Commanders’ pass rush remains a question mark
What did you think of the Commanders’ pass rush Saturday night against the Ravens?
With 2020 defensive rookie of the year Chase Young now officially scheduled to miss at least the first four weeks of the regular season, the Commanders need to produce more pass-rushing options.
Of course, Washington understandably chose not to even play three of their four expected starters along the defensive line. Why risk some guys getting injured when the next time you play a game it will count in the NFL standings? Understandably James-Smith-Williams was the only one of the four to see any action Saturday, and it was early in the contest.
Yet for an entire game being played, it was hard to miss there was hardly any pressure on Ravens quarterbacks, while Sam Howell was often attempting to escape sacks by Ravens’ rushers. At one point in the final quarter, the curiosity was getting the best of me, so I looked at the stats, and sure enough, the Commanders had no QB sacks. Even more, they had not a single QB hit as well. The game finished with the Commanders failing to achieve either one in the stat column.
It is no secret the starters at defensive end are going to be Montez Sweat and Smith-Williams. Watching the previous two preseason games suggests the backups will be Casey Toohill and perhaps Efe Obada.
If Phidarian Mathis and Daniel Wise back up starting tackles Jonathan Allen and Daron Payne, that would bring the number of defensive linemen up to eight (4 DE, 4 DT).
How many defensive linemen will the coaching staff determine to keep on the 53-man roster?
Penn State second-year player Shaka Toney was someone I was looking forward to seeing Saturday night in Baltimore. We should know official offensive and defensive snap counts soon. So I recognize I may have missed him. I did see Will Bradley-King a bit.
Nice get off and bend around the edge by Shaka Toney here. LT can't keep up and Toney closes quickly on the QB for the sack pic.twitter.com/a9tp9uAYmF
— Mark Bullock (@MarkBullockNFL) August 20, 2022
Toney has displayed some explosion the Commanders need off of the edge, getting after quarterbacks. Perhaps they will keep Toney because he appears to possess more athleticism on the edge than anyone on the team right now. But I do recognize at only 240 pounds; his size is going to be an issue. Perhaps Toney will be used as a third-down pass-rushing specialist as well as seeing much time on the special teams’ units.
