Washington 2025 Season Thoughts, So Far
August 13, 2025
by Steve Thomas
Washington got smoked by the Patriots last Friday evening in Foxboro by a score of 48 – 18, which was the biggest blowout of week one of the preseason. It was an awful game, a pathetic effort marred by mostly poor, amateur-like execution, and players who looked like they were unprepared, coupled with a handful of players who didn’t soil themselves. The lack of preparation is on Dan Quinn and his coaching staff. Furthermore, at least some of the media reports from the joint practice indicated that the Patriots got the best of Washington, which makes some sense given how the games went. That’s never how any team wants to start the season.
That having been said, Washington didn’t dress their top 30 players, and the Patriots played the first quarter with their starters. As a result, this wasn’t exactly an evenly-matched game and shouldn’t be taken too seriously. While nobody should be happy about this contest, it isn’t the end of the world, either. I don’t think it changes much about how I view Washington’s biggest issues to start the season. If there’s one thing we all have seen over the years, it’s that preseason performance is not indicative of regular season performance. Here are what I view as the most important challenges for Washington during week three of training camp.
Jayden Daniels’ continued development
Daniels didn’t play at all against the Patriots, which was a mistake. We all love the guy, and he exceeded expectations last year, but he still needs to have a preseason. My fear for Daniels isn’t that he’s going to fall apart and all of a sudden look terrible in year two. The real reason for concern should be that teams will get a better handle on his strengths and weaknesses through offseason film study. It’s not impossible to think that Daniels’ numbers may not be quite as good as last year since (1) Washington has a much harder schedule, and (2) Washington’s opponents have had more time to develop a defense against him. In my view, Daniels needs real playing time before the games start to actually matter; specifically, he needs to have real time with his new offensive line, and he needs to build some rapport with some of the new receivers. The team should not assume that Daniels doesn’t require more work, because he does, irrespective of how good he was as a rookie.
The running game
The Washington fanbase’s current favorite rookie player, Jacory Croskey-Merritt, wasn’t a bust but also didn’t impress against the Patriots, with 7 carries for 24 yards, which is 3.4 yards per carry. The running back group as a whole were a better, with Demetric Felton, Croskey-Merritt, Chris Rodriguez, and Jeremy McNichols collectively having 22 carries for 106 yards, which is 4.9 yards per carry. The big picture here is that Washington desperately needs to develop a run game that will keep Jayden Daniels from having to be the team’s leading rusher and getting hurt as a result. While the results against the Patriots were decent, I didn’t see evidence that the team has depth that will consistently be above-average by comparison. To me, this is the single biggest issue to resolve in the preseason. Washington’s starters are probably below average, and they need to spend some time in game situations learning to run behind the team’s offensive line. We haven’t really seen that yet during training camp.
Secondary
The secondary had its ups and downs in preseason week one. Trey Amos obviously has a long way to go, but in my view, looks like he has promise and the ability to become a plus-level starter. It’s possible that the team’s apparent plan of Marshon Lattimore and Amos on the outside, with second-year player Mike Sainristil as the nickel corner. Depth is obviously a concern, as we evidenced by the Patriots game, but if Lattimore can get his act together and give the team three solid starters, then that’s a huge improvement over recent years. Once again, these players need preseason game time, and Dan Quinn should let them have significant time in the final two games before the start of the regular season.
Run defense
Washington’s run defense remains a major concern – the Patriots had 31 carries for 153 yards, for 4.9 yards per carry, on Friday night against the back of Washington’s roster. I fully recognize that the team’s big-time defensive lineman such as Daron Payne and Javon Kinlaw did not play, but regardless, this game didn’t inspire confidence, and we still haven’t evidence that things are going to get better this year. Yes, the Patriots did play their starters, but they aren’t exactly known as a running powerhouse, either. I think it’s fair to say that run defense remains an ongoing concern.
Special teams
Good god, were Washington’s special teams bad on Friday night. Let’s start with the kicker – Matt Gay wasn’t terrible, but he did miss a makeable 49 yard kick, which doesn’t bode well for the future. That isn’t the end of the world, but I have to wonder what, exactly Dan Quinn and Adam Peters are possibly thinking when it comes to placekickers. The team had four separate regular season kickers last season, including Austin Seibert, Zane Gonzalez, Greg Joseph, and Cade York, plus more in the 2024 offseason, and are now on yet another. I’m not sure why it’s been so difficult for this team to find in the post-Dustin Hopkins universe.
On a far worse front, Washington’s return defense was absolutely atrocious against Patriots. The even worse news is that at least some of the players who were on the field will be the group who makes the team. Statistically, Washington’s kick return defense was good last year, so the results against the Patriots was both surprising and concerning. Of all of the problems in the Patriots’ game, this was the most concerning. Dan Quinn and company need to take a hard look at everything to do with Washington’s return defense, in particular.
Depth
One thing we did learn via the Patriots game is that Washington’s third string and below apparently . . . isn’t good, I suppose. While this game didn’t tell us much of anything about the starters, I think we all have a right to be concerned about all phases of Washington’s game below the starter level. I fully recognize that teams aren’t game-planning for preseason games, but a blowout to the tune of 48 – 18 nevertheless shouldn’t happen. What does Washington have in its lower ranks, particularly on defense? Nobody knows, and that’s now become a problem.