Thoughts on preseason game 1
August 19, 2026
by Steve Thomas
Well, kids, preseason game 1 of the 2026 NFL season is now in the books for Washington, as the home team had the NFL equivalent of a major Division 1 team playing Northeast Arkansas St. in the first week of a college season. Still, it was good to get some real football back after a long, mostly boring offseason. Frankly, I’m not completely sure how much we actually learned about this year’s team, considering that head coach Dan Quinn refused to play most of the starters at all. I strongly disagree with that decision – the starters need some real game time as well, particularly in a year in which they are adjusting to new systems on both offense and defense. This is even more important considering how difficult Washington’s schedule is to start the year. Regardless, though, that didn’t happen, so we’re stuck discussing what we learned about the team’s backup players. These are the “off the top of my head” thoughts about the game. Let’s dive in.
Under center versus shotgun
Washington’s three quarterbacks who played in this game, Marcus Mariota, Sam Hartman, and Athan Kaliakmanis were collectively under center for 36 of Washington’s 71 offensive snaps in this game. That’s a massive shift from last season – in 2025, Washington’s quarterbacks played out of the shotgun approximately 87% of the time, which was the highest in the NFL,and 91% in 2024.[1] What was saw on Friday night against Miami was, in fact, the massive shift in offensive philosophies that we’ve been hearing about for this entire offseason. Since Dan Quinn mistakenly didn’t play Jayden Daniels or the rest of the starters in this game, we still don’t know how well he’s going to do in this system. The biggest thing this shift did was allow Washington to run the ball more. In this game, the team had 27 pass attempts as compared to 41 running plays. I recognize that this is just the first preseason game, which comes with a very limited gameplan; nevertheless, this was a pretty major change. Of course, considering this was a preseason game using backups against one of the league’s lesser teams, it was not any kind of indication as to how successful the offense will be in a regular season game.
Robert Henry was the obvious standout
In my view, Henry, the undrafted free agent rookie from the University of Texas – San Antonio, helped himself in this game more than any other player. Washington started rookie 6th round pick Kaytron Allen, who had 23 carries for 85 yards, including a long of 16, for an average of 3.7 yards per carry, and 1 touchdown. Henry, though, had 12 carries for 75 yards, including a long of 22, for an average of 6.3 yards per carry. Removing the long run of 22 yards still leaves Henry with an average of 4.8 yards per carry. Recognizing that this was the just the Dolphins, Henry nevertheless looked consistently explosive in a way that we haven’t seen for awhile in Washington. Stranger things have happened than to have a running back come out of nowhere as an undrafted free agent to end up playing a major role on Washington’s offense. Robert Kelley says hello. At a minimum, Henry earned more carries next week.
Washington needs to hope Marcus Mariota isn’t seriously injured
Look, I’m sure that Sam Hartman is a nice guy and is honorable and respectful to his legions of followers obsessed with his looks. His new co-worker Athan Kaliakmanis is no doubt a hard-working guy who wants to learn. The fact of the matter, though, is that neither one of them is going to be a sufficient option to Mariota as the backup quarterback to Jayden Daniels. And if last year is any guide, Daniels might be susceptible to injury. Hartman went 8 for 15 for 80 yards in this game, including one absolutely terrible interception that appeared to be a misread. Kaliakmanis was slightly better, with 6 completions in 10 attempts for 87 yards, albeit against Miami’s deeper backups later in the game. Kaliakmanis at least didn’t throw an interception and in my view looked a bit more polished than Hartman. The point is, though, that neither one is going to be good enough this year to serve as principal backup to a player who missed half of the 2025 season to injury.
Sonny Styles has a ways to go
Styles was one of the very few starters who received playing time against Miami. He had 14 snaps in this game with Washington’s backup defense, and made 3 tackles, including 1 solo. He didn’t look outstanding, and perhaps a bit hesitant at times, but it was . . . okay for his first professional snaps. It seemed to me that Styles still needs some time to get used to this defense and understand his role as an inside linebacker for Washington. In no one would I consider this a “bad” debut; however, he clearly needs some time to get comfortable. Inside linebacker is a tough position to learn. Don’t worry folks, it’s early and he’ll get better.
Generally, the team didn’t look particularly sharp
Miami’s first string team easily moved straight down the field for a touchdown on Washington’s backup defense on the first drive of the game. Obviously, the fact that this was mostly Miami’s starters versus Washington’s backups does matter, but it nevertheless wasn’t a good look for a team with a new defensive coordinator. There’s not a world in which the 2026 Miami Dolphins should be able to just march straight down the field in the opening possession of the preseason. Washington won the game, but to me, this wasn’t a good look or a good way to start the season.
So, in conclusion: I’m glad Washington won, and we had the privilege of seeing the emergence of Robert Henry, a player who has a chance to make a legitimate regular season contribution. All of that is good. However, the fact that Quinn did not play almost any starters was a bad call on his part, and getting dominated by the likes of Miami’s offense in the first quarter was a negative. Overall, it wasn’t a particularly good start to the season for a team that’s looking to improve.
[1] https://www.wusa9.com/article/sports/nfl/washington-commanders/commanders-offense-under-center-david-blough-jayden-daniels-shotgun-stats/65-3e012fab-29a2-4878-8651-7cd43ada8dc6