Laremy Tunsil Tore His Triceps and Jayden Daniels Just Lost His Blind Side. Washington’s Season Is in Trouble.
Washington traded a first-round pick and change to Houston to get Laremy Tunsil last spring. The whole point was to protect Jayden Daniels. On Monday, Tunsil tore his triceps in practice, and now Jayden Daniels is going to spend the start of his second season playing behind a patchwork left tackle situation.
This is bad. Not “we will adjust” bad. This is “the whole thing might be in trouble” bad.
The Tunsil trade was the whole plan
Adam Peters and the front office spent the offseason obsessing over one problem: keeping Daniels upright. The Commanders had one of the youngest and least experienced offensive lines in the league last year, and Daniels took a lot of hits. Some of those were his fault, he holds the ball too long sometimes. Some were the line’s fault. All of them added up to concern that Washington’s franchise quarterback was living on borrowed time.
The Tunsil trade was the answer. He is a five-time Pro Bowler and one of the most reliable left tackles in football. He was going to lock down Daniels’ blind side and give the coaching staff the freedom to run more play-action, more designed rollouts, and more downfield concepts.
Now that plan is on hold, at best. Torn triceps for offensive linemen are serious. Recovery is usually four to six months. If Tunsil goes the surgery route, he could easily miss the entire season. Even if he pushes back and returns early, he is not the same guy when he first comes back.
Who protects the blind side now?
Washington’s options are limited. Brandon Coleman was the projected starter at left guard, but he could kick out to tackle. Sam Cosmi has moved around the line before. There is not an obvious veteran left tackle sitting at home who would be an upgrade. The Commanders are going to have to piece this together.
None of the options are as good as Tunsil. Not even close. That means Kliff Kingsbury has to game-plan around a compromised left tackle, which means more slide protection, more chip help from the tight end, more play-action to force the pass rush to slow down. All of that puts constraints on the offense.
The Jayden Daniels domino
Daniels was the offensive rookie of the year last season. He is one of the most dynamic young quarterbacks in the league. His ability to escape pressure is elite, and that is going to matter more now than it did before Tunsil went down. But mobile quarterbacks who play with bad protection get hurt. That is a fact of life in the NFL.
Washington’s whole ceiling this year was tied to Daniels making the second-year leap. He was in line for a Pro Bowl kind of season with a rebuilt offensive line, a full offseason with his skill guys, and a new addition in Terry McLaurin’s contract situation being resolved. Now the line is compromised, and everything that flows from that is compromised.
What the Commanders can do
Peters is on the phones already, that is a given. Trent Williams is not walking through that door, but there are trade candidates who could help. Tyron Smith might still be interested in signing somewhere. There are veterans on the tail end of their careers who could hold up for a season.
Whatever the Commanders do next, they have to act. The season is 30 days away, and Daniels’ health cannot be left up to Coleman shuffling positions and rookies. The whole offseason was pointed at protecting the franchise QB. Now the plan needs a new version by the weekend.
Washington was a sleeper NFC contender before Monday. After Monday, they are back to being a hopeful team with a rookie QB who is about to get hit a lot. That is not the same team.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
