Coach Dan Quinn’s defense struggled mightily in 2025, leading to him taking over play-calling from Whitt down the stretch of the season. The Commanders not only imported Jones to give the defense a different flavor, but also completely overhauled the unit.

Along with Chenal, Washington signed pass rushers Odafe Oweh and K’Lavon Chaisson, defensive linemen Tim Settle, Charles Omenihu and DJ Davidson, and defensive backs Ahkello Witherspoon, Amik Robertson, Rasul Douglas and Nick Cross. They also added linebacker Sonny Styles in the first round to help complete the unit.

In the middle of the defense, with off-ball linebackers Chenal, Styles and Frankie Luvu, the Commanders have impressive diversity. The trio can all function in varying ways, including rushing the passer when called upon, which should make the Washington defense more difficult to predict.

“We’ve got a bunch of dogs,” Chenal said of his new linebacker corps.

The key is for Quinn and his new DC to get all the pieces to mesh. We’ve seen teams dive heavily into free agency in the past to try to save units, particularly on defense, only to see it collapse. Washington believes its combination of new vets, holdovers and youngsters can avoid that fate.

“I love DQ,” Chenal said of Quinn. “Before I even came here to Washington, that’s also a factor that I put in. He doesn’t ask for respect, it’s just given to him because of what he’s done and how he’s earned it, the way he approaches things. He’s super player-friendly. He’s got so much energy, whether it’s in the team meeting, he’s getting people going in the mornings. It’s really cool. He’s so good at taking feedback, as well, from all his players and his coaches. It’s really exciting.

“You feel welcome. You feel like you can let loose a little bit, and that complements the defense, too, like how we’re being coached. Like, ‘How do we feel about this? How can we maximize your skill set?’ It kind of all plays in together.”

With a revamped defense and Jayden Daniels returning healthy, the Commanders are a bounce-back candidate in 2026 — if everything goes as planned.