Roster Remake 2024
May 10, 2024
By Noonefromtampa
Adam Peters and the rest of Washington’s front office have created the greatest roster turnover in the modern history of the Washington franchise. Several different media sources have done detailed analysis of the roster and put the overall return rate around 57% (or conversely a 43% turnover rate), the lowest of the 32 NFL teams. This column will give a brief overview of the roster changes, with more detailed reviews by position groups coming up in the weeks leading up to training camp. This an unscientific guess at the roster impacts by position groups and is solely meant for entertainment purposes, but by reading this article you can better pontificate at the company watercooler with the other Commanders’ fans.
New free agents are italicized and rookies (draft and undrafted) are underlined.
Quarterbacks
2023 – Sam Howell, Jacoby Brissett, Jake Fromm
2024 – Marcus Mariota, Jayden Daniels, Jeff Driskel, Sam Hartman, Jake Fromm
The Commanders probably keep 3 quarterbacks on the roster between 53-man and practice squad, and I doubt any are the same as last year. The team is very high on undrafted free agent Hartman as a potential backup to Daniels. The turnover rate for this position group is 100%.
Running Backs
2023 – Antonio Gibson, Brian Robinson Jr., Chris Rodriguez, Alex Armah, Derrick Gore, Jonathan Williams, Jaret Patterson
2024 – Brian Robinson Jr., Austin Ekeler, Chris Rodriguez Jr., Jeremy McNichols, Austin Jones, Michael Wiley
The team will likely keep 3 running backs on the 53-man and 1 on practice squad. With two holdovers from last year, the turnover rate will be 50%.
Wide Receivers
2023 – Terry McLaurin, Curtis Samuel, Jahan Dotson, Dyami Brown, Jamison Crowder, Byron Pringle, Mitchell Tinsley, Kazmeir Allen, Davion Davis, Brycen Tremayne, Dax Milne
2024 – Terry McLaurin, Jahan Dotson, Dyami Brown, Jamison Crowder, Luke McCaffrey, Olamide Zaccheaus, Mitchell Tinsley, Brycen Tremayne, Davion Davis, Dax Milne, Kazmeir Allen, Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint
The team usually keeps five to six wide receivers, plus another on the practice squad. With the change over in coaching staff, I think the other players who are more or less guaranteed roster spots are McLaurin, Dotson and McCaffrey. Out of the seven roster spots, I don’t see more than two different players from last year on the roster for 29% turnover rate.
Tight Ends
2023 – Logan Thomas, Cole Turner, John Bates, Armani Rogers, Curtis Hodges
2024 – Zach Ertz, John Bates, Cole Turner, Ben Sinnott, Armani Rogers, Colson Yankoff
The Commanders have kept three four ends on the roster in the past. This position did not see tremendous production in 2023. The odds are two holdovers, probably Bates and Turner, mixed with two newcomers Ertz and Sinnott yielding a 50% turnover rate.
Tackles
2023 – Charles Leno Jr., Andrew Wylie, Cornelius Lucas, Alex Akingbulu, Trenton Scott
2024 – Cornelius Lucas, Andrew Wylie, Brandon Coleman, Trent Scott, Alex Akingbulu, David Nwaogwugwu
This group may change from now until the first week of season, so this group is pretty much a guess at this point. Four tackles are the most likely number of tackles to be on the roster with Coleman being the new addition. If no other additions are made to this group, the turnover rate would be 25% with three of four players returning from last year.
Guards
2023 – Samuel Cosmi, Chris Paul, Saahdiq Charles, Julian Good-Jones, Jaryd Jones-Smith, Mason Brooks, Braeden Daniels
2024 – Samuel Cosmi, Nick Allegretti, Chris Paul, Mason Brooks, Braeden Daniels, Julian Good-Jones, Michael Deiter
At guard, Allegretti projects to replace Paul at left guard. Brooks and Daniels are coming back from injuries. The team probably only keeps three guards since Wylie and Ricky Stromberg can both play guard. So that third spot will be contested between the young players and Deiter a six-year veteran. I’ll go with 1 of 3 players being new for a 33% turnover rate.
Centers
2023 – Nick Gates, Ricky Stromberg, Tyler Larsen, Nolan Laufenberg
2024 – Tyler Biadasz, Ricky Stromberg
The center position has been problematic the last couple of years with injuries and performance. The team will only carry probably two centers this season. With one new player, the turnover rate is 50%.
Defensive Ends
2023 – Montez Sweat, Chase Young, James Smith-Williams, Casey Toohill, K.J. Henry, Efe Obada, Andre Jones Jr., Jalen Harris, Joshua Pryor
2024 – Dorance Armstrong, Dante Fowler Jr., Clelin Ferrell, KJ Henry, Efe Obada, Andre Jones Jr., Jalen Harris, Javontae Jean-Baptiste, Joshua Pryor
What a difference a year makes. The Commanders cleaned house on starting defensive ends last season before the trade deadline. Assuming Armstrong, Fowler and Ferrell make the team the turnover rate will likely be between 60% and 75%, depending on how ends they keep, four or five.
Defensive Tackles
2023 – Jonathan Allen, Daron Payne, John Ridgeway, Phidarian Mathis, Abdullah Anderson, Benning Potoa’e, David Bada
2024 – Jonathan Allen, Daron Payne, Jer’Zhan Newton, John Ridgeway, Phidarian Mathis, Benning Potoa’e, Norell Pollard
Newton was an unexpected gift to the team, a mid-first round grade player still on the board in the second round. The question will be which current player does he replace and does the team keep four or more defensive tackles on the two rosters. I’ll go with five in total and two being new for a 40% turnover rate.
Linebackers
2023 – Jamin Davis, Cody Barton, David Mayo, Khaleke Hudson, De’Jon Harris, Jabril Cox, Brandon Bouyer-Randle
2024 – Frankie Luvu, Bobby Wagner, Jamin Davis, Anthony Pittman, Jordan Magee, Mykal Walker, Bo Bauer, Keandre Jones, Brandon Bouyer-Randle
The biggest weakness of the 2023 season is no longer the leading contender for that in 2024. This position group has been turned over. I’m thinking there will be six linebackers between the two rosters, with 5 being new to the team. The turnover rate for this group is 83%.
Cornerbacks
2023 – Kendall Fuller, Emmanuel Forbes, Benjamin St-Juste, Danny Johnson, Christian Holmes, Jace Whittaker, Kyu Blu Kelly, Nick Whiteside, Tariq Castro-Fields, D’Angelo Mandell
2024 – Michael Davis, Emmanuel Forbes Jr., Benjamin St-Juste, Mike Sainristil, Christian Holmes, D’Angelo Mandell, James Pierre, Kyu Blu Kelly, Nick Whiteside, Noah Igbinoghene, Tariq Castro-Fields, Chigozie Anusiem, A. J. Woods
With a large number of new faces coming in, there is going to be some interesting competition in OTAs and training camp . The coaches need to find two starters and a decent backup out of this group. I’m projecting a total of seven cornerbacks with four new players for a turnover rate of 57%.
Safeties
2023 – Kamren Curl, Darrick Forrest, Percy Butler, Quan Martin, Jeremy Reaves, Sean Chandler, Terrell Burgess, Joshua Kalu
2024 – Jeremy Chinn, Darrick Forrest, Quan Martin, Percy Butler, Jeremy Reaves, Dominique Hampton, Ben Nikkel, Tyler Owens
Three rookies coming into this position group means to me that the coaches are good with the players at the top of the depth chart and are looking for developmental players for the future. I think between the rosters there will be six safeties and two will be new to the team for a 33% turnover rate.
Special Teams
2023 – LS Camaron Cheeseman, LS Tucker Addington, K Joey Slye, P Tress Way
2024 – LS Tyler Ott, K Brandon McManus, P Tress Way
The front office and coaches solved the long snapper issue by bringing in one of the league’s best at that position in Ott. Not a huge difference between the kickers and Way returns. The group has a 67% turnover rate.
Recap
As you can see, for the first few games fans are going to need to keep a roster handy when watching to figure out all the new players and their jersey numbers. There are many position groups where the turnover rate exceeded 50%. Coming off a four-win season and seven straight seasons of not exceeding a 0.500 winning percentage, some drastic changes were needed. The front office delivered on that. Expect more changes next year.