Overview of the Washington Commanders Defense
The Commanders' defense was a disaster in 2024, sparking a fire sale of their best talent ahead of the trade deadline. The 2025 unit improved in some areas, but still had a long way to go. Washington moved from 32nd to 27th in points, and from 26th to a tie for 12th in sacks. Beyond that, last season was a virtual re-run. Only the Jets had fewer takeaways, and no one had fewer fumble recoveries than Washington's 2. They were one of three teams to allow more than eight yards per pass attempt, and two teams gave up more long plays through the air. The run defense was 30th in yards and 27th in yards per carry.
Poor defense was synonymous with the NFC East in 2025. In 2026, the trend is new defensive coordinators. Like the Cowboys and Giants, Washington's defense starts over under new leadership. Daronte Jones is a first-time coordinator at the pro level. He comes over from Minnesota, where he was a secondary coach and pass defense coordinator under the highly successful Brian Flores. Jones will incorporate much of the Flores scheme and approach, with a few twists to put his own stamp on it.
Washington will continue to run a 3-4 base, using plenty of 4-2-5 nickel looks and possibly a lot of big nickel with three safeties. The Vikings blitzed more than anyone in 2025. That might be mirrored by the Commanders as well, especially if they fail to get enough pressure from the line. On paper, that looks like a considerable possibility.
For a defense that struggled so badly, the Commanders committed less capital to that side of the ball than one might have expected. They did spend wisely in free agency, though, landing corner Amik Robertson, safety Nick Cross, linebacker Leo Chenal, and edge defenders Odafe Oweh and K'Lavon Chaisson, all of whom could end up starting. The team used two draft picks on that side of the ball; the first one was a doozie, landing the best linebacker in the draft, Sonny Styles. Other than Styles, there were no superstars in the offseason catch. That said, the roster is improved.
Washington Commanders Defensive Line
Two short years ago, Washington had one of the league's more talented defensive lines, with Montez Sweat and Chase Young on the edge, Jonathan Allen and Daron Payne inside. Payne is still there, but he is now surrounded by a collection of mostly journeyman types. Sometimes there are no big dawgs available in free agency. To the organization's credit, they made the best of what was there.
There are no sure double-digit sack guys at the edge position. If Dorance Armstrong is finally healthy, the Commanders will be deep with good players. Chaisson and Oweh are expected to start, though a healthy Armstrong might have something to say about that. Both newcomers are former first-round picks.
Chaisson started his career in Jacksonville, where he flopped like a fish out of water. Four seasons there produced five sacks, and he never earned a starting job. Things started to turn around when Chaisson escaped to Las Vegas in 2024. He opened the season on the sideline, moved into the rotation in week four, and started the final four games when Maxx Crosby was out. On 508 plays, Chaisson totaled 32 tackles, 5 sacks, and 2 takeaways. He landed a starting job with the Patriots right out of the gate last year, and the improvement continued. On 639 snaps, Chaisson had 31 stops, 7.5 sacks, and 3 turnovers that included a recovery for a score. After all of that, the young man is just 26 years old and trending up.
Oweh's journey has been different, but there are some similarities. The Ravens picked him up at the end of the first round in 2021. He became an immediate contributor, posting 13 sacks and 9 turnovers over his first three seasons. Oweh had somewhat of a breakout in 2024, reaching double-digit sacks for the first, and thus far, only time. The sack total was nice, but there was nothing to go with it. Pedestrian tackle numbers and a single forced fumble left Oweh outside the realm of fantasy value.
Oweh was shipped to the Chargers during the 2025 season. Between the two teams, his numbers were similar to 2024. The guy can get after the passer and has the potential to reach double-digits for a second time in this defense. Even if he gets there, it will take more than the 38 combined stops he recorded last year to make him fantasy relevant.
Armstrong is somewhat of an Oweh clone in terms of career path and production. He played a lot of football over six seasons with Dallas, putting up decent sack numbers in 2022 and 2023, but was always way short in the tackle columns. He was the third man, seeing most of his playing time in passing situations while with the Cowboys, though he did make several starts along the way.
Armstrong got his opportunity when he landed in Washington in 2024. The Commanders made him a starter, but the numbers didn't move much that first season. Everything clicked for him at the start of 2025. Through the first five weeks, Armstrong was 15-7-5 and the fantasy game's fourth-ranked edge. His season ended with a torn ACL on the fourth play in week 7. If he can get back to the way he was playing before the injury, it will be hard to keep him out of the starting lineup.
Regardless of who starts, Chaisson, Oweh, and Armstrong are likely to be the nucleus of the edge rotation. We could see Charles Omenihu, Detrich Wise, and maybe even rookie Joshua Josephs pick up a few snaps, but none of those guys are in line for major playing time.
It is uncommon for a 300+ pound interior lineman to reach double-digit sacks. In 2022, Daron Payne added his name to that exclusive list. Unfortunately, that was a perfect storm and remains an outlier. Payne's next best sack total was 5, as a rookie in 2018. He posted at least 32 solo tackles in five of his first six seasons, and at least 53 combined every year from 2018 to 2023. Payne was 22-20-4 in 2024, and 20-26-3 last year. He is no longer in the DT1 conversation, though the potential remains for him to get back there. Payne finished just inside the top 20 in 2025. Pick him up as a second starter and keep your fingers crossed that the new role will bring the production back.
Payne will work at nose tackle in the 3-4. One interesting quirk that we might see is a nickel package that pulls a linebacker instead of a lineman. A 5-1-5, if you will. That is something the Vikings have done over the last few years. Jones may bring it with him.
Javon Kinlaw, Tim Settle, and Jer'Zhan Newton should make up the rest of the rotation at tackle. They are good veteran players who have all been around long enough to know that their contributions to the team don't tend to show up on the stat sheet.
- Edge Dorance Armstrong – Watchlist deep sleeper
- Edge Odafe Oweh – Bye week prospect with a little upside
- Edge K'Lavon Chaisson – Worth keeping an eye on
- Edge Charles Omenihu – Marginal impact expected
- Edge Joshua Josephs – Developmental rookie
- Edge Deatrich Wise Jr – No impact
- NT Daron Payne – Target as a second starter with some upside
- DT Javon Kinlaw – Marginal impact
- DT Jer'Zhan Newton – No expectations
- DT Tim Settle – No fantasy impact
- DT Shy Tuttle – No impact
- DT DJ Davidson – No impact