The Washington Commanders have already played 11 games in the 2025 season.
In Week 12, the Commanders are on a bye week, and the team will hope to get healthier and finish out the season strong. The team currently has a disappointing 3-8 record, which is far from what was expected after the team made a run to the NFC Championship Game just last season.
Unfortunately, injuries to key players and general inconsistency have doomed the team’s season. Now, we don’t even know for sure if Jayden Daniels will play again in 2025. It’s probably safe to say the final stretch of the season will be about evaluating talent for next year and trying to enter the offseason with some positive momentum.
With that being said, let’s use this bye week to identify some studs and duds from this season so far.
Stud: Deebo Samuel, WR
This offseason, the Commanders sent a fifth-round pick to the San Francisco 49ers for Deebo Samuel. Samuel had been an elite weapon in the past, but 2024 was a down year. This trade was a perfect buy-low opportunity for the Commanders, and it has definitely paid dividends.
Samuel has 53 catches for 470 yards and five touchdowns this season and leads the team in all three categories. Fellow receiver Terry McLaurin has only played in four games so far this year, so there’s no telling how bad the offense would look if not for Samuel. Re-signing the veteran should be a priority this offseason.
Dud: Mike Sainristil, CB
As a former second-round pick, Mike Sainristil is held to a higher standard than most players. Many expected the Michigan product to take a leap in 2025, but so far, he’s borderline been a liability.
Sainristil does have 53 tackles and three interceptions, but those numbers are a little deceiving. The young corner has frequently taken bad angles, missed tackles, and been burnt by speedy receivers. Pro Football Focus gives Sainristil a 53 overall grade through 11 games, which is 87th among 108 qualified corners.
Last weekend against Miami, Sainristil also muffed a punt at the end of the fourth quarter, and the Commanders went on to lose that game in overtime.
Stud: Laremy Tunsil, LT
Like the Samuel trade, trading for Laremy Tunsil is a move that has definitely paid dividends. The Commanders were able to get one of the best tackles in the league without even giving up one first-round pick.
As a Commander, Tunsil has played 631 snaps and only allowed one sack. The veteran has an 81.6 grade from Pro Football Focus, which ranks 8th out of 76 qualified tackles. The Commanders now have one of the most important positions in the sport figured out, and it wasn’t even all that costly to make it happen. Tunsil has been as good as anyone could have hoped.
Dud: Zach Ertz, TE
With Zach Ertz back in the fold in 2025, you would think the veteran would be another reliable option and one of the top pass-catchers on the team.
Instead, Ertz has been wildly inconsistent and downright bad at times. The veteran has 39 catches for 387 yards and four touchdowns on the season. The tight has already been tagged with five drops, which is more than he had all of last season. Ertz has also finished with fewer than 30 yards in four different games, which is just not good enough for one of the leaders of the offense.
Stud: Jacob Martin, EDGE
Jacob Martin has been a nice surprise for a player whose addition wasn’t exactly top news. The Commanders added Martin on a one-year pact worth $3 million last spring, and he’s easily earned it.
Martin has appeared in all 11 games and has 26 tackles, 4.5 sacks, and three tackles for loss. Only Dorance Armstrong, who is out for the season, and Von Miller have more sacks than Martin. The pass rush has been underwhelming this season, but Martin has done his part as a valuable rotational piece.
Dud: Frankie Luvu, LB
Speaking of the underwhelming pass rush, Frankie Luvu’s lack of contributions in this area haven’t helped.
In 2024, Luvu had a nice year with 99 tackles and eight sacks. This year, though, Luvu has 58 tackles and just two sacks. The veteran hasn’t been good in coverage either, as Pro Football Focus gives him a disappointing 56 grade so far. It’s disappointing to see that Luvu has clearly lost a step.
Stud: Dorance Armstrong, EDGE
It’s a shame that Dorance Armstrong is out for the season, because he was on pace to have a career year in 2025.
Armstrong hasn’t played in over a month and he STILL leads the team in sacks with 5.5. The veteran also collected 24 tackles and seven tackles for loss before his injury. The team has been desperately missing Armstrong as nobody has really been able to pick up his slack.
Dud: Marshon Lattimore, CB
Like Luvu, it seems clear at this point that Marshon Lattimore has lost a step. The veteran was once among the top corners in the league, but he was closer to being one of the worst starters at the position this season before going on injured reserve.
Lattimore has 27 tackles, seven pass deflections, and one interception in 2025. Pro Football Focus gives the corner a poor 52.1 grade for his performance, which ranks 92nd out of 108 qualified corners. Poor play from the secondary is one of the main reasons the Commanders have struggled in 2025.
Dud: Joe Whitt Jr.
Joe Whitt Jr. was entering his second season as the defensive coordinator in 2025, and there was reason to expect his unit to perform well again. Instead, the unit has been much worse in almost every possible category and Whitt recently received a demotion as a result.
In 2024, the team was 22nd in opponent points per game, fifth in opponent passing yards per game, and 17th in opponent total yards per game. This season, the team is 28th, 29th, and 31st in the same categories respectively. That’s a major downturn with most of the same personnel.
For what it’s worth, the defense played much better after Whitt’s demotion, only allowing 16 points to the Dolphins.
Dud: Injuries
Injuries will be the main theme of the 2025 season for the Commanders. Jayden Daniels, Terry McLaurin, Deebo Samuel, Sam Cosmi, Austin Ekeler, Marshon Lattimore, Dorance Armstrong, and more are just some of the players either currently dealing with injuries or did at one point this season.
It would be hard for any team to overcome the injuries the Commanders have dealt with, but it’s really exposed the team’s lack of depth. The hope is that none of these injuries bleed over into 2026, or worse, in Daniels’ case, affect long-term development.
This article originally appeared on Commanders Wire: Washington Commanders: Studs and duds from first 11 games
