2026 53-Man Roster Thread

[Voice_of_Reason]

A thread dedicated to discussion of who will make the final 53 man roster.

Link to ESPN's Commander's Roster Page:

https://www.espn.com/nfl/team/roster/_/name/wsh/washington-commanders

As a comparative, here are the roster numbers from 2025:
QB - 3
RB - 4
TE - 4
WR - 5
OL - 9
Offense: 25

DL - 8 ** Last year this included both 4-3 DT's and DE's. This year it's going to be different.
LB - 7 ** This also included Nick Bellore, who basically was only a ST player
CB - 5
S - 5
Defense: 25
Specialists - 3

Key Position Battles:
QB: As of writing this, Mariota's status is up in the air. Do they keep 2 or 3?
RB: They have a lot of RBs who could probably play. Bill and White seem to be locks. Ford, McNichols, Henry and Allen are other guys all vying for a spot on the 53.
TE: Chig and Bates are locks. Sinnott seems to be a lock, though Yankoff and Cager are also making a case.
WR: 3 definitive locks: McLaurin, Diggs and Williams. McCaffery, Lane, Van Jefferson Burks and Diyami Brown are the next set, but there are also some other guys competing. How many do they keep? Who are the odd men out?

On defense, the whole defense is going to look different, and they are classifying edge defenders as OLB. You'd think they would play 3 DTs on most base formation plays, with the DE's playing OLB.
DT: Payne, Kinlaw, Settle and Newton seem to be locks. Maybe? They will probably keep 5 through, so there's some additional competition there. They have Armstrong listed as a DE. But I'm not sure he's more of a OLB.
OLB: This position group is pretty stacked.
ILB: Luvu and Styles figure to be the starters. Since only 2 will be on the field, there is a battle for the back end of the roster
CB: Amos (if healthy), Sainristil, Douglas and Robertson seem to be the locks. Will that be it? The Vikings only carried 4 CBs.
S: Nick Cross and Reaves are going to make the team. Who else in what role, open question.

In putting this together, I think there's more open spots on the roster than I can remember in a while.

I'll put my projections and link media projections into the OP as they come in.

 

[Voice_of_Reason]

As of now:

QB (3): Daniels, Mariota, AK
RB (4): Croskey-Merritt, White, Allen, Henry
TE (4): Okonkwo, Bates, Yankoff, Sinnott
WR (6): McLaurin, Diggs, Williams, McCaffery, Lane, Burks.
OL: (9): Coleman, Paul, Allegretti, Cosmi, Conerly, Wylie, Gulbin, Scott, JGG
Offense: 26

DL (6): Payne, Settle, Kinlaw, Newton, Armstrong, Omenihu
OLB (4): Owe, Chaisson, Josephs, Jean-Baptiste, Josephs
ILB (4): Styles, Luvu, Chenal, Magee
S (5): Cross, Harris, Reaves, Martin, Owens
CB (4): Amos, Sainristil, Douglas, Robertson
Defense: 24

P: Tres Way
K: Stevens
LS: Tyler Ott

Notes:
1. I have 3 QBs, because I think they're going to want to keep AK. That causes a real roster numbers problem for other positions.
2. I think Magee and Medrano are competing for one position
3. WR: I'm keeping Burks, but it really could be any of DBrown, Burks or Van Jefferson. Those 3 guys are competing for one spot I think.
4. McNichols won't make the team because he's hurt. I think they would prefer the upside of Henry and Allen over Ford.
5. CB is terrifying. They really need to keep Moreau, but the way the numbers shake out, I'm not sure how they can.

 

[Always Commander Never Captain]

As of now:

QB (3): Daniels, Mariota, AK
RB (4): Croskey-Merritt, White, Allen, Henry
TE (4): Okonkwo, Bates, Yankoff, Sinnott
WR (6): McLaurin, Diggs, Williams, McCaffery, Lane, Burks.
OL: (9): Coleman, Paul, Allegretti, Cosmi, Conerly, Wylie, Gulbin, Scott, JGG
Offense: 26

DL (6): Payne, Settle, Kinlaw, Newton, Armstrong, Omenihu
OLB (4): Owe, Chaisson, Josephs, Jean-Baptiste, Josephs
ILB (4): Styles, Luvu, Chenal, Magee
S (5): Cross, Harris, Reaves, Martin, Owens
CB (4): Amos, Sainristil, Douglas, Robertson
Defense: 24

P: Tres Way
K: Stevens
LS: Tyler Ott

Notes:
1. I have 3 QBs, because I think they're going to want to keep AK. That causes a real roster numbers problem for other positions.
2. I think Magee and Medrano are competing for one position
3. WR: I'm keeping Burks, but it really could be any of DBrown, Burks or Van Jefferson. Those 3 guys are competing for one spot I think.
4. McNichols won't make the team because he's hurt. I think they would prefer the upside of Henry and Allen over Ford.
5. CB is terrifying. They really need to keep Moreau, but the way the numbers shake out, I'm not sure how they can.

Only fungible guy there is Burks (if he's the 6th WR). Do you drop him to keep that 5th CB?

 

[Voice_of_Reason]

Only fungible guy there is Burks (if he's the 6th WR). Do you drop him to keep that 5th CB?

Yeah, I dunno. Ideally they could drop the 3rd QB.

Also, I know they like Percy Butler on teams, and I dropped him from the roster.

Lane not being a real viable receiving threat means that if you carry 5, and one of them is Lane, you really have 4 WRs and a punt returner. Ideally Lane could be the 5th WR also, but that's not where we are yet.

Do you need 6 DL if you're playing a 3-4? Is Armstrong really a DL, or is he more of an edge?

I dunno. It's a challenge with 3 QBs. You lose a spot.

 

[Always Commander Never Captain]

If Mariota goes on IR, this solves a lot of headaches. Assuming Jayden never gets hurt...

 

[Voice_of_Reason]

If Mariota goes on IR, this solves a lot of headaches. Assuming Jayden never gets hurt...

Mariota is supposed to be back by week one.

 

[Commander Wraith]

As of now:

QB (3): Daniels, Mariota, AK
RB (4): Croskey-Merritt, White, Allen, Henry
TE (4): Okonkwo, Bates, Yankoff, Sinnott
WR (6): McLaurin, Diggs, Williams, McCaffery, Lane, Burks.
OL: (9): Coleman, Paul, Allegretti, Cosmi, Conerly, Wylie, Gulbin, Scott, JGG
Offense: 26

DL (6): Payne, Settle, Kinlaw, Newton, Armstrong, Omenihu
OLB (4): Owe, Chaisson, Josephs, Jean-Baptiste, Josephs
ILB (4): Styles, Luvu, Chenal, Magee
S (5): Cross, Harris, Reaves, Martin, Owens
CB (4): Amos, Sainristil, Douglas, Robertson
Defense: 24

P: Tres Way
K: Stevens
LS: Tyler Ott

Notes:
1. I have 3 QBs, because I think they're going to want to keep AK. That causes a real roster numbers problem for other positions.
2. I think Magee and Medrano are competing for one position
3. WR: I'm keeping Burks, but it really could be any of DBrown, Burks or Van Jefferson. Those 3 guys are competing for one spot I think.
4. McNichols won't make the team because he's hurt. I think they would prefer the upside of Henry and Allen over Ford.
5. CB is terrifying. They really need to keep Moreau, but the way the numbers shake out, I'm not sure how they can.

Your defensive numbers add up to 23, though you listed Josephs twice, so maybe that’s where you got 24? That would free a spot for Moreau, though I’d think Hamilton might have the edge there instead. Of course there’s also Kaho/Medrano (and Butler), particularly from a ST point of view.

Man, Newton is a tough one. Feels like if he weren’t a 2nd rounder, he’d be facing getting cut, especially with some of the other DTs looking good (Tuttle, Barber, Cowart and M’ba).

 

[Voice_of_Reason]

Your defensive numbers add up to 23, though you listed Josephs twice, so maybe that’s where you got 24? That would free a spot for Moreau, though I’d think Hamilton might have the edge there instead. Of course there’s also Kaho/Medrano (and Butler), particularly from a ST point of view.

Man, Newton is a tough one. Feels like if he weren’t a 2nd rounder, he’d be facing getting cut, especially with some of the other DTs looking good (Tuttle, Barber, Cowart and M’ba).

I will check my math tomorrow and fix.

I went back and forth on a few and probably just made a boo-boo.

 

[Canadian Hog]

Percy Butler makes this team for Special Teams contributions alone. You might as well list him in the “Specialists” category and make him our 4th player there. He would be a big loss if we let him go.

 

[SkinsGuy99]

Percy Butler makes this team for Special Teams contributions alone. You might as well list him in the “Specialists” category and make him our 4th player there. He would be a big loss if we let him go.

Had a nice interception in practice too.