The Washington Commanders are one of the NFL's most intriguing teams headed into the 2026 season. After going from the NFC Championship game to a wildly disappointing 5-12 campaign, they cleaned house with nearly everybody except for quarterback Jayden Daniels and head coach Dan Quinn.
How Washington will fare is anybody's guess. Not only do the Commanders boast a revamped roster with new starters at a handful of key positions, but they also feature two new coordinators, David Blough and Daronte Jones.
It's a bold strategy that will either lead to a return to the playoffs or the end of an era.
Logan Paulsen is already seeing a difference after Commanders' coordinator shakeup
So far, the changes seem to be off to a promising start.
Former Washington tight end Logan Paulsen sat down with 106.7 The Fan's Grant Paulsen (no relation) on the Full Command podcast, bringing some insight from the rookie minicamp. He had plenty to say, and it was for the best of reasons.
"The thing that really stuck out to me was the difference from the offense last year to this year. Just the formations, the motions, the movements, the usages of different personnel groupings... and the defense, the stuff they were able to get to, the pressure they were bringing, the disguises and the communications, it's a brave new world on both sides of the football."
Commanders fans should love hearing these words from Paulsen. He likened Jones' defense to the Minnesota Vikings, where he previously served under Brian Flores, and Blough's offense to those of Kyle Shanahan and Sean McVay. Fans will be hoping these new directions achieve similar success.
Washington went with first-time coordinators on both sides of the ball. While it carries risk, the upside is real.
Of course, keep in mind that it is the offseason, when every new wrinkle a team adds gets glazed to high heaven by its local analysts. Every rookie is going to be a massive draft steal. Every free agent is going to be an upgrade on the player they're replacing. Every injury-riddled veteran is in the best shape of their life and ready to prove a point.
There could be some real substance to the Commanders' hype, though.
Adam Peters and Quinn identified what went wrong in 2025 and worked to solve the issue by making the roster younger and modernizing the schemes on both offense and defense. It was precisely what needed to happen.
Now, we'll see if it translates when the real action begins later this year.
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