The Washington Commanders have an athletic “freak” who has the playing style and body type to merit a bigger role, according to the team’s former tight end.
Speaking to 106.7 The Fan’s Craig Hoffman, ex-NFL veteran Logan Paulsen identified Tyler Owens as one to watch this season. Paulsen, who played played six seasons in Washington, talked up the second-year safety “more because of the athlete, and anytime you see someone who plays well on special teams, he’s a guy that I’m like, ‘can you find a larger role for that body type?’ He’s 6’4″, he’s got 33-inch arms, he’s fast. I think he like broke every jump thing at the Combine for his body weight.”
While Owens’ measurables and numbers at the annual NFL Scouting Combine are “insane,” Paulsen also believes the 24-year-old “flashes the physicality” in special teams work.
Even so, Paulsen cautioned Owens is at a crossroads as to whether he’ll “get some minutes on defense or is he just gonna be a guy that’s kind of a, I don’t know, a situational special teams guy for the rest of his career?”
It’s a tough question to answer about one of the more intriguing players on the roster. Owens has the crossover potential to help the Commanders at a key spot on their hybrid defense, but there are already more than a few candidates ready to take on the role.
Tyler Owens Can Fill Niche Role for Commanders
The role in question is a hybrid box safety and coverage linebacker position. Owens has the right frame at 6-foot-2 and 213 pounds to give the Commanders the ability to play nickel personnel, five defensive backs, and still stay strong against the run.
Owens’ stature has Mark Tyler of SB Nation’s Hogs Haven predicting “big things” from last season’s undrafted free agent find.
For Owens to make good on that prediction, he’ll also need to show the athletic range to be an asset in coverage matchups that start closer to the line of scrimmage. Like jamming and trailing an in-line or flexed tight end, or staying with a running back in man coverage outside the numbers.
Owens would qualify to win any contested-catch battle, thanks to a 12’2″ broad jump posted in 2024, “the second-best broad jump in Combine history.”
He has the credentials to fit a useful job description for Washington’s defense, but Owens is far from the only multi-faceted athlete under consideration.
Commanders Have Exciting Options for Hybrid Position
Hoffman wisely asked Paulsen about potential rivals for Owens, including Dominique Hampton and rookie Kain Medrano. Paulsen believes Hampton has a “longer way to go” due to “the position switch” from safety to linebacker.
Even so, Hampton is primed to get a longer look during training camp, but 2025 NFL draft sixth-round pick Medrano is an equally intriguing prospect. Paulsen asked the question can the ex-UCLA standout “find a Jordan Magee kind of role for himself, where he’s the ‘Big Nickel’ and he’s playing a lot of minutes and he finds ways to get on the field?”
It’s a lofty expectation for a late-round pick trashed by one former Commanders head coach. Paulsen thinks Medrano is maybe a year away from meeting or exceeding these expectations, but the reference to Magee is significant.
The fifth-round pick from last season has impressed his coaches and is already being tipped as a key part of the Commanders’ special plans to get tougher against the run.
Those plans may be better served by a natural linebacker like Magee, rather than a lighter defensive back like Owens. Yet, the latter’s otherworldly athleticism is the X-factor that could still change the plans of Commanders head coach Dan Quinn and defensive coordinator Joe Whitt Jr.
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