Metro https://washingtonsun.com/metro Metro en-US Wed, 09 Sep 2026 11:13:40 GMT The Nats, the Blown Saves Record, and Unforeseen Expectations https://washingtonsun.com/sports/nationals-blown-saves-record Jesse Dougherty The Nationals have blown more saves than any team in MLB history. But there's more to it than just an embarrassing record. Wed, 09 Sep 2026 11:13:40 GMT https://washingtonsun.com/sports/nationals-blown-saves-record Clayton Beeter
Clayton Beeter and the Nationals' bullpen have had a rough time this season. Chris Arjoon/Icon Sportswire/AP
For the Nationals, unwanted history looked a lot like the slow and painful march to it. When the eighth inning began in San Diego on Tuesday night, they had a three-run lead. When it ended, they trailed by a run in an eventual 5-4 loss to the Padres. In between, they blew a save for the 38th time this season, an MLB record that speaks for itself, both loudly and plainly.

This bullpen has not been good at doing the basic job of a bullpen, which is to take leads at some point in the middle to late inning and ferry them into the win column. And this blown save, like many before it, was a team effort, starting when Jared Simpson, a 26-year-old lefty, walked the bases loaded with no outs. Those were the only three batters he faced. Behind him, Erik Tolman, a 27-year-old lefty, allowed a sacrifice fly, then a soft single up the middle — a hit that floated just past his glove — that brought in the two runs that tied the score.

That was No. 38, which felt all too predictable once Simpson couldn’t find the strike zone. How the Nats got here … well, you lived it. There was that eight-run lead that evaporated in San Francisco. There were those crushing games against the Phillies in June, back when the season still had juice. Then, fatefully, there was Tuesday night. The relievers for the 2024 White Sox, the team that lost the most games in modern history, are officially off the hook. Tolman, Clatyon Beeter, Mitchell Parker, Orlando Ribalta, Richard Lovelady, Tom Cosgrove, Brad Lord, Cole Henry, Yovanny Cruz, PJ Poulin, Gus Varland, Matt Krook, Ken Waldichuk, Riley Cornelio, Paxton Schultz and Max Kranick have the watch now.

That’s every reliever who’s blown a save for Washington this season. There are, of course, other ways to illustrate what this Nationals season has dissolved into. After the loss to the Padres on Tuesday, the Nats have dropped six in a row. They have also lost 20 of their last 22 road games. The blown saves, though, have become the billboard for everything wrong with the Nationals in 2026. I get it, too, given that it’s a stat that shows how often a glaring team weakness has directly contributed to losses.

But the blown saves are not a 2-D story, no matter how simple it’s felt whenever the thin wall between dread and hope has collapsed. Case in point: Now that the Nationals have set the record, it will be tempting to refer to their bullpen as historically bad. But as it stands, their bullpen ERA — 5.09 through Tuesday— is a half run better than where it settled last season (5.59). The 2025 team, however, finished with just 20 blown saves, which was mostly because it had far fewer leads to protect. And this is where the emotional calculus of this year’s pen gets a third dimension, if not a fourth and fifth.

It was immediately clear that in the first year under Paul Toboni, the club’s new president of baseball operations, the bats were way, way ahead of the arms. The blown saves have been the most on-the-nose example of that. They’ve also shown how the Nats’ early, unexpected success has warped the experience of following a team that wasn’t initially penciled in for so many late leads.

In spite of trades and recent injuries to key hitters, the Nationals’ offense still ranks second in runs and homers, a contrast to the team’s record of 67-80. The bullpen, then, has been the heaviest counterweight while pitching the second-most relief innings in the league. Between personnel decisions, in-game strategy and player development, dissecting the team’s pitching process should be a major focus of the offseason, which is to say nothing of the need to spend more across the roster, not just on relievers, to compete more in 2027.

But in the moment, the blown saves feel, at least in part, like a wonky blip of an interrupted growth curve. It was as if the Nats were gifted a fancy grill — stick with me, that’s the offense — while living in an apartment with no outdoor space. (Ownership choosing to live in said apartment for another year is a story for a different day.)

None of that’s to say this Nats bullpen is misunderstood or something. It is perfectly understood as downright abysmal. And what’s that prescient George Orwell bit from 1984? The one that goes … “The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.” A bit heavy-handed for baseball, maybe, but the point is it’s just not what we’re doing here. That is someone else’s job.

But if the blown saves are to explain what ultimately felled the Nationals’ season, it feels useful — important, even — to point out how so many happened. The biggest reason is that the team’s relievers have struggled with two central goals of pitching: throwing strikes and limiting hard contact. A close second, though, is all those leads existing in the first place. Again, taken together, it’s another way to describe how the first four months of 2026 could shape the entire public perception of the Toboni-Blake Butera era (or at least the start of it). The team wasn’t built to win, then the offense raked enough to hang on the edge of the playoff race through mid-July. But because it wasn’t built to win, the Nats spent no money on the bullpen over the winter, which slowed the whole thing down until the wheels fell off.

If, as a fan, you knew a season was lost from the beginning — if that were somehow a guarantee — you might sign up for a lower bullpen ERA with a higher number of blown saves. The latter, you might figure, would be arbitrary in the grand scheme. But a lower ERA, even by half a run, would maybe portend better for future years, when your team finally spends on its roster again. (That’s just never a guarantee, either, which you know if you live in D.C.)

This summer, though, because of James Wood, CJ Abrams, Luis García Jr. and Curtis Mead, among others, rational and dispassionate started mixing with emotional and reactionary. That’s never not tricky for a fan base, especially when it comes ahead of schedule. If you live in D.C., you also know that to be true now. Because on one hand, many of the rotating bullpen arms, guys like Krook, Kranick and Cosgrove, were always more likely to be trivia answers than actual solutions. This was by design, too, at least in the sense that the front office didn’t expect to have one of the league’s best offenses. But once that offense kept mashing, the blown saves were the worst possible outcome, no matter if another form of torture would have painted an even bleaker statistical picture.

The real question, then, has little to do with blown saves or ERA or (fill in your advanced pitching analytic of choice). It’s whether a problem born of unforeseen expectations is better or worse than having no immediate problems at all.]]> Rare Coins, State Secrets and Gold Teeth: Inside D.C.’s Lost and Found https://washingtonsun.com/metro/dc-government-lost-found Martin Austermuhle A small city government office reunites people with their items — and has more than $760 million in unclaimed money. Wed, 09 Sep 2026 09:52:00 GMT https://washingtonsun.com/metro/dc-government-lost-found Gold teeth
“We get teeth all the time,” gold and otherwise, says Blair Spear, an unclaimed property specialist. (Kainaz Amaria/The Washington Sun)
Lynn Hall wasn’t having it.

“You cannot go into the vault,” she somewhat sternly told me, shutting down my journalistic impulse to enter any type of room referred to as, well, a vault.

This vault, though, wasn’t full of money, nor was it located in the basement of an ornate bank named after a wealthy owner from yesteryear. Instead, the vault is in an easy-to-miss D.C. government building in Southwest — and it’s packed with people’s stuff.

In official government lingo, it’s unclaimed property. And Lynn Hall is its keeper.

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Hall runs the unit within the city’s Office of the Chief Financial Officer that’s responsible for reuniting people with their stuff. Call it D.C.’s municipal version of the lost and found — and it’s not just pennies we’re talking about.

Hall estimates that her office has more than $760 million worth of people’s money in the form of unclaimed refunds, misdelivered paychecks and bank accounts that someone may have just forgotten they had. (You can check if any of it is yours here.)

But the unit also deals in physical belongings. Once a year banks release the contents of safe deposit boxes that are delinquent on rent payments, at which point the city government assumes the responsibility of reuniting the items with their owners or any surviving relatives. Hall’s staff will catalog what comes in, have it formally appraised, and if the original owners or their families can’t be found within a certain time frame, eventually auction it off.
DC0A0776 copy.jpg (9854x4869, AR: 2.02)In most cases it’s jewelry or coins. One recent auction for a $20 gold coin from 1924 started around $2,500 and approached $3,000 toward the end of the 10-day bidding period. A lot of 27 Morgan silver dollar coins, minted in 1883, was set to fetch more than $1,100. A single Confederate $5 bill went for just over $30. An appraiser recently estimated that a gold $20 coin from 1907 could get between $15,000 and $20,000.

The goal isn’t to pad the city’s coffers, though; it’s to set aside the proceeds for any claims that a rightful owner may eventually make. “Every dollar we get, they get,” she says.

And it’s plenty of dollars: Between the checks, refunds and money made from auctions, Hall’s unit returns some $35 million to their owners every year.

Some of the items Hall deals with lean toward the more quixotic. There’s a Vest-Pocket Webster’s Dictionary — “for Constant Use” — from 1899. A bottle of Champagne that can’t be sold (“We don’t have a liquor license,” she says). There’s the occasional gun, knife or illegal drugs. (D.C. police gets those.) Hall once found a diaper, and there have even been locks of hair and umbilical cords.
DC0A1182 copy.jpg (8144x8144, AR: 1.00)“We get teeth all the time,” gold and otherwise, says Blair Spear, an unclaimed property specialist, sounding none too pleased.

The unit will often deal with family keepsakes like military medals, manuscripts, plays, patents for interesting devices and old photos. Those they try to reunite with their owners or any surviving family. And in some cases, what they uncover could well have historic value.

Spear says she once found memos and cables from a former foreign service officer reporting on what he felt was a suspicious dinner in Mexico between a group of Cubans and Lee Harvey Oswald, who later assassinated President John F. Kennedy. Spear says she’s working with the officer's daughter to return the papers. (Where that’s not possible, they reach out to museums to gauge interest; they often don’t get responses.)

In another case, Spear found savings bonds in one of the abandoned safe deposit boxes that belonged to a woman who had died and was survived by a son. “He had no idea they existed,” she says. “So he got a letter in the mail that resulted in $18,000 in bonds.”
DC0A1279 copy.jpg (6553x3247, AR: 2.02)Hall has been in unclaimed property since 1989, first for Maryland before coming to D.C. in 2013. In that time she’s seen a significant drop in the number of safe deposit boxes her unit gets on an annual basis, from what used to be 1,000 a year to maybe 100 now. “The safe deposit boxes are becoming more obsolete,” she concedes.

Still, her team isn’t about to run out of property to auction and items to reunite with their owners. The vault — the one she banned me from entering — remains full. And that, adds Hall, keeps the job interesting.

“That’s the great thing about unclaimed property,” she says. “Every day is different.”]]> Tom Sietsema's 5 Favorite Dinners in D.C. for $25 (or Less!) https://washingtonsun.com/metro/tom-sietsema-favorite-dc-restaurants-25-dollars Tom Sietsema These five D.C. restaurants, easy on the budget, spark joy in different ways. Wed, 09 Sep 2026 09:50:00 GMT https://washingtonsun.com/metro/tom-sietsema-favorite-dc-restaurants-25-dollars DC0A3355 copy.jpg
Barry Dindyal’s fried chicken is bought fresh, cut up in the kitchen, dipped in an egg wash and dredged in flour seasoned with garlic, paprika, black pepper and dried thyme. (Kainaz Amaria/The Washington Sun)
Few of us are immune to the soaring cost of just about everything these days. One life pleasure I refuse to give up is dining out.

To make it work, I look less for inexpensive restaurants, period, and more for places where the experience exceeds what you’re paying. The following five D.C. restaurants, easy on the budget, spark joy in different ways. Each also offers a gently priced main course or more that makes it easy for you to become a regular.

Caruso’s Grocery

I can’t recall the last time I booked a table here. Reservations for prime times are in such demand, I simply show up when the doors open and grab one of eight stools at the softly lit bar of one of the coziest restaurants I know.

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Just about everything you order in this Italian American charmer from chef Matt Adler is a model of what it should be. Calamari gets sprinkled with semolina and fried so parts are crisp and parts are soft. A salad of bitter radicchio, endive, juicy citrus and saline green olives makes a perfect segue to one of the hearty main courses, like chicken parm or veal francaise. Be sure to check out the seasonal specials, which recently scattered tender shrimp and crisp corn on a bed of fusilli, everything draped with carbonara sauce. Each bite seemed to include a silky bit of smoked pancetta.

The steal, though, is spaghetti and meatballs for just under $25. The pasta is made in house and shows nice resistance; the meatballs seem to be shaped primarily from pork and heat. A server asks if you want cheese, and you nod. Onto the surface go snowy filings of Parmesan. Caruso’s Grocery offers gratis bread to start. Crusty slices from Uptown Bakery make a great sop for any remaining tomato sauce.

The restaurant, in the Hill East neighborhood, is dressed to look the part of an old-time Italian joint while nodding to two of co-founder Michael Babin’s Sicilian great uncles, who opened a market in Baton Rouge in 1920. Diners are shown to marinara-colored banquettes, walls display albums’ worth of black-and-white photographs, and in keeping with the “grocery” theme, bottles of wine and more are stacked on high shelves. With the check come peppermint candies, another sweet touch in a place packed with them.

1401 Pennsylvania Ave. SE
202-661-0148
carusosgrocery.com
(The younger Maryland branch is at 11820 Trade St. in North Bethesda.) 

Chercher Ethiopian Restaurant

When I crave a little quiet, you’ll find me on the tiny rear patio, crawling with vines and watched over by the attentive staff of one of the city’s prized sources for Ethiopian. Sometimes, I spring for doro wot, the slow-cooked, chicken-and-egg stew that’s considered Ethiopia’s national treasure. Often, I find space for kitfo, the lush, tongue-tingling minced sirloin that fans know is best eaten raw and leaves a trail of fire, from the spice blend mitmita, in its wake.

Always, I order the vegan deluxe sampler ($23), 10 meatless stews and salads whose colors create a rainbow coalition on a platter lined with injera, the tangy, spongy bread that doubles as a utensil. A trio of lentil stews — some a touch sweet, some a lot spicy— top the edible canvas, along with shimmering diced beets, garlic-laced collard greens, porridge-like orange shiro and turmeric-tinted cabbage and carrots, lightly cooked to retain some bite. (“We don’t kill the cabbage,” owner Alemayehu Abebe likes to say.) Did I forget to mention wizened green beans in a tangle of onions? The spread is a lot to take in, and a lot to enjoy.

There are three Chercher locations. The original in Shaw, my favorite, opened in 2012 and finds 100 seats across three levels. A storefront on 14th Street Northwest claims the largest kitchen and is where the bulk of the stews and injera are made, then transferred via van to the other branches. Hence the consistency from branch to branch, a detail underscored by Abebe, who says he tastes everything so the food is “always the same.”

Call me a cheerleader. When travel gurus Rick Steves and Samantha Brown came to D.C., Chercher is where I broke bread — well, injera — with them.

1334 9th St. NW
202-299-9703
chercherrestaurant.com
(The other branches are at 3608 14th St. NW and 4921 Bethesda Ave., Bethesda.)

The Hitching Post

Al and Adrienne Carter introduced the soul food purveyor in Petworth in 1967. Barry Dindyal, a native of Guyana, bought The Hitching Post from the couple 45 years later. Wisely, while adding a few dishes of his own, Dindyal kept the bulk of the Carters’ recipes.

I drop by frequently, not just for the consistent cooking (the peerless fried whiting is seasoned like always with dried garlic and paprika), but for the sense of community. I never go that I don’t run into public radio star Kojo Nnamdi, who is such a regular that he has a drink named for him.
Hitching Post (7131x4754, AR: 1.50)More often than not these days, I gravitate to Dindyal’s fried chicken ($25), which is bought fresh, cut up in the kitchen, dipped in an egg wash and dredged in flour seasoned with garlic, paprika, black pepper and dried thyme. The entree is cooked to order, so be patient, because 20 minutes of waiting rewards diners with fabulous, finger-licking-good, Sunday supper eating. The crisp-golden skin barely clings to four moist pieces of chicken, and the price includes a choice of two homey side dishes. The creamy potato salad, punctuated with sweet pickle relish and boosted with dry mustard and celery seeds, is usually part of my plate, as are collard greens, which are pleasing (and vegan) with oregano, allspice and garlic.

Fun fact: The Carters live above the restaurant, and Adrienne sometimes comes down for whole fish. More frequently, says Dindyal, he walks upstairs for a visit with “a beer or two” in hand.

200 Upshur St. NW
202-726-1511
thehpostrestaurant.com 

Donsak Thai Restaurant 

This slip of a Thai eatery in Woodley Park gives us so many reasons to make it a habit. The vast list, 75 dishes long, flags items that are vegan or gluten- and peanut-free, and devotes a section to the distinct heat and funk of Essan, the cuisine of Thailand’s northeastern region. If you live within 1.5 miles, delivery is free with a $25 minimum. It’s named for Don Sak, a district in southern Thailand known for its seafood — and the birthplace of co-owner Supisa “Boom” Teawbut — and the dining room reinforces the water theme with navy blue banquettes.

Best of all for bargain hunters, one of the least-expensive selections is also one of the kitchen’s best: green curry ($17), its velvety coconut milk base sparked and stained with green chiles and cilantro and chock-full of vegetables (eggplant, bell pepper, bamboo) that are lightly steamed before being introduced to the bowl. The seductive aroma comes from the inclusion of dried lime leaf peel, which Teawbut brings back from Thailand when she visits. Optional toppings include beef, pork, more vegetables, tofu and my go-to steamed chicken, served in generous ivory folds. A small bowl of warm rice rounds out the pleasure.

Donsak, illuminated by a front window and a skylight over the rear bar, gained a sibling when a larger branch with the same name rolled out in Georgetown in July. While the menus are similar, having tasted both, my affection remains with the original.

2608 Connecticut Ave. NW
202-507-8207
donsakthai.com
(The Georgetown branch is at 3251 Prospect St. NW.)

Her Diner 

Watching our server navigate our cocktail order from bar to booth involves an impressive balancing act. The drinks are big and served to the brim, yet not a drop of margarita or Manhattan is lost. Better yet, both libations taste as if they were shaken and stirred in a far fancier establishment.

Her Diner is the chapter following Duplex Diner, the longtime Adams Morgan hangout popular with the LGBTQ community, whose general manager, Kelly Laczko, took over and refreshed the space a couple of years ago. Customers stroll into the bi-level space — a bar and a sunken dining room with concrete floors and Crayola colors here and there — and peruse plastic menus that tap into nostalgia. Salisbury steak? Chicken pot pie? This son of the Midwest laughed at the sight of “totchos,” a sharable appetizer pairing tater tots with spicy ground beef, queso, jalapeños and ranch sour cream dressing. Sure sounds like a Mexican-themed hot dish to me!

Comparisons to the long-lived, gay-friendly Annie’s Paramount Steak House in Dupont Circle are inevitable. I’d say the service is better at Annie’s — entrees and appetizers came together at Her Diner — and the food is a few notches higher at Her Diner. I’m a sucker for meatloaf ($20). Her Diner serves a crusty slab of meat that a server tells us uses Salisbury steak. The entree gets topped with a chunky tomato sauce and flanked with homey mashed potatoes and bright green beans, for a dish that tastes like a mom might be in the kitchen. (Not to worry if you don’t eat meat. For two bucks more, there’s meatloaf made with Impossible burger.)

A runner-up to my No. 1 pick is the packed-with-chicken pot pie ($22), filled with bright carrots and soft mushrooms in a light sauce to bind everything. The puff pastry dome is a nice touch, but it always needs to be baked longer.

2004 18th St. NW
202-204-1761
herdiner.com]]> Ranking the 10 Most Important Commanders Ahead of the 2026 Season https://washingtonsun.com/sports/10-most-important-commanders-2026-ranking Martenzie Johnson From a rookie kicker to the franchise quarterback, these players will need to produce. Wed, 09 Sep 2026 09:48:00 GMT https://washingtonsun.com/sports/10-most-important-commanders-2026-ranking Brandon Coleman
Offensive lineman Brandon Coleman was thrust into the starting left tackle spot after an injury to Laremy Tunsil. (Rick Osentoski/AP)
Around this time last season, vibes were high in D.C. The Commanders were coming off an impromptu trip to the NFC championship game, and it seemed like the stench of the previous 25 years had finally been fumigated.

But things fell apart quickly. The team won seven less games than it did in 2024, Jayden Daniels spent more time on the bench than he did under center and several players who were supposed to be difference-makers turned out to be nonfactors.

With a new NFL season kicking off today, let’s look at the players who will shape this year in Washington. If everything goes right with this group of 10, there’s a chance the Commanders can make it one game further than they did in 2024. If not, this fall could be a sequel to 2025.

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10. Drew Stevens

Here’s some trivia for you: How many kickers have attempted at least one field goal for the Commanders since the 2016 season? The answer: 11.

Washington’s kicking game has been so inconsistent that in two of those seasons (2021 and 2024) it used four kickers. After a camp battle with incumbent veteran Jake Moody, the Commanders are hoping Stevens, a rookie out of Iowa, is the answer.

He was consistent throughout camp and connected from 60-plus yards on multiple occasions. For a team that finished 8-5 in one-score games two years ago and 2–5 in those contests last year, having a reliable kicker is of the utmost importance.

9. Sonny Styles

Last season the Commanders missed the second-most tackles (131) in the NFL, according to Pro Football Reference. Washington also allowed the third-most rushing yards.

Washington is banking on Styles, who totaled 182 tackles and 17 tackles for loss his final two seasons at Ohio State, to shore up those areas. The No. 7 overall pick brings exceptional quickness and instincts to the linebacker position, in part because he used to play safety. While few of those traits stood out in limited snaps across two preseason games, Styles has played well in practice, showing an ability to hit running gaps with speed and blow up plays before they have a chance to start.

Bill Croskey-Merritt AP - 25278805543622 (4359x2906, AR: 1.50)
8. Bill Croskey-Merritt

There’s no doubt the Commanders offense runs through Daniels, but if the quarterback has any shot at recapturing his magic from 2024, he’ll need help from his lead running back. Offensive coordinator David Blough’s system will lean heavily on play-action and bootlegs, and those play calls only work if there’s a dependable run game.

Croskey-Merritt showed flashes of his light feet, speed and power last season, particularly against the Chargers in Week 5 (16 touches for 150 yards and two touchdowns), but lacked consistency. His offseason dedication to conditioning and pass-catching has impressed the coaching staff, but time will tell if he can be a reliable, every-down back.

7. Terry McLaurin

There are few Commanders more eager to not talk about last season than McLaurin. After five straight 1,000-yard seasons, the wide receiver finished 2025 with career lows in receptions (38), yards (582) and touchdowns (3). That was due in part to a training camp holdout and a quad injury that limited him to 10 games, a career low.

Based on the explosive plays he’s made through training camp, McLaurin looks like his normal self this year. Plus, the arrival of Stefon Diggs means he doesn’t have to carry the receivers room on his back anymore.

6. Nick Allegretti

Throughout training camp, Washington’s interior offensive line struggled to give Daniels and company enough time to make plays. And it wasn’t just on pass plays: Commanders running backs averaged 3.6 yards per carry this preseason, which would have tied for last in the league in 2025.

Coach Dan Quinn and general manager Adam Peters have stressed all offseason that Allegretti, the team’s presumed starter at center, is the answer to these problems. The only issue is that Allegretti only practiced a handful of times during camp. If Allegretti, who has only 178 career snaps at center in the NFL, isn’t the answer then the Washington offense will struggle to reach its potential.

5. Stefon Diggs

If Diggs lives up to his own statement that he is the league’s best No. 2 receiver, then the Commanders’ passing attack will be unlike anything we’ve seen in years. Washington has long needed someone opposite McLaurin who can reliably beat coverage and make tough catches, and Diggs has proven that throughout his 12-year career.

Whether lining up in the slot or on the outside, Diggs has proven to be a reliable safety valve for every quarterback he’s played with. He and Daniels formed an immediate connection in training camp despite Diggs showing up on Aug. 7.

4. Amik Robertson

While the Commanders’ defensive production will be heavily dependent on the front seven (more below), they will need above-average play from their defensive backs. Defensive coordinator Daronte Jones comes from a Vikings team that had the highest blitz rate (48%) and eighth-highest zone coverage rate (77.1%) last season, according to Sharp Football Analysis.

This means that if the pass rush doesn’t get to the quarterback, then the defensive backs will be stuck covering large swaths of field for long periods of time. With incumbent starter Trey Amos out with an ankle injury for at least the first four games of the season, Washington will depend heavily on Robertson, who mostly lined up on the outside in camp, and the rest of the defensive backs to hold up in coverage.

The only issue? Robertson allowed the third-most passing yards (808) in coverage last year with the Lions, according to Next Gen Stats. (Washington’s Mike Sainristil ranked fifth.)

Robertson has shown the ability to provide sticky coverage and blow up plays, but without a better showing from him this year, Commanders will finish near the bottom of the league in passing yards allowed for a second straight season.

Odafe Oweh AP - 25323687165192 (6602x4401, AR: 1.50)
3. Odafe Oweh

All that being said, Robertson and company may not have to hold their coverage for that long.

The Commanders completely retooled their front seven this offseason, bringing in rookie Styles and free agents Tim Settle, K’Lavon Chaisson and Oweh to shore up a unit that forced the seventh-fewest pressures (121) despite tying for the eighth-most sacks (42) in 2025.

Oweh, who spent last season with the Ravens and Chargers, was an unstoppable force throughout camp, mucking up nearly every play he was on the field for. Last season he was the second-best edge rusher behind only Micah Parsons, according to ESPN’s pass rush win rate formula. If opposing quarterbacks have to worry about Oweh getting to them this season, that opens up opportunities for the 10 other defenders to make a game-changing play.

2. Brandon Coleman

The interior offensive line has rightfully borne the brunt of the criticism this offseason, but Coleman is the most important member of the unit. After Washington lost starting left tackle Laremy Tunsil, Coleman was thrust back into the role he played as a rookie in 2024.

There’s no replacing a five-time Pro Bowler like Tunsil, but Coleman has done his best impression since taking over in early August. He’s held his own in practice against the Commanders edge rushers and in the three snaps he saw in the preseason against Detroit. Washington is hoping he can keep that form as the season gets going.

1. Jayden Daniels

No surprise here. The main difference between an NFC championship game appearance in 2024 and a 5-12 flameout last fall was Daniels’ availability. He started and finished just four games last season compared to 15 games the year before.

When Daniels is on the field, he’s one of the most electric players in all of football. As a rookie, he ranked sixth in completion percentage (69%) and 10th in passing touchdowns (25) while also ranking second among quarterbacks in rushing yards (891). His 64 rushing first downs ranked 10th among all rushers.

Under Blough, Daniels is expected to play more under center, use more huddles and be allowed to make more decisions at the line. The hope is that this will keep the defense guessing and lead to more explosive plays.

But if the offensive line can’t hold up, or Daniels continues to take the hits that caused him to miss 10 games last year, it won’t really matter how well Coleman or Oweh or Diggs performs. The Commanders will only go as far as Daniels takes them.
]]> Thomas Boswell: This Commanders Season Is About Saving Jayden Daniels https://washingtonsun.com/sports/jayden-daniels-commanders-thomas-boswell Thomas Boswell D.C. hasn’t had a franchise quarterback in more than 50 years. For Daniels to get there, he first needs to survive. Wed, 09 Sep 2026 09:48:00 GMT https://washingtonsun.com/sports/jayden-daniels-commanders-thomas-boswell Jayden Daniels
Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels. Stephanie Scarbrough/AP
Save Jayden Daniels.

That is all that the Washington Commanders season should be about.

You can develop young players, master new systems and win when you can. That will help for years. But not if JD5 becomes RGIV.

From the top down, but especially with new offensive coordinator David Blough and Daniels himself, the imperative must be to maximize the chance that Daniels will still be the team’s QB1 — and a better, more developed quarterback — in ’30. And ’35, when he'll still only be 34.

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Deferred gratification tastes bitter. This season is spinach so that the next 10 years can be, mostly, cake and ice cream.

Washington hasn’t had a quarterback with “franchise” level talent in over 50 years. Despite a step backward in every metric in ’25, Daniels still has it — if he survives to develop it fully.

Even when things look bleak, you may get a lucky break in the midst of the mess. That good fortune for Washington is the arrival of Blough.
David Blough (4838x3226, AR: 1.50)His system, largely learned from Ben Johnson in Detroit and Kevin O’Connell in Minnesota, uses every NFL theory that preserves the health and maximizes the weapons of a star quarterback over a long career.

By no coincidence whatsoever, Blough replaces his style-box antithesis, sugar-high coordinator Kliff Kingsbury — thanks for ’24, Kliff! — and his college-style spread offense. Unfortunately, the Kingsbury shotgun often seemed aimed at the slender Daniels’ head.

In ’24, Daniels escaped, brilliantly, despite three games in which he carried the ball 16 times. In ’25, Daniels led NFL QBs in carries per game (8.3). But there were only seven such games because he was hurt four times.

His knee was sprained while scrambling between the tackles in a blowout loss to Green Bay. His left elbow was gruesomely dislocated, bent completely the wrong way like a hinged toy, when he was asked to run near the goal line with the team down 38-7. Narrow the score so the coaches don’t look so bad? Two weeks later — sickeningly — he was back. And blasted again.

Suddenly, everybody got it: Save Jayden Daniels.

Now, we’ll find out: Can they?

Before their opener Sunday against the Eagles in Philly, the Commanders have headaches. The defense, which couldn’t stop anybody last season (last in yards allowed), is dealing with injury issues.

The offense, which added free agent wide receiver Stefon Diggs to complement Terry McLaurin, now has an offensive line in total flux. "Flux" being the technical term for OMG!

The great left tackle Laremy Tunsil, Daniels’ blind side protector, will miss most, if not all of the season with a torn triceps. After the team released solid center Tyler Biadasz in February, presumably to save salary cap space, it is now almost naked at the position. Will ex-guard Nick Allegretti, out for weeks this summer with a calf injury, be ready for Philly? Maybe. Otherwise, a sixth-round rookie will start at center. Light a candle.

The starting O-line on the depth chart has had z-e-r-o reps together — ever.

Fortunately, time passes. Injuries heal. On a team that won only five games last year and is predicted to win seven in ’26, the proper view is the long view. That’s why I can’t wait to see if Daniels adapts, grows and, in time, flourishes in a Blough system that looks heaven-sent for him.

It’ll take time. But, with Daniels in the Blough system, what should we look for?

In recent years, the NFL has trended toward running more plays with the quarterback under center. The leaders last year were the Rams (60% ), the champion Seahawks (55), Bills (51), Lions (49) and Bears (49). Lots of success there.

In ’25, Daniels ran only 5.8% of plays under center. Look for an eight-times increase?

Why go under center? Because, since the T-formation was born, the run game works better that way; it’s more deceptive and versatile. On the handoff, or fake, the QB’s back is to the defense, his body deliberately blocking their view of the ball. (Daniels’ crafty temperament should love the upgrade from the pro-forma fakes in the gun to the hard fakes of a dedicated ball-handling magician under center.)

For a split second, nobody knows who has it. Linebackers hesitate. Defensive backs have a harder read, too, and are more vulnerable to deep play-action passes. Blocking angles and ability to run “outside zone” plays are better. (You don’t need to take it from me, a mediocre ex-high school QB during the Mesozoic era; there are whole books on this.)

Star coaches Sean McVay, Kyle Shanahan and Johnson all preach this sermon as the NFL becomes a more run-centric league. In ’25, 17 players rushed for 1,000 yards. In ’15, it was seven.

The better you run the ball, the more you neutralize the defense’s pass rush. Play action also opens up rollouts, which get a mobile passer like Daniels away from traffic, and violence. If he’s willing to focus downfield on the throw, rather than the brave gain-a-few run which too often tempts him, it’s win-win.

Blough also prefers to huddle up, not play fast-break style. Kingsbury’s idea was to play so fast that defenses couldn’t change personnel packages, or call complex pressures as much as they liked. This made the QB’s job of defense recognition easier. But the spread is also a more predictable offense with fewer ways to do what Blough loves: “Spread the field horizontally and vertically.” (Oh, no, more X-and-O books.)

However, when you huddle, the defense can organize itself to call any complex lying, shifting picture that it wants before the snap; so, as Daniels turns his back to handoff, fake or drop back, by the time he turns around he may see a horrifyingly different defensive look.

Being under center helps you deceive them. But it can help them deceive you, too.

From new footwork to reading through a “pure progression” passing game like Blough’s, where you sift through your receivers in a predetermined order, Daniels has work to do. That’s understandable; even though everyone who’s coached Daniels raves about his high football IQ, it’s tough to ask a rookie to have a PhD in reading NFL defenses. But this is Daniels’ third year. He should be on schedule, maybe not early in ’26, but over time — or whenever he finally has a functional O-line — to prove that he’s a studious, observant quarterback who wins the brain game. Under Blough, Daniels will also have more control at the line to get out of “bad plays” before the snap and get swamped-and-stomped less often.

That doesn’t mean the Commanders will completely discard favorite Daniels plays from the past. You haven't seen the last read option. But, as Daniels told The Athletic last week, “Let’s [just] say there will be less designed quarterback runs.” (If there aren’t, after ’25, someone should be fired.)
Jayden Daniels Seahawks (5915x3944, AR: 1.50)But the final, and biggest piece of the “Save Jayden Daniels” puzzle is Daniels himself. He has shown little inclination to stay behind the line, looking to pass, once he has scrambled successfully and established a “second pocket.” He ran more and passed less (39%) than any QB in scramble situations last year. Only two others were barely under 50%. Most learn, “Look long, look medium, throw it away.”

From a child, Daniels has made Superman Plays. They draw awe, not just success. Is that showmanship, leadership and pride so deep in his personality that he can't or won't change it?

Daniels needs models. Whether it’s Patrick Mahomes, or prime Aaron Rodgers, or long-ago Roger Staubach, there have been Hall of Fame quarterbacks who scrambled all over the field. But most were waiting for a big play to open up down the field, not for a chance to gain 10 yards and get blown up. Roger The Dodger averaged 3.1 runs per game. From age 26 to 33, Rodgers averaged 3.6 runs. For Mahomes, 3.9 a game.

If it’s enough for them, it ought to be for Daniels. You don’t run when a first down is on the line. You run when the game is on the line.

The NFL is human demolition derby. Switching to a less self-destructive offense improves your odds. Nothing makes you safe. Until the line is functional, which may not be until Tunsil is back, Daniels will be tempted to “save the day.” So, go on and worry.

As always, at least for the last 57 years since Vince Lombardi came to D.C. to coach, fans of the Commanders are insanely optimistic. If the experts say “seven wins,” then they start counting at 10. You can’t tell ’em anything, bless their hearts. Often, they even refuse to believe a whole season’s worth of final scores.

Everybody, including Daniels, needs a serving of reality and deferred gratification. No one will remember whether Washington won the Super Bowl this year, because they won’t.

But we’ll remember whether Jayden Daniels survived and if he improved. That “scoreboard” will impact the next decade.]]> What to Do in the D.C. Area This Weekend (Sept. 10) https://washingtonsun.com/metro/dc-events-listing-sept-10 Rebecca Ritzel Go see a John Philip Sousa ballet or take your dog to visit the composer’s grave. Wed, 09 Sep 2026 09:46:00 GMT https://washingtonsun.com/metro/dc-events-listing-sept-10 Philadelphia Ballet
The Philadelphia Ballet is coming to Wolf Trap. (Courtesy of Philadelphia Ballet)

Thursday 


Philadelphia Ballet at Wolf Trap 

Filene Center, 1551 Trap Road, Vienna, 8 p.m., $42 to $133

The Philadelphia Ballet brings a full-firepower performance of four ballets set to American music: Jerome Robbins’ “Fancy Free,” Eliot Feld’s “Variations on America,” George Balanchine’s “Who Cares?” and John Philip Sousa’s “Stars and Stripes Forever.” Con: There’s no live orchestra playing Sousa. Pros: Jane Raleigh, the beloved former dance director of the Kennedy Center, will lead a panel discussion before the show, and one kid can come free with the purchase of each adult ticket.

Brazil Independence Day celebration at El Mercat Bar de Tapas

1301 S. Joyce St., Arlington, 7 p.m., $10 cover charge 

Fiesta D.C., the same group organizing a Latino festival and parade for Sept. 26 and 27, starts the Latin American Heritage Month party early with a celebration of Brazil’s Independence Day. Join the Vavá United School of Samba for an evening of tapas, music and samba lessons in Pentagon City.

More to explore: “Love Letters of World War II,” a free music and dance performance at the Library of Congress

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Friday 


“The Score” at Shakespeare Theatre

610 F St. NW, 7:30 p.m., $43 to 152. Runs through Oct. 25.

Every “Succession” fan’s favorite patriarch is coming to town to play Baroque composer Johann Sebastian Bach. Instead of his small-screen offspring, however, Scottish actor Brian Cox faces off against Prussian monarch Frederick the Great. Cox’s wife, Nicole Ansari, stars opposite him as Anna Magdalena Bach, mother to 13 of the composer’s 20 children. A Guardian critic deemed the script uneven when the drama debuted in England three years ago, but had high praise for Cox, “who plays the genius musician with such magnetism that he almost singlehandedly saves this play.”

The Folger Consort performs “Monteverdi’s Legacy”

Folger Shakespeare Library, 201 East Capital St. SE, 8 p.m., $20 to $50. Additional performances Saturday and Sunday. 

Meanwhile, at the other Shakespeare-centric theater in town, the Folger Consort opens its 50th season with a program billed as “the musical equivalent of a gondola tour through 17th-century Venice.” Consort co-founder Robert Eisenstein will play music of Monteverdi and his successors on the viola da gamba, joined by two sopranos and four other musicians.

More to explore: Opening night of the NoMa in Color Mural Festival

Saturday 


Gin Dance Company’s Farewell Performance

Capital One Hall, 7750 Capital One Tower Road, Tysons, 7:30 p.m., $61.75

Choreographer Shu-Chen Cuff’s personal story is the stuff of American dreams: After immigrating to the U.S. from Taiwan, she graduated from the prestigious New World School of the Arts. She landed a job with Nevada Ballet Theatre, but found dancing didn’t pay the bills. She sold watches on the side, met and married a customer, and followed her new husband to Fairfax. For 15 years, Gin Dance has been an artistic home for many young professionals with high levels of training but day jobs in other fields. Now she’s retiring from running the company. Four works and 14 dancers are on the final program.

“Come From Away” at Ford’s Theatre

511 10th St., 7:30 p.m., $20 to $110. Runs through Oct. 18.

The concept sounded improbable and perhaps even crass: a docu-dramedy musical about Sept. 11? Yet “Come From Away” has become one of the most popular musicals of the 21st century. Ford’s Theatre marks the 25th anniversary of 9/11 with a reprise of the musical, which stopped in D.C. ahead of its long Broadway run. Opening-night guests in 2016 included Elaine Chao, Sen. Rand Paul and the mayor of Gander, Newfoundland, a character in the show. After the Twin Towers fell, the town welcomed the passengers of 38 stranded planes. Now the musical about Canadian generosity takes the stage against the backdrop of President Donald Trump’s tariff war.

More to explore: The 34th annual Rosslyn Jazz Fest

Sunday 


Adams Morgan Day

18th Street and Columbia Road, noon to 6 p.m., free

The neighborhood that remains home to some of the District’s quirkiest indoor establishments — animal crackers at Tryst or redhead night at Madam’s Organ, anyone? — pours out onto the streets Sunday. This volunteer-run festival has a catch-as-catch-can vibe, but everyone should stumble into something fun. Scheduled events include “Volo Kids” activity zone from noon to 2 p.m. and a 1 p.m. mural unveiling at 1640 Columbia Road. Entertainment ranges from Civil War reenactors to FrankoJazz karaoke to Cuban dance troupe D.C. Casineros.

“Congressional Unleashed” Pet Tour at Historic Congressional Cemetery

1801 E St. SE, 1 p.m., $10 

This guided tour for history buffs focuses on famous animal lovers interred in the 200-year-old cemetery. Among those to whom you and your pet may pay respects: “Stars and Stripes Forever” composer John Philip Sousa, journalist Cokie Roberts and Minnesota explorer Joseph Nicollet. Note that Americans with complex legacies, such as Lincoln conspirator David Herold and FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, are also buried in Congressional Cemetery; peeing on gravestones may result in you (and your pet) being banned from the premises.

More to explore: 41st annual Mediterranean Festival at Saints Peter and Paul Antiochian Orthodox Christian Church in Potomac
]]> Trump Administration Removes Criticism of Confederate Memorial From Arlington Cemetery https://washingtonsun.com/metro/confederate-monument-arlington-national-cemetery Kendall Staton A marker at the memorial’s former site no longer says it provided a “mythologized” vision of the Confederacy. Tue, 08 Sep 2026 18:03:10 GMT https://washingtonsun.com/metro/confederate-monument-arlington-national-cemetery Arlington Cemetery monument AP - 25218028933338
The Confederate monument stood at Arlington National Cemetery until 2023. Kevin Wolf/AP
The Trump administration censored language criticizing a monument to the Confederacy that previously stood at Arlington National Cemetery, removing a reference to the memorial’s “nostalgic, mythologized vision.”

The bronze statue depicting Confederate soldiers alongside enslaved people stood for more than a century before being removed in 2023 as part of a congressional mandate to remove symbols honoring the Confederacy on U.S. military property. The cemetery’s website described the memorial as showing “a nostalgic, mythologized vision of the Confederacy, including highly sanitized depictions of slavery.”

That language, along with further explanation of how history has “denied the horrors of slavery,” has been scrubbed ahead of a planned reinstallment next year. A marker at the former memorial site has also been replaced, with the new version missing any mention of slavery.

“Our website serves to provide facts for all visitors regarding monuments and memorials. Arlington National Cemetery’s decision to update  website language and signage at Section 16 was made to ensure it was succinct, factual, current and objective,” a cemetery spokesperson said. 

Historian Karen Cox said the language removed from the website was “absolutely accurate” historical context around the statue, which plays into the false idea that the South didn’t fight the Civil War to keep slavery but rather to protect states’ rights.

“Built into that narrative are lies,” she said. “It’s an attempt by the South to justify the confederacy, justify its role in the war and provide this gauzy haze over the Old South and slavery.”

Cox said the statue has been drawn into the GOP culture war as the Trump administration pushes back on what it calls “woke history” and attacks the discipline as a whole.

Last year, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in a social media post announcing the return of the statue that it should never have been taken down. He referred to it as “The Reconciliation Monument.”

“Unlike the Left, we don’t believe in erasing American history — we honor it,” he wrote.

President Donald Trump has ordered the revision of multiple exhibits and descriptions of slavery and racism since his return to the White House as part of an effort to remove references to “corrosive ideology.” From Boston’s Bunker Hill to Washington’s Smithsonian institutions, discussions of race have been altered, removed or censored.

The debate over Confederate statues heated up in 2015 after a shooting killed nine congregation members at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, a historically Black church in Charleston, South Carolina. After protests across the U.S., some cities began removing statues that honored Confederate soldiers and generals. Almost 150 statues were removed between 2015 and 2020.

Trump has worked to replace some of them, including a sculpture of Confederate Gen. Albert Pike that stood in D.C.’s Judiciary Square until 2020 when protestors tore it down and set it on fire. The statue was re-erected last year, and is the only outdoor monument in D.C. to honor a Confederate general.

This story was updated with a comment from an Arlington National Cemetery spokesperson. ]]> Smithsonian Head Announces His Retirement After Months of Criticism From Trump https://washingtonsun.com/metro/smithsonian-secretary-lonnie-bunch-retires-trump-dei-history-museum Torrie Herrington Lonnie Bunch III will retire at the end of 2026, wrapping up a nearly eight-year tenure as the institution’s leader. Tue, 08 Sep 2026 16:42:13 GMT https://washingtonsun.com/metro/smithsonian-secretary-lonnie-bunch-retires-trump-dei-history-museum Lonnie G. Bunch III
Alex Brandon/AP
Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie Bunch III announced Tuesday that he will retire at the end of the year, wrapping up a nearly eight-year tenure as the institution’s leader.

His departure comes as the Smithsonian faces mounting pressure from the Trump administration over how it tells American history. In an interview with The New York Times, Bunch said it was not the pressure from the White House that led to his departure, but that the back-and-forth did take a toll on him.

“I have to be honest, it has been stressful,” Bunch, who in 2019 became the 14th secretary of the Smithsonian and its first Black leader, told the Times. “And at a certain point, I’d like to wake up in the morning and not look at my cellphone.”

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His departure comes at a consequential moment for the Smithsonian. The Trump administration has spent more than a year criticizing the institutions’ exhibits and scholarship — pushing for a more patriotic telling of American history that focuses less on divisive issues.

Bunch has resisted that pressure, while arguing that the Smithsonian’s job is to present history in all its complexity.

“Every day, I have somebody talk to me about how important it is to have complexity and nuance,” Bunch said earlier this year. He said visitors often come away from Smithsonian exhibitions understanding something they had not known before.

Chief Justice John Roberts, the chancellor of the Smithsonian, said in a statement that Bunch had “pursued excellence in the telling of our nation’s story.”

But President Donald Trump and his top officials have struck a different tune. In March, the president released an executive order critiquing the National Museum of African American History and Culture and the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum, among other institutions, for “a concerted and widespread effort to rewrite our Nation’s history.” 

Last month, Trump also issued another order titled “Restoring Trust in the Smithsonian,” in which he says leadership of the institution “cannot be trusted to tell America’s story with honesty and gratitude.” 

The executive order came after a White House report on the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History that argued the museum has shifted from presenting a balanced, patriotic account of U.S. history toward what the authors characterize as progressive political activism. 

As evidence, they cited curators’ emphasis on racism, oppression and inequality while minimizing America’s founders and their achievements. The report called for the museum to return to a more “unifying” presentation of American history.

Bunch pushed back against the report, sending out a memo to Smithsonian staff in which he said that the report was not a fair representation of the museum's work and the complexity of American history. 

“While there will always be room for improvement, this report is not a fair characterization of the work and totality of the National Museum of American History," Bunch said in the memo. “We remain focused on what grounds us: a steadfast commitment to scholarship, nonpartisanship, independence, accuracy, and integrity.”

Bunch was nominated to the storied institution’s top job after spending years with the organization, most notably as the founding director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, overseeing the creation and opening of a new museum on the National Mall in 2016.

Bunch began his Smithsonian career in 1978 as an education specialist at the National Air and Space Museum. Then, in 1983, he became the curator of history and program manager at the California Afro-American Museum. He was recruited to rejoin the Smithsonian in 1989 as supervisory curator at the National Museum of American History.

Over his career, he focused primarily on how museums can tell a more complete American story by confronting both the country’s achievements and its failures.
]]> National Pundits Have Low Expectations for the Commanders This Season https://washingtonsun.com/sports/washington-commanders-preseason-rankings-analysis Alex Schiffer Ahead of a pivotal year, coach Dan Quinn’s team has not received a lot of love from analysts. Tue, 08 Sep 2026 09:15:00 GMT https://washingtonsun.com/sports/washington-commanders-preseason-rankings-analysis Dan Quinn
One analyst said Washington is the NFL's "most confusing" team. (Stephanie Scarbrough/AP)
The Commanders open a third season under coach Dan Quinn on Sunday with an afternoon matchup against the Eagles.

After a dream campaign in 2024, last year did not go to plan for Washington and the team finished 5-12. Projections for this year are wide-ranging, with a few analysts hopeful for the Commanders but many expecting a long season.

What They’re Saying

The Ringer’s Bill Simmons said on a recent podcast that the Commanders are a “lock” to finish under the 7.5 wins FanDuel has projected for the team.

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“They lost [Laremy] Tunsil for the season and I didn’t like their offensive line to begin with,” Simmons said. “If you’re reading the day-to-day reports, really rough stuff with the offensive line. Which, normally not everybody has a good offensive line — but their quarterback is 127 pounds. So the skinny quarterback who got hurt last year combined with nobody who can block? I’m out.”

ESPN analyst and former NFL quarterback Dan Orlovsky named the Commanders the league’s most confusing team in an interview with Dan Patrick on Friday. Orlovsky cited the Commanders’ busy offseason and 31-year-old David Blough as a first-time offensive coordinator among his concerns with the organization.

“What’s the offensive actually going to be?” Orlovsky said. “You lose your left tackle who you just made the highest-paid left tackle in football and all your fans are like, ‘We'll be OK.’ Those two things can't happen at the same time. … It's an unbelievably expensive defense but a little bit unproven. …”

“And so it could go really good if they gel and those high-end-paid players play at such a high level and the free agent signings and the draft picks play at such a high level. Or it could be a season of question, of, ‘OK where is this organization headed,’ and a second year of maybe some up and down from Jayden Daniels. I’m bullish on them, but I’m just not all in.”

Power Rankings 

Yahoo! Sports has the Commanders in its “work to do” category, citing player development and injury luck as two factors that could define the season.

Similarly, CBS Sports ranked the team in the C tier of its power rankings, which is for teams that could make the playoffs if everything goes right.

ESPN has the Commanders 20th in its power rankings, one spot lower than where the network ranked the team after last spring’s draft.

The Athletic recently ranked the Commanders 13th of the 16 teams in its NFC power ranking and put Washington 23rd in its league ranking before training camp. The NFC ranking was conducted with multiple team executives weighing in. One executive told The Athletic that a healthy Daniels is enough to make up for the numerous question marks surrounding the team.

"They get Jayden back, and Terry McLaurin will be healthy," the executive told The Athletic. "They've added some really good parts defensively in free agency. They have to get the offensive line solidified."

Another executive was much less optimistic.

"I think they are going to be bad," they said. "The quarterback is talented, but his style of play, unless he changes it, is a concern. The weapons around him are OK, but I don't think it's a dynamic team offensively. Defensively, they plateaued."

Long odds

The sportsbooks have a similar take, giving Washington long odds to make a real impact this season. On Monday at FanDuel, the Commanders were (+265) to make the playoffs, (+550) to win the division and (+6500) to win the Super Bowl. The odds at DraftKings are similar. Essentially, the books think the Commanders have less than a 30% chance to make the playoffs.]]> DMV High School Football Players of Week 2 https://washingtonsun.com/sports/dc-maryland-virginia-high-school-football-players-week-2 Noah Ferguson This weekend’s standouts included a bruising back from Gonzaga and a ball hawk from C.G. Woodson. Tue, 08 Sep 2026 09:05:00 GMT https://washingtonsun.com/sports/dc-maryland-virginia-high-school-football-players-week-2 Darren Theobald
C.G. Woodson's Darren Theobald had three interceptions in the Cavaliers' win over Edison. (Son Truong)
With Maryland public schools kicking off this past weekend, high school football season is officially in full swing in the D.C. area. Here’s who made their mark in Week 2:

David Anderson, senior, quarterback, Theodore Roosevelt

With Anderson under center, the Roughriders’ offense exploded in a season-opening 40-15 victory over KIPP. The senior torched the Bulldogs, passing for 252 passing and three touchdowns. He also added a fourth score on the ground as Roosevelt kicked off a new year with a statement victory. Anderson’s connection with senior wide receiver Gabe Hudgens could make for one of the strongest combinations in the city as coach Chris Harden’s team looks to bounce back from last year’s dramatic playoff loss to Dunbar.

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Asheton Burton, senior, running back, Gonzaga

After a slew of early turnovers Thursday against Coolidge, Gonzaga’s offense needed a spark. With the game still scoreless midway through the second quarter, the Eagles handed the ball to Burton, the team’s bruising running back, nine straight times and the senior marched his team down the field. Burton scored from 2 yards out for the game’s first points, then pulled off a second-half hat trick with three more touchdown runs as Gonzaga rolled to a 33-0 victory. Burton’s final touchdown run of the night was arguably his most impressive as he bulldozed his way through a horde of Coolidge defenders for a 14-yard score.

Corey Smith Jr., junior, wide receiver, Good Counsel

The Falcons earned their first win of the Sal Gorgone era in thrilling fashion Friday, turning New Jersey powerhouse Bergen Catholic away at the goal line in the closing seconds of the game to seal a 41-39 win. Smith, a towering 6-foot-5, 210-pound receiver whose Division I offer list includes Maryland and Virginia Tech, caught three touchdowns and racked up 131 receiving yards. “What a beautiful athlete,” Gorgone said of Smith after the win. “He’s a playmaker, and he makes those plays in clutch moments.”

Darren Theobald, senior, defensive back, C.G. Woodson

Theobald pulled down three interceptions for the Cavaliers in Thursday’s 28-7 victory over Edison. The first came on the game’s opening drive, when the senior grabbed an Eagles pass in the corner of the end zone to squash Edison’s momentum. The second came with the game knotted at 7 in the third quarter, and it was followed by a long Woodson touchdown drive. Theobald’s busy night peaked in the fourth quarter when he hauled in a 33-yard receiving touchdown at wide receiver before switching to defense and snatching a third pick to clinch a victory. Theobald and the Cavaliers will look to replicate their defensive performance next week against Oakton, whose high-powered offense is averaging 49 points per game.

Jamie White Jr., senior, defensive back, Quince Orchard

It didn’t take long for White, a senior transfer from St. Frances, to make an impact with the Cougars. In his first game, the defensive back nabbed an interception on the first play from scrimmage. It would be his first of three on the night. The Cougars, two-time defending Maryland 4A champions, earned their 28th straight victory with a 28-0 win over Paint Branch. With White and three-star senior Rico Jackson patrolling the secondary and senior Pittsburgh commit Jaheim Bond wreaking havoc up front, coach John Kelley’s defense is again among the area’s best.

To nominate a local player for next week’s roundup, send us an email with their name and stats. See last week’s selections here.]]>