Who should be saved and who should go – Offense edition
November 25, 2025
by Steve Thomas
Given that Washington’s 2025 season has been so disappointing, I didn’t think there was any point in spending the bye week covering what went right and wrong – just about everything went wrong. Instead, I thought I’d review the roster and take a stab at predicting who needs to and who should be replaced for the 2026 season. I already covered the defense (click here to read), so today’s I’ll cover the offense. Let’s get started.
Quarterback
Jayden Daniels (starter)
Sam Hartman
This is one of the few position groups on the team that shouldn’t change much next season. Clearly, Jayden Daniels’ 2025 season was nothing like his rookie year; he spent much of the season injured and didn’t perform up to the same level this season that he did as a rookie even when he was healthy. So far in 2025, Daniels has played in 6 games, with 105 completions in 168 attempts, for a 62.5% completion percentage, 1184 yards, 8 touchdowns, and 2 interceptions, for a 94.4 quarterback rating. On the ground, he’s had 54 carries for 262 yards, for 4.9 yards per carry, and 2 touchdowns. For the sake of context, as a rookie, Daniels had a 69% completion percentage and a 100.1 quarterback rating, and averaged 6.0 yards per carry on the ground. He’s just not been the same player as he was last season. Regardless, though, he’s obviously Washington’s future and the team needs to hope that he gets back to his rookie year level of performance with an offseason to improve and some better receivers, and a running game.
Washington needs to make every effort to ensure that Marucs Mariota returns next year. The truth is that he’s been almost as good, or better, than has Daniels this year. Mariota has 92 completions in 140 pass attempts, for a 65.7% completion percentage, 1065 yards, 7 touchdowns, and 5 interceptions, for a 90.3 quarterback rating, as well as 27 carries for 193 yards, which is 7.1 yards per attempt, and 1 touchdown. Mariota has faced a gauntlet of defenses this season, so his stats are an accurate representation of his abilities. He’s the perfect backup for Daniels and the team would be fools to let him go.
Josh Johnson is obviously a long-time veteran and can be relied on to come in and play like a professional when necessary. We haven’t seen Sam Hartman at all in the regular season, but considering that the team has spent two full years trying to develop him, at this point, the smart thing to do would be to continue to keep him around. Johnson is on a one year contract, and Hartman is on the practice squad, so the only real question here is whether the coaches believe that Hartman is ready to take over as the emergency quarterback.
Running backs
Austin Ekeler (starter)
The running back group simply isn’t consistent. Or, for that matter, good.
Ekeler has obviously missed almost the entire season. His contract expires at the end of the year, so Washington will need to decide whether to re-sign him. He’s 30 years old now, which is up there by NFL running back standards. Given his importance to Washington’s offense and to Jayden Daniels, in particular, I suspect that Washington will re-sign him to a one or two year contract.
It’s almost impossible to consider Croskey-Merritt and Rodriguez separately, because they’ve both had very high-quality moments sprinkled into a morass of mediocrity. Here are their respective stats so far this season:
- Croskey-Merritt: 114 carries for 498 yards, 4.4 yards per attempt, and 4 touchdowns, plus 9 receptions for 68 yards
- Rodriguez: 60 carries for 279 yards, 4.7 yards per attempt, and 3 touchdowns, plus 1 reception for 6 yards
The truth is that neither of these players have yet shown that they can develop into a franchise-caliber running back. Croskey-Merritt is a draft pick in his rookie year and Rodriguez was drafted by the prior administration and will be a free agent at the end of the year. Neither one costs significant cap space, but I think it’s possible that the team lets Rodriguez walk. They could bring him back for another season at minimal cost, but either way, I think it’s highly likely that the team spends a fairly high draft pick at running back in another attempt to fix this position group.
Jeremy McNichols is average and will be a free agent after the season.
Wide receiver
Noah Brown (starter)
Terry McLaurin (starter)
Deebo Samuel (starter)
There’s no question that Terry McLaurin is the future, like it or not. His contract is onerous and the team couldn’t outright cut him in 2026 without losing significant cap space. He’s been injured and mediocre so far this season, so the team has no choice but to hope that he gets his mojo back next year.
Deebo Samuel has been a godsend this year considering the enormity of the injury problem in this position group. So far this season, he’s had 53 receptions in 68 targets, for 470 yards, 8.9 yards per reception, and 5 touchdowns, as well as 11 carries for 52 yards, 4.7 yards per carry, and 1 touchdown. He’s not really in the traditional mold of a “#1 receiver”; rather, he’s more of what I would call a hybrid player who can fill many roles. In some ways, Samuel is somewhat like Austin Ekeler in that he can play both a ground game and as a receiver. He’ll be a free agent at the end of the year, and I expect Washington to make every effort to re-sign him.
Noah Brown has been on injured reserve for most of the year, but at 6’2”, 225 pounds, he’s a classic #2, “Z” receiver in terms of body type. Brown is a free agent at the end of the year, and while I expect the team to make an effort to re-sign him, there’s no doubt that the front office needs to bring in a playmaker opposite McLaurin, I suspect through free agency. Therefore, even if Brown comes back, I think it will be in a reduced role.
The only other players of consequence are McCaffery and Lane. McCaffrey seems to be a stereotypical possession receiver. He making progress and developing before his injury, so I expect him to continue to make progress in a backup capacity. Lane is the opposite of McCaffrey – he has the physical characteristics of a big-play receiver. We’ll see how much better he gets next year.
The rest of the players in this position group are min-salary fill-in types. Of this group, Chris Moore has been the most productive, barely, with 10 receptions for 192 yards. A couple of these players might be back; none will make a huge difference.
Expect the team to move heaven and earth to bring in a big-time playmaker as a starter opposite McLaurin in the offseason.
Tight ends
Zach Ertz (starter)
This group is in somewhat dire straits. The starter, Ertz, is 35 years old and at the end of the NFL road. So far this year, he’s had 39 receptions in 57 targets for 387 yards, 9.9 yards per reception, and 4 touchdowns. In my view, that’s hardly the kind of production that would justify a large cap hit. That having been said, Ertz’s cap hit this year was $6.25M, which is big but not enormous. He’s going to be a free agent at the end of the year, and while ordinarily I’d say the team would let him walk, the status of the rest of the tight end group doesn’t exactly inspire confidence. Collectively, John Bates, Ben Sinnott, and Colson Yankoff have a total of 10 receptions in 14 targets, for 99 yards, and 1 touchdown. Bates’ one redeeming quality is that he’s more of a blocking back than the others, which is obviously a much-needed skillset
That’s terrible. Washington needs to totally rebuild this group by letting Ertz go, cutting Yankoff, making Bates the blocking back, and bringing in a new starter and backups. This position group needs lots of help.
Offensive line
Tyler Biadasz (starter at center)
Josh Conerly Jr. (starter at right tackle)
Samuel Cosmi (starter at right guard)
Llucas Niang
Chris Paul (starter at left guard)
Laremy Tunsil (starter at left tackle)
Of all of the team’s position groups, the offensive line is probably in the best shape. They made an outstanding trade of Laremy Tunsil, who has more or less lived up to expectations. Josh Conerly started very slow and played poorly early in the year, but has gotten better as time has gone on. I think he has a good chance of working out as the starting right tackle. Tyler Biadasz has one year left on his contract at center. I didn’t think he has had quite as clean of a year this season as he did last season, but he’s still an above-average center and at least the short-term future at the position.
Sam Cosmi is signed to a long-term contract through 2028 and is firmly engrained at right guard. The only real question in this group is at left guard. Chris Paul is the starter, but he’ll be a free agent in the offseason. His only real competition at the position currently on the roster is Brandon Coleman, the former tackle turned guard. If I had to guess, I’d say that they’ll probably be more inclined to give Coleman the first shot at the position next year, if for no other reason than the fact that he’s a high draft pick.
Regardless, don’t expect big changes in the offensive line in 2026
Specialists
Jake Moody (kicker)
Tyler Ott (long snapper)
Tress Way (punter extraordinaire)
I’m not even going to try to predict the team’s placekicking situation. At this point, it’s laughable. This position has more than a little similarity to Spinal Tap’s search for a drummer (look it up if you don’t get it).
I haven’t heard about or observed problems with the long snapper, and he’s signed through 2026. Ott will be back.
The team’s longest tenured player, Tress Way, will be a free agent at the end of the season. I recognize that Way is 35 years old, but I would like to think that the team’s front office will let him finish out his career in Washington.
What are your thoughts? Let me know in the comment section below
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