The ways the Washington Commanders have failed in 2025 are numerous and cover all levels of the franchise. On the coaching side of things, the biggest failure has come on defense.
That’s where head coach Dan Quinn is supposed to be at his best, but that unit has looked completely lost and outmatched since the season opener. It’s gotten so bad Quinn ended up taking over the defensive play calling duties from defensive coordinator Joe Whitt in recent weeks.
Quinn doing that is probably more symbolic than anything else.
The Commanders are 3-8 and losers of 6 consecutive games headed into their bye in Week 12. The season, for all intents and purposes, is a complete wash. The real fix probably isn’t coming until the offseason.
That’s when the Commanders can draft for the future and hopefully make a splash in free agency, where Bleacher Report’s Kristopher Knox thinks Jacksonville Jaguars inside linebacker Devin Lloyd might be the solution.
Knox put Lloyd at No. 5 overall on his list of the Top 50 NFL free agents in the 2026 cycle and listed the Commanders as the perfect fit for the 27-year-old former first round pick.
“Jaguars linebacker Devin Lloyd was mostly just sort of ‘fine’ in his first three NFL seasons,” Knox wrote. “The 2022 first-round pick was a good-enough starter but didn’t regularly make wow plays. That’s changed in 2025, though, which happens to be a contract year for him. The 27-year-old has been all over the field this season, making impact plays as a run-stopper and coverage-backer. The elite athleticism that made him a first-round prospect has been on full display.”
Lloyd Could Be Dynamic Playmaker for Commanders
Lloyd, 6-foot-3 and 235 pounds, was a 2-time All-Pac-12 pick and All-American at the University of Utah, and capped his career by being named Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year in 2021, when he had 66 tackles, 8.0 sacks and 4 interceptions including a Pick 6 in the Pac-12 Championship Game.
The Jaguars selected Lloyd in the first round (No. 27 overall) of the 2022 NFL draft, which was bad luck for Lloyd because they’re arguably the worst run franchise in the entire league.
Lloyd is in the final season of his 4-year, $12.93 million rookie contract after the Jaguars declined the fifth year option for 2026. Through his first 4 seasons, Lloyd has at least 110 tackles each year and has 38 tackles, 3 TFL and 4 interceptions through 8 games in 2025. That includes an incredible 129 interception return yards, including a 99-yard interception return for a touchdown in a 31-28 upset win over the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 4.
Wagner Seems to Have Finally Hit Wall
If there’s any truth or fairness to the universe, Commanders inside linebacker Bobby Wagner will one day end up in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
The 2025 season probably won’t be part of the list of accomplishments for the 35-year-old 11-time NFL All-Pro, 10-time Pro Bowler and Super Bowl champion.
While Wagner still leads the Commanders with 107 tackles, he’s seemed a step slow this season — a year in which the expectations were for his team to be Super Bowl contenders. Now, it’s not hard to see Wagner swapped out for Lloyd to form a dynamic combo with linebacker Frankie Luvu in 2026.
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