State of the Franchise, at the bye week
October 26, 2026
by Steve Thomas
Things haven’t been wonderful this season, admittedly. With their recent 23 – 17 loss to the San Francisco 49ers on Monday Night Football, the team is now 1 – 4 – 1. That isn’t good, but I’d like to point out that my official season prediction from just before week one (click here to read) was for Washington to be 1 – 5 after week 6. I wasn’t the only one who made that kind of forecast, either. The record itself therefore shouldn’t be all that surprising to anyone who isn’t a die-hard unrealistic fan. The bigger question is what this performance means about the team in the future. That’s what we’re going to examine today, split up by the general manager, coaching staff, offense, defense, and special teams.
General Manager
Summary: high level of professionalism but average at best roster success; may follow the coaching staff out the door in a year or two
On the good side, Adam Peters has been a key part of instilling a sense of professionalism and normalcy to a franchise still recovering from about 25 years of tragedy brought on by the former owner. In that respect, Peters has done a great job – there’ve been no reports of unprofessional behavior that was the hallmark of the prior group. Remember the stories of boozing in the office, inappropriate photos of cheerleaders, and all the rest with the prior ownership? That’s all gone, and Peters is a part of that success.
However, that having been said, Peters’ drafting and free agent signings have been less than stellar. Of the 14 players drafted by Peters here in Washington from 2024 – 2025, I’d say that only two of them, 2025 first round pick Josh Conerly, Jr. and 2025 fifth round pick Jordan Magee, look like they will live up to their draft status and become solid starters. Before any of you start screaming at me, I’d say Jayden Daniels’ long-term prognosis is still up in the air by the standards of the second overall pick. He has all of the talent in the world, but he needs to stay healthy and become more of a traditional dropback passer and less-injury prone in order for him to be “the answer”. I’d therefore say that he, along with the whole 2026 class, are still up in the air. Of the 14 drafted in 2024 and 2025, I view 5 as outright busts: Johnny Newton, Mike Sainristil, Ben Sinnott, Luke McCaffrey, and Dominique Hampton. A bunch are still up in the air: Javonte Jean-Baptiste, Trey Amos, Jaylin Lane, Kain Medrano, and Jacory Croskey-Merritt.
Peters’ track record in free agency is about the same. I’m not going to list every signing here or rate the 2026 class just yet, but I’d say the major success stories have been Marcus Mariota, Zach Ertz, and Bobby Wagner, with the latter two now obviously having played out their contracts and left the team. Beyond that, there’ve been most average players, with a few busts, such as Tyler Biadasz and Jeremy Chinn. This year’s class hasn’t proven anything, but again, it’s still too early to tell.
And yes, he dramatically screwed up the team’s center position. ‘Nuff said about that.
Coaching Staff
Summary: dead men walking
Absent a dramatic turnaround in the second half of the season, this entire group is likely going to get fired at or near the end of the season. The fact that the already replaced the original offensive and defensive coordinators this past offseason should tell you everything you need to know. Dan Quinn seems like a decent, professional person, but the fact is that his results have been abysmal since the 2024 season. This year, the most glaringly obvious problem is that the team has been terrible on both sides of the ball in the second half of nearly every game, with the exception of the San Francisco game in which they were terrible in the first half. My colleague Dave Earl did a good job of pointing out some stats demonstrating this reality in his column from last week (click here to read).
Also, while I tend to blame the players for penalties, at some point, the rash of dumb pre-snap penalties this team has committed this season needs to directed at the coaching. Washington simply doesn’t appear to be a very disciplined team this season, and that’s on the coaches as well.
At this point, only a miraculous turnaround is going to save this staff. Of course, that could possibly happen late this year when the schedule gets easier. We’ll see. Regardless, I think Quinn survives until the end of the season, or very near to it.
Offense
Summary: Quarterback is still a question, running backs and wide receivers leave much to be desired, and the offensive line has at least some long-term potential.
As I said above, I view Daniels as a bit up in the air from a long-term solution standpoint since he seems to be so injury prone. Not only that, but his style of play tends to lend itself towards injury. To me, he has to change if he’s going to make it into “franchise quarterback” status and stick around here for a decade or more. Beyond that, Washington has essentially failed at developing an above-average running back room, and their starters at wide receiver are getting old by NFL standards. Stefon Diggs is about to be 33 and is on a one-year contract, and the big money guy, Terry McLaurin, is 30 and now out for the season with a torn patellar tendon. The team needs to hope that Antonio Williams and Treylon Burks both pan out and become starters; otherwise, in a year or so, this position group – which is already talent-deficient as compared to the top NFL teams – is going to be in a world of hurt. Same with the tight end group. If Chig Okonkwo doesn’t become a big-time passing threat, then they’ll be in need with that position as well.
Washington’s offensive line has mostly been a disaster this year, but if Laremy Tunsil comes back from his injury, then they’ll be set at both left tackle and right tackle for awhile. I have a feeling that, in that situation, Brandon Coleman would come back to his more natural position of guard. That would mean that the team would only need to fix the other guard position and the center. In other words, it looks bad now but might actually get better in time.
Defense
Summary: Yuck. There’s potential for disaster here.
I’m pretty darn unsure about the interior defensive line from a long-term perspective. Daron Payne is the highest paid player on the roster, and that simply can’t continue. I expect the team to trade him either at the trade deadline or in the offseason. Javon Kinlaw has a large contract as well, which – like Payne – I’m not sure he’s worth. Tim Settle is signed through 2028, but outside of him, it’s possible that the team can, or at least should, have to rebuild this group, again. They’ve been absolutely terrible against the run at times this year and great at others, which is somewhat concerning.
Washington’s edge rushers have been marginal at best so far this year in comparison to all of the expectations brought on by the big free agent signings. Washington is ranked 24th in total sacks and 26th in sack percentage so far this year, despite being second in the NFL in blitz percentage. I’m going to reserve judgment here until the end of the season, but I’m not confident that it was money well spent.
The inside linebacker group is probably the highlight of the defense, with a caveat. Frankie Luvu and Jordan Magee are both quality players; however, the problem is that Luvu is over 30 and in the final year of his contract, and Magee is on injured reserve, along with Leo Chenal. Kain Medrano has surprisingly showed some promise this year, so the jury’s still out on him. The point is that while things may look less than stellar right at the moment, it make actually get better next year, even if Luvu is gone.
Washington’s secondary has obviously been atrocious at times, but things should improve somewhat when Trey Amos finally returns from his injury. That having been said, he’s not necessarily the panacea or the recipe for instant success either. Much of this group’s performance has hinged on major failures by Mike Sainristil, but everyone has blown it at times this year, including the safeties. Are any of you reading this confident that the secondary will all of a sudden be great just because Amos is back? I’m certainly not. That having been said, Amik Robertson has been outstanding at times so far this season, to the point that I think he may be worth a Pro Bowl vote. He’s definitely a bright spot on the defense.
Special teams
Summary: Don’t go, Tress Way!
Washington’s longest-tenured player, Tress Way, said earlier this season that he may retire at the end of the season. Say it isn’t so, Tress. The team has been very fortunate to have such a great punter for so long, so I hope he sticks it out another year or two.
Drew Stevens hasn’t been great, but amongst the ridiculously long line of kickers Washington has had in the past many years, he’s at least average. Who knows whether he’ll be good enough to stick around.
From a kick and punt returning standpoint, Jaylin Lane is above average by NFL standards, and Luke McCaffrey’s most valuable talent may be kick returning. The team could possibly be in decent shape long-term here.
Overall, things don’t look wonderful right now, and that’s unfortunate considering that we’re in year 3 of this team’s rebuild. If the team doesn’t start winning in the second half of the season, look for Adam Peters to blow everything up and start again next year.