Dan Quinn Shares While He's Smiling Over Major Goals for Washington
If the Washington Commanders want to duplicate their success from last season, they must have their young core step up in a larger capacity.
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That will be hard to do, especially for the 2024 draft class.
Whether it was second-overall pick Jayden Daniels or second-round contributors like Jer-Zhan Newton and Mike Sainristil, the Commanders received instant production from last year's rookie class.
As seasoned veterans, Washington needs those players to improve this season.
"It's easy to forget they were rookies in the same spot last year," head coach Dan Quinn said of Daniels and Sainristil. "But I also smiled because they don't know still what [GM] Adam [Peters] and I know that they're about to make a big jump into going from year one into year two.
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"And that's one of the biggest jumps, and there's excitement in that."
Finding consistency as a playoff contender is never easy in the NFC East. The division has not seen a repeat winner in over twenty years, and Washington has not reached the playoffs in back-to-back years as a franchise since 1992.
That's over 30 years of inconsistent play.
The Commanders hope last year's run to the conference title game was no fluke. The best way to do that is to see continued excellence from Daniels as the quarterback and further development from their young defensive players.
Newton and Sainristil are just two players who will be under the microscope this season. They aren't the only ones, though.
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Washington made nine draft picks last season. Seven of those players appeared in 12 or more games, and eight of those athletes saw action in eight or more contests.
If the Commanders are to go further than their conference title run last season, they'll need even more production moving forward from this draft class.
Related: Commanders Slap Back at Deebo 'Haters And Losers on 'Fat'
Related: Laremy Tunsil Excited About Commanders' Culture
This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 14, 2025, where it first appeared.
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