One Commanders player to benefit most from each head coaching candidate

Commanders could hire Dan Quinn

• Player to benefit most: Jamin Davis (LB)

Jamin Davis is not Micah Parsons. We all know that. But he isn’t all that different from Vic Beasley.

Beasley was another highly touted edge defender who was drafted by the Atlanta Falcons back in 2015. Their coach at the time was Dan Quinn, who just so happens to be in contention for the Washington Commanders head coaching gig.

The edge presence was about the same size as Davis, but Beasley was a little bigger and stronger - initially lining up as a defensive end. After watching him struggle during his rookie season, Quinn moved him to an attacking linebacker role in his second campaign and he exploded.

He recorded a sack per game, forced six fumbles, and had double-digit tackles-for-loss. He was voted first-team All-Pro.

That same year, he coached another young linebacker, Deion Jones, to NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year honors. Beasley would never live up to his sensational 2016, but Jones became a mainstay of Atlanta’s defense, routinely recording more than 100 tackles.

Watching Quinn scheme for Parsons and develop his Dallas Cowboys running mate - Damone Clark - along with that history in Atlanta, suggests that the defensive coordinator knows how to handle athletic, aggressive linebackers.

Were he given reins in DC, I would expect to see Davis - Washington's most athletic linebacker by a mile - given more license to attack the offense. The former first-round pick had a steep learning curve when he entered the league, due to limited college experience. He has grown some but remains too tentative. It is time to turn him loose.

Quinn knows how to do that.