Blog
A Case of the Mondays: Emphasis on Initial
Welcome back to another Monday in late August, that magical time of year when the Commanders are technically 0-0 but somehow already feel like they're chasing a two-score deficit. Washington closed out its preseason by getting bludgeoned 41-3 in Baltimore, a game so lopsided that the Ravens outgained the Commanders 456-177 and still found time to miss a couple of field goals just to make sure everyone knew this wasn't even their best effort. Dan Quinn sat 41 players for that one, which is either smart roster management or the coaching equivalent of tapping out before the bell, depending on your mood. Either way, preseason football did what preseason football does: it ended, and now everyone gets to pretend the score didn't happen while still worrying about it for a full calendar year.
Cut day arrived right on schedule, and the Commanders trimmed 90 players down to 53 with all the emotional grace of a family reunion where somebody has to tell Uncle Sam Hartman he's not invited to Thanksgiving anymore. Hartman, who never appeared in a regular season game in Washington, got waived, along with a long list of names like Krys Barnes, Boogie Basham, Van Jefferson and Trent Scott, the last of whom holds the delightfully weird trivia distinction of catching Jayden Daniels' first career NFL touchdown pass. The good news, if you squint, is that Scott and Hartman are both viewed as practice squad candidates, so the goodbyes may be more of a 'see you tomorrow' situation. Nicki Jhabvala noted the initial 53 landed at an odd 27 offense, 23 defense split, which tracks for a team that spent the offseason hoarding wide receivers like they're canned goods before a snowstorm.
The corner situation is where things get genuinely uncomfortable. Washington is down to three cornerbacks on the initial roster after placing Trey Amos on injured reserve with a designation to return, and Ben Standig pointed out the real issue isn't just the fibula fracture, it's that Amos has 'played or practiced football for about 2-3 HOURS' since November. John Keim added the cheerful context that the Commanders are already down Dorance Armstrong with uncertainty around Odafe Oweh, meaning the pass rush needs to be excellent just to keep the secondary from getting exposed. Tashan Reed flagged that with only three corners on the roster, 'there has to be movement there,' and the smart money says a recently cut player walks right back through the door. Nothing says 'trust the process' like publicly admitting your Week 1 plan depends on math working out at multiple positions simultaneously.
The center position, meanwhile, continues to be the Commanders' longest-running horror franchise. JP Finlay marveled that three centers got traded around the league on cut day and Washington sat out every single one, which is the kind of quote that should be stitched onto a pillow in Adam Peters' office as a warning. Riggo's Rag piled on with fresh details about Washington's failed pursuit of Tyler Linderbaum, because apparently the wound needed reopening. On the bright side, undrafted guard Tanoa Togiai making the roster was one of the few pleasant surprises of the weekend, with both Jhabvala and Reed calling it a legitimate shocker. It's not exactly a center solution, but at this point Commanders fans will take any story that doesn't end with someone getting bull-rushed into the backfield.
Elsewhere in roster churn, Shy Tuttle got released only for Adam Schefter and multiple beat reporters to confirm the team plans to bring him right back for Week 1, which is basically the NFL's version of storing your suitcase in the hallway instead of unpacking it. Rookie quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis survived the cuts, giving Washington a third quarterback behind Jayden Daniels and Marcus Mariota, who is himself still working back from a sprained something after missing most of the last month. Ben Standig summed up the entire weekend best: 'Washington has its initial 53. Emphasis on initial.' That phrase should honestly just replace the team's Twitter bio until the season opener against the Eagles arrives, at which point the Commanders will presumably have solved zero of these problems and simply added three new ones.
Around the rest of the league, cut day chaos hit all 32 teams, with NFL Network's roster tracker basically becoming required Labor Day weekend reading for anyone who enjoys watching grown men's dreams get crushed in alphabetical order. It's the one weekend a year where an undrafted long snapper can trend on social media for six hours before vanishing into practice squad purgatory. Every fan base is currently either cautiously optimistic or fully spiraling, and Commanders fans, per usual, are doing a bit of both depending on which article they clicked on last.
Now for the part of the column where I get to brag shamelessly: I spent Saturday afternoon in the President's Box at Scott Stadium, which my wife's job grants me access to, meaning I watched Virginia dismantle NC State 34-8 while eating catered food I did not cook and did not pay for. There is something deeply unfair and deeply wonderful about watching a 26-point win with a plate of shrimp in one hand, and I am not going to apologize for it. The Cavaliers looked sharp and in control the entire afternoon, which is a sentence I genuinely enjoy typing about a UVA football team, a program that has spent enough years testing its fans' patience that a comfortable win feels like a personal gift from the football gods.
Up next for Virginia is Norfolk State, and I fully intend to be back in that box pretending I understand the concept of pass protection while actually just enjoying the view and the free drinks. And at least one fan in a catered box in Charlottesville is not complaining about any of it.