Commanders' coaching renaissance sparks life into underperforming stars

By the standards he set through the first four weeks of his rookie season, Jayden Daniels didn’t have a great game against the Cleveland Browns. Yet he was still far and away the best and most consequential player on the field.

That’s the most important takeaway from the Commanders' surprisingly easy win in Week 5 at Northwest Stadium. That’s becoming the most important takeaway week in and week out for this team, but there was another very encouraging part of Washington's fourth win of 2024 that might be flying under the radar.

Dan Quinn has said all the right things about the job done by Ron Rivera. He stated the previous head coach and his staff put a lot of good pieces in place. They are veteran football brethren. The new man in charge is going to take the high road. However, general manager Adam Peters has jettisoned well over half of the players chosen during his tenure.

Commanders' improved coaching is having a positive ripple effect

Of Rivera’s four first-round draft picks, two have been traded and two have been relegated to the bench. That’s all the proof you need. He did not leave a talent-rich roster for Peters and Quinn. It's that simple.

It makes you wonder about the holdovers - the Rivera draft picks who Peters chose to retain. Stalwarts Sam Cosmi and Brian Robinson, Jr. were no-brainers. John Bates, Benjamin St-Juste, Quan Martin - they may not be world-beaters, but the Commanders did not have anyone better in their roles.

Here’s a potentially deep silver lining about this 2024 edition of the Commanders. Three borderline players - all second-teamers and drafted by Rivera in the first four rounds - made solid contributions versus the Browns.

Phidarian Mathis, whose roster spot was in question heading into the final cuts, was part of a rotation that shored up a major trouble spot for Washington’s defense in the first four weeks. He was very good at stuffing the inside running game that Cleveland tried to establish. He even deflected one of quarterback Deshaun Watson’s early passes.

Filling in for the injured Noah Brown, Dyami Brown was only targeted twice but he made the most of his chances. Early in the second half, he ran a nice out to convert a third down, extending the drive which ended in running back Jeremy McNichols’ short touchdown run. Earlier, the former third-round pick hauled in a beautiful deep ball from Daniels for a touchdown which put Washington up by 21, virtually ending the competitive portion of the game.

Converted defensive end Jamin Davis spelled Dante Fowler Jr. late in the contest and showed why he was a first-round draft pick in 2021. He demonstrated his speed by not allowing Watson to turn the corner on a scramble. The Kentucky product then stuffed D'Onta Foreman in the middle of the line for no gain. These came on consecutive plays, too.

These were not game-changing plays, although the Brown touchdown was certainly beautiful to behold. Daniels would likely have figured out a way to get the ball in the end zone even if that deep shot had been off. That’s just what he does. He shrugs off bad plays and then makes sensational ones routinely.

It is fascinating to watch players who were borderline busts under the previous regime step up and contribute to Commanders' newfound success. When he entered the league, Brown was billed as a deep threat, but he has only shown the briefest of flashes in that role up to now. Perhaps the absence of a quality quarterback was holding him back as much as his deficiencies.

The two defenders, taken in the first two rounds of the draft, have never been consistent playmakers. Maybe we need to consider that the truly atrocious defensive coaching that plagued this team in recent years was a culprit in their poor play.

I don’t want to overstate this. Washington beat the Browns largely because of its new players. They won because Daniels is an outstanding playmaker. They won because Bobby Wagner and Frankie Luvu dominated the middle of the field. They won because Austin Ekeler had another huge run, and because Olamide Zaccheaus hustled downfield on the play to recover a fumble.

Those are all new players. They are part and parcel of the new attitude that is crystal clear on the Washington sidelines these days. It’s just nice to realize that this new attitude - and significantly improved coaching - may also be pumping life into some of the holdovers from the recent dismal past as well.

It bodes well for continued success.

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