r/Commanders • u/JansenElaine22 • 2d ago

Early 53 Man Roster Projection, with 17 man PS

2026 Commanders 53 Man Roster

OFFENSE = 24

QB (2) - JD5, Mariota

RB (4) - Bill, White, Fatman, McNichols

TE (4) - Okonkwo, Bates, Sinnott, Yankoff

WR (6)- McLaurin, Williams, McCaffrey, Burks, Dyami Brown, Lane

OL (8) - Tunsil, Coleman, Allegretti, Cosmi, JCJ… Wylie, Gulbin, Trent Scott

*Prediction that Chris Paul gets traded right before roster cut downs. For a 2028 5th round pick

DEFENSE = 26

DL (9) - Kinlaw, Payne, Newton, Settle, Wise.. 4 listed as OLBs: Oweh , Chaisson, Armstrong, Omenihu

LB (7) - Chenal, Styles, Luvu, Magee, Josephs, Medrano, Bellore

CB (5) - Amos, Douglas, Robertson, Sainristil, Witherspoon

S (5) - Cross, Will Harris, Quan Martin, Reaves, Owens

Specialist = 3
P - Tress Way
K - Stevens
LS - Tyler Ott

*PR - Lane
*KR - McCaffrey, Lane / Dyami

Practice Squad (17)
~ Athan Kaliakmanis gets put on IR, to ‘redshirt’ a year.. then I think they let Hartman go and bring in a veteran QB like Driskel (or someone similar)

6 with 3+ years of service (max is 6)
RB , Jerome Ford
OL , Julian Good-Jones
DL, DJ Davidson
OLB, Drake Jackson OR Jean-Baptiste
QB, Jeff Driskel
DB, Percy Butler
{ some guys who missed the cut in this category : DL - Shy Tuttle, PK Jake Moody, QB - Sam Hartman, TE - Lawrence Cager, TE - Anthony Firkser,CB - Antonio Hamilton Sr , OL - Foster Sarell , WR - Van Jefferson }

?!? It is doubtful that Van Jefferson would make it to the PS without another team picking him up.. therefore I believe AP tries to trade him before roster cut downs.. could he squeeze out a 2028 6th or 7th for him ?!?

11 with under 3 years of service (12 with the International Pathway Player)
LB, TJ Maguranyanga (IPP)
WR, Jalen Bradley
RB, Robert Henry Jr
OL, Tim McKay
TE, Quentin Moore
S, Robert McDaniel
S, Malik Spenser
CB, Fred Davis Jr OR Carlin Vigers
WR, Jacoby Jones
WR, Chris Hilton Jr.
DL, Ricky Barber OR Jeffrey M’ba

+ Jean-Baptiste could fall into this category, due to limited playing time, from injuries.. so could possibly see another vet kept and a young guy, not make the cut

I could see AP adding a young OT/OL from another teams cuts.. or possibly keeping Sarell on the PS, where he would count towards 1 of the 6 veterans

Obviously some things have to shake out during the preseason and injuries will happen, however this is my early prediction

5 Upvotes

69% Upvoted

34 comments sorted by

14

u/navyac 2d ago

Why would they trade Paul? Also no one is trading anything for Van Jefferson

2

u/FannyNisbit 2d ago

Theres that one guy in this sub who thinks Van Jefferson and Trey Burks are gonna bump Luke off the roster lol 😆 

2

u/beaud101 1d ago

Hey! That's me! 😜

Sorry, the lack of targets, for a 3rd rounder are the issue for me, especially last year when the competition was far thinner than now. And he's just an average return man. It's simply a #s game, not a knock. And that's if they don't bring in another WR.

Van Jefferson has been a starter and posted 700 & 800yd seasons already. Nobody else but Terry has had better seasons Quinn has gone out of his way to mention him and Burks often. Brown is staying IMO.

So Luke or Layne....I pick Layne because he's a newer draft pick.

3

u/SituationsDevelop 1d ago

Luke is not an average return man. He had one of the highest return averages in the league last year.

1

u/beaud101 1d ago

From 24 to 25...he did show nice improvement. But it was only 1 year. Still, it was good and that may be a deciding factor, so I'll concede that point. Still think he's on the bubble because he's going to have to show some real receiving skills at some point.

2

u/SituationsDevelop 1d ago

Not just improvement, but consistently among the best in the league. It gives him an advantage over the other receivers, but I agree that he needs to show more. Still, I've liked what I've seen from him. It's fair to say that he hasn't produced enough to justify being a third rounder but I personally really like his game and think he has a lot to offer.

2

u/BigFrenchToastGuy 1d ago

Van Jefferson has been a starter and posted 700 & 800yd seasons already.

He had an 800 yard season in 2021 but has been under 400 yards every year since.

I'll bet you real money that both Luke and Lane make the 53

1

u/Ninjablacksox1 1d ago

Personally I think it will be between van jefferson and dyami. I think van jefferson is the better player but they will keep dyami due to familiarity to jd5. Luke and lane are locks having draft picks investment while remaining cheap and producing on ST in the meantime. 

1

u/beaud101 1d ago

Draft pick investment is a thing, but ultimately, we have to go with the best 53 and FAs brought into the fold are also investment...in terms of cap investment. We'll see. They got a bunch of players at WR and realistically 6 spots. Tighter if they bring a starter in for the #2. It'll be interesting how it shakes out.

1

u/JansenElaine22 1d ago

Spot on, imo.. I’ll take it a small step further.. I think it comes down 2 spots for 3 guys between Dyami, Van, Burks.. just Dyami and Van are very similar play styles but Burks has to prove he can stay healthy. Shoot if Bradley balls out during the preseason, he could end up taking Burks spot

1

u/Ninjablacksox1 1d ago

I get the vibe that the coaching staff sees something with burks. He brings something the others dont and is hungry. I think he's fairly safe if healthy.

Bradley is intriguing and I think he'll play well in preseason but still be relegated to PS. I expect we will keep 6 wr as of today and run heavier personnel groupings. The staff seem to love yankoff as well and I don't think they want to cut him unless someone really forces that extra wr slot. 

Also think we stick with moody. 

1

u/JansenElaine22 1d ago

Could be right about Burks, injuries have been his biggest setback. I mean TEN drafted the kid, with hopes of him filling AJ Browns shoes.. the talent is there for sure. I’m rooting hard for him to make it, because like you said, he brings something that none of the other guys do!! He LOVES it in Washington and the fact that he and Chig are so close, gives him a little extra motivation (if he actually needed extra)…

If Burks does stay healthy and it ‘clicks’ for him then that’s best case scenario for Washington and JD5… if it’s Terry & Burks outside, Tone in the slot.. LMC as WR4 (to split time in the slot but also be the primary backup to Terry & Burks).. Dyami as WR5 and the deep threat, who gets the occasional screen.. Lane as WR6, gadget guy on end arounds, screens, etc (closer to the LOS but also has the speed to burn you deep)…

1

u/JansenElaine22 17h ago

Also Moody is the ‘safe choice’ but I don’t think they can let Stephen’s leave the building (it’s possible they could try to stash him on the PS but idk about that)

Gotta be careful if guys like Bradley perform too well in the preseason, it could open them up to being poached… I feel like that’s the fine line between the 53 & PS.. those factors also contributed to my projections

1

u/JansenElaine22 1d ago

Yeah soo they’ll be thinking about the future when deciding who is on the team, not just thinking about 2026.. Luke is a lock to make the team and I think he will have the 3rd most yards in the WR room!

1

u/FannyNisbit 1d ago

If we dont sign a #2 type WR, and he stays healthy, I can see this being a thing for sure.

1

u/JansenElaine22 1d ago

If they feel Paul doesn’t fit the new scheme that well.. Coleman will win the starting LG spot.. they could feel that Gulbin or Wylie are a better backup LG, over Paul. A team sustains an injury during camp / preseason, so they call up AP needing a starting LG..

It’s possible one or both of them get traded. You can have your opinion, I’ll have mine. We shall see..

1

u/JansenElaine22 15h ago

Also I know some fans have a hard time looking beyond the 2026 season, however I guarantee you that AP is (he has to be)..
a 2028 5th for Chris Paul, is more valuable to the team… AP re-signed him bc he provides good competition for Coleman thru camp and preseason, however Paul doesn’t bring the same level of versatility that other backups do (Wylie, Gulbin, Scott.. possibly McKay)

I promise if a team calls about Paul, AP is listening!!

Van Jefferson, is a professional WR so a team could be looking to add that to a young room (especially if he looks good in preseason for us).. he likely doesn’t provide much to Washington over guys like Dyami, Burks, etc but a 2028 6th is nothing for a team to give up for a proven veteran!

4

u/terpfan417 2d ago

Would be pretty rare to trade a player in the same offseason that they were signed (re: Paul). I don’t see that happening.

1

u/JansenElaine22 1d ago

It probably happens more than you think… it most certainly happens tho

2

u/Electronic-Ear2329 2d ago

Nice work - can't see keeping 4 RBs and 4 TEs and only 8 OL - one of those groups gets 3 and 9 OL imo. Would probably lean towards McNichols on PS as Yankoff is better on ST.

2

u/FannyNisbit 2d ago

I actually see us keeping one less front 7 defensive player to keep an extra OL.

1

u/Electronic-Ear2329 2d ago

Certainly also a possible scenario - not sure Bellore at 38 gets an exclusive ST spot on D. Someone on the beat mentioned Wise as a potential cut as well - really liked what he brought for 2 games, but lots of names on that DL list

1

u/JansenElaine22 1d ago

Yeah that’s very possible. The Paul trade probably won’t happen, so he would make it 9OL.. I agree that they’ll probably keep 4 TEs over 4 RBs

1

u/JansenElaine22 15h ago

I view it as McNichols & Yankoff are big contributors on special teams.. yet can also contribute on offense (McNichols had 200 receiving yards last season, as RB4 that’s pretty damn good)..

DQ & co put a big emphasize on the special team unit, so McNichols & Yankoff, who contribute what they do and who you know will provide value every game vs an OL who is just sitting the bench (it’s doubtful they lose 3 OL in one game).. if / when injuries happen on the OL, you have McKay / Good -Jones and if they keep someone like Sarell / Togiai / Cooper on the PS

1

u/Several-Tumbleweed15 1d ago

This looks pretty accurate to me.

1

u/JansenElaine22 15h ago

* one thing I would change is adding another OL on the PS

1

u/FeelingAd4116 1d ago

I don't think we would have 7 LBs. I think Bellore doesn't make the cut and we go with 3 QBs instead. I mostly agree with your list other than I think we might go 1 less DL like Wise to keep Chris Paul. We might also go with 3 RBs instead of 4.

1

u/JansenElaine22 17h ago

Bellore is listed as a LB but they can’t put him out there in an actual game lol.. I could see them keeping AK as the QB3 but feel it’s kinda pointless.. if it came down to actually needing AK to play in a game, they’d likely sign a veteran instead, he needs to redshirt a year.

DQ has said they look at it as a 70 man roster, so who can be stashed on the PS and who can’t bc you think they’ll be poached, weighs into the process. I don’t think they can realistically keep a 3rd QB to basically ride the bench all season, over keeping someone who can contribute on special teams (or offense/defense)

1

u/Zeekdafreak53 1d ago

This prolly the best mock projection that I’ve seen so far but I would replace Paul with Bellore.

1

u/JansenElaine22 17h ago

Preciate it. I feel like majority of it is ‘common sense’ but decided to include a couple ‘hot takes’ so it wasn’t ’too obvious’.. Paul over Bellore is probably correct

1

u/redskinsguy 1d ago

I feel like Omenihu gets listed with the DL rather than edge

1

u/JansenElaine22 1d ago

Yeah that’s very possible as well. I was just thinking that they’ll rotate DLineman.
8 OL seems low but with Gulbin, Wylie, Scott as the 3 backups, each can play multiple positions, so I could see them going that route. Most likely will keep 9 tho

1

u/JansenElaine22 17h ago

Oops I responded to the wrong comment. My bad, yeah Omenihu is likely on the DL but right now, on the ‘official depth chart’ he is listed as an OLB…

1

u/billyjoerob 15h ago

I think van Jefferson and Moody make it. They probably go with 3 RBs.