Sheehan had a really good segment I just caught up on about why the national media seems down on this team. Listening to him, his view probably lines up the closest to mine among the local voices. Like me (and a few others here), he points out that Jayden still hasn’t had a true #2 receiver in his career and thinks that’s a real issue. But he also believes they’ll still have a good season in spite of it.
I haven’t heard him fully take it to the next level — whether this is a Super Bowl-caliber team . I think Peters did a good job this offseason, but not a great one. Maybe he was limited by budget or circumstances, that’s fair. But at the end of the day, better drafting would have this roster in a stronger place. As it stands, I don’t think it’s a Super Bowl roster. I think it can get there though with a good WR add and a CB.
When you step back and listen to Sheehan and others react to the national narrative — it’s pretty bleak. Around here, most of the debate is about whether the team did enough to be
great, with some of us pointing out that it’s a solid roster but not a complete one, especially given the questions at offensive weapons.
Now, if the national rankings and projections are right — and this team ends up closer to sucking than competing — that would make for a pretty rough combination of season and heading into 2027. I don’t think that’s how it plays out. But I also don’t fully buy the idea that this roster has everything it needs to make the SB.
If anything, I’m much closer to the optimists than the pessimists.
One outlet says that the Washington Commanders won't be contenders in 2026, labeling them as 'pretenders.'
sports.yahoo.com
While the
New England Patriots were going from also-ran to the AFC title last year, the
Washington Commanders were hurtling in the opposite direction.
After winning 12 games and making the NFC Championship Game in 2024, an injury-ravaged Commanders squad went 5-12 in 2025.
Much of the reason for that collapse was the NFL's worst defense, and the team went hard at that situation in the offseason.
Rookie linebacker
Sonny Styles takes over for
Bobby Wagner inside after being drafted seventh overall, and Washington spent big in free agency on the pass rush with the addition of edge-rushers
Odafe Oweh and
K'Lavon Chaisson. Safety
Nick Cross and cornerback
Amik Robertson were signed to bolster a bad pass defense.
Offensively, the team spent a Day 2 pick on wideout
Antonio Williams, who the Commanders hope will step up as a complement to
Terry McLaurin. But an average offensive line didn't get much better, and the skill-position talent around quarterback Jayden Daniels isn't especially imposing.
In an NFC East that is shaping up to be a much harder division in 2026, the Commanders have a better chance of finishing last than first.
Verdict: Pretender (Sell)
NY Giants
There isn't a team in this article that won fewer games in 2025 than the New York Giants, but it's the dawn of a new day under new head coach John Harbaugh.
And there's reason for optimism.
Granted, much of that optimism hinges on the return of a healthy Jaxson Dart, Cam Skattebo and Malik Nabers—all three missed significant time in 2025. But if they do, it's a solid skill-position core playing behind a
top-10 offensive line that added a Day 1 starter in Round 1 rookie Francis Mauigoa.
The defense features a litany of new faces. Defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence is gone, but the team still had a formidable duo of edge-rushers in Brian Burns and Abdul Carter. There are new inside linebackers in veteran Tremaine Edmunds and 2026 No. 5 overall pick Arvell Reese. The secondary got a bump with the addition of cornerbacks Greg Newsome and Colton Hood.
If there's a team poised to make a huge jump from the outhouse to the penthouse in 2026 a la last year's New England Patriots, the Giants are that squad.
Verdict: Contender (Buy)
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