Washington will open their preseason schedule Friday night at Gillette Stadium versus the New England Patriots. Jayden Daniels in not expected to play, along with several other Commanders, but that does not mean there won’t be plenty of action to start the season. Here are five players worth keeping an eye on as they take the field for the first time in 2025.
Sam Hartman: In addition to Daniels, Marcus Mariota was sidelined with a lower leg injury and did not make the trip. That leaves Josh Johnson and Sam Hartman with a large number of snaps to split between them. A thirty-nine-year-old veteran, Johnson is a known quantity, but second-year undrafted free agent Sam Hartman has a lot to prove. Kliff Kingsbury has described his performance in training camp as “up and down”, citing a need to take care of the ball better and establish a rhythm. The offensive coordinator is excited to see him in action tonight and he won’t be the only one:
Jaylin Lane: Reports on the fourth-round wide receiver have been glowing throughout OTAs and camp. Lane has been getting work on both the outside and in the slot, so it will be noteworthy to see where he lines up and how his 4.3 speed translates on the field. Kliff Kingsbury is on record as impressed with his route tree so far:
In addition, the rookie will be returning punts, which was one of the key reasons he was selected by Adam Peters. Jaylin has been tapping former Washington great Brian Mitchell for advice, so it will be interesting to see how Lane looks as a punt returner in his first NFL action.
Luke McCaffery: Terry McLaurin is still on the PUP list, and Noah Brown also didn’t make the trip to New England. Normally, I would say this is a key time for one of the back-end wide receivers to step up, and while that certainly is true, I am more interested to see how McCaffery plays tonight. While reports have been positive, there are also some comments that he hasn’t stood out significantly from those same players. I don’t expect Deebo Samuel to play much, if at all, so McCaffrey should get some run versus both the starters and the second string, and I will be watching to see the development Kliff Kingsbury spoke about in his Monday presser:
“Luke has really come a long way from last year this time to now just the confidence, we’re playing him outside a lot for necessity,” Kingsbury said. “I think he can play inside as well, but he’s made some plays. The young kids had his number on some plays, but it’s been a good battle and he’s, night and day difference from what he was last year at this time.”
Dominique Hampton: Another second-year player with a lot to prove, tonight may be the first time we see Hampton play significant snaps at linebacker for the Washington Commanders. Going into this week’s tilt, I would have listed Jordan Magee in this spot for the same reason, but the 5th round linebacker out of Temple was sidelined with yet another preseason injury and won’t play tonight. That leaves Hampton with a chance to make his mark in a new role. Ken Norton Jr. was quoted as believing Dominique has made significant strides since last season:
“Dom has really worked hard this off season. He’s really changed his body. And he’s strong, he’s fast. He’s really upped his ability to communicate playing a middle linebacker. He has to do a great job of communicating. He’s really upped his IQ about how to understand the defenses, because being in the middle and making different checks and calls, you have to be right. Now when he says something, he knows it’s important because everybody’s listening.”
Tonight is Hampton’s needs to prove his knowledge of the scheme and his ability to fill in against the run in order to secure a spot as a backup linebacker. If he doesn’t, the fifth-rounder may find himself on the outside looking in come cut-down day.
Bill Croskey-Merritt: According to last week’s Mason-Brennan article, Bill is easily the headliner of tonight’s game. Fans are very excited to see the 7th rounder in his first action as a Washington Commander.
While a lot of the preseason is vanilla in terms of play-calling and schemes, evaluating running backs is one of the primary reasons to tune into preseason games. I am expecting Croskey-Merritt to see some action in the passing game, which will be fairly new to him. After months of hype, it is time to see Bill show off not only his burst and cutting ability but also his contact balance in live game action. It is one thing to bounce off the strong safety’s pads in camp and quite another to roll off a full speed tackle.
There will also be plenty of UDFAs, rookies, and first-time Commanders taking the field tonight, so be sure to watch the game and check back in here at Hogs Haven for post-game analysis. What other players are you excited to watch in tonight’s preseason game? Answer in the comments below.