Dallas City News

The Washington Commanders enter the 2024 season seeking to enter yet another new era. Like the Dallas Cowboys, they haven’t won a championship since the 1990s and haven’t reached an NFC title game since the same decade. Washington hopes their new ownership group, spearheaded by Josh Harris, can usher in the dawn of a new day after coming out from under the large shadow cast by former owner Dan Snyder with his mismanagement and controversies.

So far, Harris and the organization have made sound decisions at the top, with new team general manager Adam Peters hiring Dan Quinn away from the Cowboys and naming him their 31st head coach in franchise history. Last season, the Commanders were a franchise in transition, and it showed. The ownership gave everything one last try before gutting the organization from the inside out, much like a liquidation sale where everything must go.

In Quinn’s first year, much isn’t expected out of the Commanders in a competitive NFC East division, and they are a long shot to compete for a division title, but as we’ve seen in the NFL, stranger things have happened. The Cowboys have gotten the best of Washington lately, yet when these two teams meet up, twice a year in an NFC East contest, who’s to say that Washington can’t somehow edge past the Cowboys in 2024? Here are the x-factors on the Commanders the Cowboys need to look out for.

Opponent: Washington Commanders

2023 record: 4-13, 4th place in the NFC East

Date(s) on the schedule: Week 12, Nov 24th & Week 18, Date TBD

Frankie Luvu, Linebacker

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The one thing you can say Dan Quinn didn’t have much of with the Cowboys last season was conventional linebackers. Often, Quinn tried using bigger safeties interchangeably with linebackers and sacrificed run-stopping for pass coverage. With Luvu, Quinn may have struck the perfect balance. Luvu had the best season of his career in pass coverage, allowing a 60.7% completion percentage. He has been a tackling machine over his last two seasons with the Carolina Panthers. Luvu has totaled 236 tackles and 142 of the solo variety in the previous two years. As a pass rusher, he has also has some upside, as he has accumulated 12.5 sacks over his last two years with the Panthers.

PFF has Luvu graded out with a terrific score of 80.0 for his overall performance. He has all the makings of an ascending player, even more so because of his circumstances. Dan Quinn is an exceptional coach, and he has a lot of help thanks to their strong interior defensive tackles in Daron Payne and Jonathan Allen. In the matchups against Dallas, it will be paramount to stop Luvu from shooting through gaps and getting to the ballcarrier. Washington handed Luvu a three-year, $36M contract, which is a bargain, and ensuring that he’ll be in their plans for the foreseeable future.

Jayden Daniels, Quarterback

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If the Commanders are to shake up the football world, it starts with the most critical position in the sport, quarterback. The Commanders boldly drafted LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels as the second overall pick in this year’s draft, ahead of Drake Maye, Michael Penix, and J.J. McCarthy. While Daniels may seem more of a raw prospect than a ready-to-go top choice, his talent is undoubtedly enticing. Daniels dominated college football last year accumulating 4,946 yards from scrimmage and 50 combined touchdowns, earning the Heisman trophy in the process. One of the primary issues plaguing the Commanders offense was protection. Last season their starting quarterback Sam Howell was sacked a staggering 65 times. Fortunately for Daniels, his mobility should have him fare better in that category than Howell.

The Commanders signed Tyler Biadasz away from Dallas to support the offensive line and make Daniels’ NFL transition easier. Kliff Kingsbury is the offensive coordinator and you can expect him to craft an offense to accentuate Daniels’ skills much like he did for Kyler Murray when he was with the Arizona Cardinals. It’s hard not to feel flashbacks of Robert Griffin III, another Heisman Trophy winner, when he was drafted in 2012 (also) with the second overall pick and transformed the franchise overnight. That season, Washington unexpectedly swept the Cowboys to win the NFC East. If the Commanders can play complementary football on defense and tailor the offense to Daniels’ strengths, the Commanders could pose trouble.

Jahan Dotson, Wide receiver

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You get the impression that Jahan Dotson must be a big part of that process for the Commanders to start trending in the direction and giving Daniels the proper foundation. Dotson began his career with a respectable rookie season in 2022 that saw him record 523 receiving yards and seven touchdowns for 14.9 yards per reception. However, in 2023, Dotson experienced a sophomore slump. He posted fewer yards on 22 more targets and fewer touchdowns. Some of that could be attributed to Dotson and Sam Howell not being on the same page with each other and former offensive coordinator Eric Bienemy coming in with a bang and going out with a whimper. What works in Dotson’s favor to be an x-factor is that he’ll be counted more heavily with the departure of Curtis Samuel.

Furthermore, with the addition of Austin Ekeler pairing with Brian Robinson, Washington’s rushing attack became more diverse. In the passing game, Terry McLaurin is still an underrated talent that demands the attention of opposing defensive coordinators. Zach Ertz also is a productive tight end when healthy. These factors should create one-on-one matchups for Dotston to be his most successful. In his own right, Dotson has good speed, is an adequate route runner, and is stronger at the catch point than some might think. Dotson is practically a lesser version of McClaurin, so he’s a threat to impact the game against the Cowboys. If Dotson can begin to return some of the Commander’s first-round investment, it would go a long way toward expediting Daniels’s development and the Commanders’ rebuild under their new regime.