the best case. Maybe he doesn’t make the Pro Bowl, but Biadasz should solidify a position that has been in flux for the last three seasons.

Dyami Brown - Commanders WR

Best-Case: Starts opposite Terry McLaurin and posts better than 15 yards per catch on at least 50 receptions. Nine touchdowns, and a big new contract.
Worst-Case: 12 catches, 148 yards, one tantalizing touchdown not to be repeated. That is his stat line from 2023, and it would be a huge disappointment this season.
Realistic-Case: I am cautiously optimistic, but I don’t believe Brown will have a breakthrough at this point. Somewhere around 30 catches for 500 receiving yards and three touchdowns. These are his career totals over his three years in the league.

Noah Brown - Commanders WR

Best-Case: January 5, 2025. AT&T Stadium. Noah Brown catches a 56-yard touchdown from Jayden Daniels that puts the Commanders into the playoffs. And equally important, knocks the Dallas Cowboys out. He hands the ball to Mike McCarthy.
Worst-Case: Late arriving, Brown never overtakes the six receivers already on the roster and is inactive for more than half the games in 2024.
Realistic-Case: Brown fills in adequately for Dyami Brown when the Z receiver is out a few games. But he becomes a special teams stalwart, the second coming of Cam Sims, with better big-play potential.

Brandon Coleman - Commanders OT

Best-Case: Day 1 starter at left tackle. Gives up five sacks or fewer and commits 10 penalties or fewer.
Worst-Case: Can’t play tackle. Is shifted to guard. Can’t play guard. We’ve seen this story before.
Realistic-Case: Starts 12 games. Gives up eight sacks and commits 14 penalties. Improves throughout the season to the point at which Washington does not pursue a left tackle next off-season.

Sam Cosmi - Commanders OL

Best-Case: First-team All-Pro.
Worst-Case: Pro Bowl alternate.
Realistic-Case: Second-team All-Pro.

Jamison Crowder - Commanders WR

Best-Case: Only catches about 20 passes, but has a double-digit punt return average including one against the Philadelphia Eagles in a Thursday night game that goes to the house and clinches the upset.
Worst-Case: At 31 years old, has lost a step to the point that he is replaced as a punt returner by Emmanuel Forbes Jr., beginning a Desmond Howard-like rebirth for the cornerback, but resulting in Crowder being released.
Realistic-Case: A steady eight yards per return and fewer than 15 catches. Final year with the club that drafted him.

Jayden Daniels - Commanders QB

Best-Case: Offensive Rookie of the Year. Makes Chicago Bears fans curse the name Caleb Williams. A passer rating in the high 90s and a 3:1 touchdown-to-interception ratio.
Worst-Case: Bryce Young. Sacked more than 50 times.
Realistic-Case: Is better over his last four games than he is in his first four. Leads the team to a winning record, its first since 2016.

Michael Deiter - Commanders OL

Best-Case: Spot duty as backup center and guard. Jayden Daniels does not get hurt when Deiter is on the field.
Worst-Case: Deiter does not make it to opening day.
Realistic-Case: The first scenario. He probably logs around 200 snaps for the season.

Jeff Driskel - Commanders QB

Best-Case: Makes good money with the scout team and clipboard duties.
Worst-Case: Injuries to Daniels and Marcus Mariota force him to play important minutes. Driskel performs like he did in his only 2023 appearance, to the tune of a 4.1 QBR.
Realistic-Case: Never sets foot on the field in 2024.

Austin Ekeler - Commanders RB

Best-Case: 2022 Ekeker – 1,500 combined yards, 4.5 yards-per-carry.
Worst-Case: 2023 Ekeler – under 1,000 combined yards, 3.5 yards-per-carry.
Realistic-Case: 400 yards rushing, 800 yards receiving, and 10 total touchdowns.

Zach Ertz - Commanders TE

Best-Case: Discovers the fountain of youth. 70 catches, 800 yards, and eight touchdowns.
Worst-Case: Continues his slide into retirement. Giving up snaps not only to Ben Sinnott but also to Colson Yankoff by the end of the season.
Realistic-Case: The fountain of the present: 35 catches, 300 yards, and three touchdowns. Announces retirement at the season’s end.

Cornelius Lucas - Commanders OT

Best-Case: Starts at left tackle as Brandon Coleman grows into the role. Plays like it is 2020, with a PFF rating in the high 70s. Gets one more nice contract at the season’s end.
Worst-Case: Replaces Andrew Wylie at right tackle, where he is not as comfortable and struggles. Trent Scott replaces him.
Realistic-Case: Starts at left tackle until mid-season, when Coleman takes over the job.

Marcus Mariota - Commanders QB

Best-Case: Jacoby Brissett, 2023. Steps in for a dinged-up Jayden Daniels and leads the team to victories. Earns himself a chance to compete for a starting role with another team in 2025.
Worst-Case: Jacoby Brissett, 2021. Proves to be a poor fill-in. The team has a losing record in games he starts. Rating in the low 70s.
Realistic-Case: Jacoby Brissett, 2022. Serviceable backup. Mariota uses his legs to make a couple of big plays but never threatens Daniels’ position as the alpha.

Luke McCaffrey - Commanders WR

Best-Case: Establishes himself as the starting slot receiver by mid-season. He attains 60 catches for 800 receiving yards. Two-thirds of his receptions go for first downs.
Worst-Case: Plays behind McLaurin, Brown, and Olamide Zaccheaus all year. Fewer than 200 snaps for the season. Coaches begin praising his special teams' play.
Realistic-Case: Just under the best-case. Fewer catches/yards, but maybe runs a few gadget plays to take advantage of his eclectic skill set.

Terry McLaurin - Commanders WR

Best-Case: With a legitimate playmaker at quarterback, Terry McLaurin is finally recognized on the same level as CeeDee Lamb and A.J. Brown as one of the best receivers in the NFC.
Worst-Case: 70 catches, 1,000 receiving yards, and four touchdowns. The numbers he has accumulated with mediocre quarterback play throughout his career.
Realistic-Case: Can my realistic case be better than my best case? McLaurin will have a spectacular year.

Jeremy McNichols - Commanders RB

Best-Case: He has already achieved it by making the roster. Anything else is gravy.
Worst-Case: Jeremy McNichols makes a mistake - a fumble, or a penalty which negates a big play - and Michael Wylie is suiting up in his place the following week.
Realistic-Case: Only gets a few chances but makes at least one big play that has us all writing “This is why Kliff Kingsbury wanted him on the team.”

Chris Paul - Commanders OL

Best-Case: Chris Paul fills in at either guard spot for a while and shows that with a little bit of coaching, he is a starting-caliber player. In an emergency, he has to take some snaps at tackle and holds up there as well.
Worst-Case: Michael Deiter becomes the first option at backup guard. Paul’s growth remains stagnant.
Realistic-Case: Paul will play. Guards get banged up and have to come out, at least for a series or two. He will continue to be up and down, moving well when he pulls and gaining better technique as a pass blocker. But he will also commit at least two bad penalties at key moments.

Byron Pringle - Commanders WR

Best-Case: December 22 - home game against the Eagles. Terry McLaurin has an iffy ankle. Byron Pringle starts in his place and has seven catches for 95 receiving yards and two touchdowns in a win.
Worst-Case: Pringle is buried on the depth chart behind Luke McCaffrey and Jamison Crowder. Gets fewer than 100 snaps on offense.
Realistic-Case: Minimal impact as a receiver but has at least two huge kickoff returns which set up touchdowns.

Brian Robinson Jr. - Commanders RB

Best-Case: 1,000 rushing yards, 4.5 yards-per-carry. Thirty catches for 350 receiving yards. Twelve combined touchdowns.
Worst-Case: 20 percent below the best-case.
Realistic-Case: 10 percent above the worst-case. Robinson is very consistent.

Trent Scott - Commanders OT

Best-Case: See Jeremy McNichols, above.
Worst-Case: Chris Paul proves he can play tackle. Trent Scott is inactive for 16 out of 17 games.
Realistic-Case: 100 snaps, two penalties.

Ben Sinnott - Commanders TE

Best-Case: 86 catches, 889 receiving yards, and 10 touchdowns. Those are Sam LaPorta’s rookie numbers.
Worst-Case: 28 catches, 243 receiving yards, and two touchdowns. Those are Cole Kmet’s rookie numbers.
Realistic-Case: 43 catches, 515 receiving yards, and two touchdowns. Those are George Kittle’s rookie numbers. No matter the outcome, Sinnott should be the team’s clear No. 1 tight end at some stage in 2024.

Andrew Wylie - Commanders OT

Best-Case: 1,200 snaps, fewer than 10 combined penalties and sacks allowed.
Worst-Case: Benched in favor of Cornelius Lucas.
Realistic-Case: Andrew Wylie will commit a couple of penalties in the first game which will have fans clamoring for a change. Then he will gradually get better as the season progresses but no one will notice. Because that is what he always does.

Colson Yankoff - Commanders TE

Best-Case: See McNichols and Scott above, only with a higher upside. Colson Yankoff makes at least one big play - a catch or a block that earns him a spot in fans’ hearts.
Worst-Case: Inactive for three-quarters of the games. Records no stats in his few actual snaps.
Realistic-Case: Plays mostly on special teams, but begins to carve out a Kyle Juszczyk role which will grow in coming years.

Olamide Zaccheaus - Commanders WR

Best-Case: Team’s undisputed slot receiver. Secures 50 catches for 650 receiving yards and five touchdowns.
Worst-Case: Is overshadowed by McCaffrey. Sees snaps reduce as the season progresses.
Realistic Case: Equals his best season with the Atlanta Falcons in 2022 to the tune of 40 receptions, 500 receiving yards, and three touchdowns.

There you have it. Guaranteed right up until the season begins. Next time, we’ll check out the defense.

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