Washington Commanders Defensive Line: Will They Rebound in 2022?
June 23, 2022
by David Earl
Disappointing Results Last Season
Washington’s defense was hyped up by many person last season. Defensive end Montez Sweat talked about he and Chase Young breaking the combined sack record of 39 by Vikings edge rushers Chris Doleman and Keith Millard. There was a feel of years past when players like Chris Baker and Josh Norman made promises of success that never came to fruition. Still, there was a genuine idea among most this unit could actually make good on the hype entering the 2021 season. Knowing the tough schedule entering that season and the gauntlet of elite-level quarterbacks midseason, many tempered some of the expectations but still looked on this unit as a top 5 defense. Needless to say, the 2021 season ended as it started, as a complete train wreck. While after the loss of Young and Sweat we saw the unit play fundamentally better, the loss of their talent alone was still very noticeable still understandably so. Where does this unit, specifically the defensive line, stand entering the 2022 season? Will the loss of Matt Ioannidis and Tim Settle be felt or, with the depth of Phidarian Mathis is there enough depth to overcome the departures? As we look into those questions, it’s only reasonable to start with Washington’s bookends Chase Young and Montez Sweat.
Chase Young and Montez Sweat
After the week 3 blowout loss by Buffalo, Ron Rivera made it very clear the defensive line unit needs to work together and play as positions. Bucky Brooks pointed out that this talented unit just seems to play hero ball, for which some blamed the anchors of this defensive line. As mentioned earlier, Sweat made it a point to say that he and Chase Young wanted the single-season sack record. To put it bluntly, that seemed to cause their focus to shift into a selfish mode. This isn’t to say they entered the 2021 season with the intent to be selfish, but setting a goal like this could easily cause a mindset that this goal can only help the defense. Well, as great of a goal as that may be to set, this clearly hurt their discipline and responsibilities to the scheme. As a collective unit the defensive line’s their numbers on passing downs were poor, considering expectations, ranking 21st in pass completions allowed, 29th in passing yards allowed, and 32nd in passing touchdowns allowed. These poor numbers can certainly be attributed to the lack of pressure off the edge but the results were bad even with Young and Sweat healthy. So, the results weren’t solely due to Washington missing their top edge rushers. Whether it’s because of their focus on the sack record, lack of chemistry, or simply inadequate scheme, something needs to change, and that starts with the proper mindset of Young and Sweat. The talent is there and there is no questioning their physicality so entering the 2022 season they must take the next step of development or the results will remain the same. When you also consider the depth and the limitations each one carries, it’s even more imperative Chase Young and Montez Sweat get off on the right foot.
Interior Defensive Line Depth
Jonathan Allen is a given, but Daron Payne is now on borrowed time entering his final year without an extension. This combination has been reliable and affective. They were an integral part of a top 10 unit last year, as measured by total rushing yards allowed and yards per rushing attempt, and were ranked 11th in rushing touchdowns. They present a formidable tandem against the run plus help eat up blocks for the linebackers. To that group, Washington added rookie Phidarian Mathis, who was one of the top rated run stuffers in college and can also effectively push the pocket leaving little comfort for opposing quarterbacks. Although this 3 man rotation should look to be affective, losing both Tim Settle and Ioannidis could truly haunt them this season. Having two 1st year players in David Bada and Tyler Clark plus a journeyman in Justin Hamilton rounding out that depth leaves a once strong and deep position group as one that is inexperienced overall beyond Allen and Payne. The move to allow Settle to leave for a cheap reasonable deal could hurt the most looking past the 2022 season, but that’s the future and we are looking at today.
Rebound Season Possible?
The schedule alone, especially the first 2 weeks potentially, may assist this unit’s improvement compared to last season. Having a schedule this coming season that is projected to be one of the easiest in the NFL, plus the fact that they face many inferior or inexperienced quarterbacks, should allow the defensive line to look better by near default alone. Now the question is how well this unit fare against balanced playoff caliber teams like Dallas, Green Bay, and San Francisco, or when the face power run teams like Tennessee and Cleveland? These are the key matchups on which to focus in order to find out whether this unit has truly rebounded or not as the other weaker teams present more of a fools gold scenario. Overall I absolutely see a rebound season, but not to the level of a top 5 unit as they were 2 years ago, especially with the lack of depth and experience after the top four starters. I truly believe Washington’s offense will be vastly better than last year, so this unit will just need to be a middle of the road squad and to apply much more pressure in the passing game than last season. If they play with more discipline and stick to their schematic responsibilities, and stay relatively healthy, this unit can certainly help Washington stay in the playoff hunt all year.