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Laremy Tunsil Leading Washington Commanders OL in 2026 and Beyond
Watch Tunsil in pass protection, and the first thing you notice is how little he moves. Not because he’s passive — because he doesn’t have to be. His punch timing is precise enough to neutralize the initial burst of a pass rusher before they can generate momentum, and his anchor is deep enough that pure power moves rarely move him off his spot. In 2025, he allowed just 15 total pressures across 802 snaps — a 1.9% pressure rate that ranked among the best in the entire NFL. Only two of those pressures became sacks. In 14 starts, he was essentially a wall.
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On speed rushes, he mirrors edge defenders with lateral quickness that shouldn’t exist in a 313-pound man. On inside counter moves, his hand reset is quick enough to reestablish control before the rusher can turn the corner. Against Myles Garrett specifically, Tunsil has a documented track record of winning more battles than he loses, which is something very few left tackles in the NFL can say.
This is the part that doesn’t show up in any grade. When Tunsil got his extension done, one of the first things he talked about publicly wasn’t the money — it was Auburn. Every offseason, Tunsil trains with his personal offensive line coach, Dominic Studzinski, at a facility in Auburn, Alabama. This offseason, he opened the invitation to his teammates. Josh Conerly Jr., Washington’s first-round pick and the heir apparent at right tackle, is going. Brandon Coleman is going. Trent Scott called Tunsil directly to ask about making the trip.
That mentorship accelerates Washington’s timeline on the offensive line in a way that no draft pick or free agent signing can replicate. Conerly is learning from someone who has handled the best pass rushers in football for a decade. Coleman is learning what elite preparation looks like up close. The investment in Tunsil isn’t just about protecting Jayden Daniels in 2026 — it’s about building an offensive line that doesn’t need to be rebuilt again for years to come.
Commanders Wire
Commanders TE Chig Okonkwo ‘total opposite’ of Zach Ertz
With Zach Ertz aging, injured, and becoming a free agent, it was the right time to part ways with the veteran and bring in some youth. Okonkwo is a different breed of tight end, though, so 106.7 The Fan brought on ESPN’s Titans’ insider Turron Davenport to gain some insight.
When asked what Washington is getting in Chig Okonkwo, Davenport didn’t hold back.
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“Well, I’ll tell you this, he’s the total opposite of Zach Ertz in that he’s gonna get you YAC. That’s one of his biggest specialties. He’s a guy, you know how they have the angry scepter metaphor? He has a series of angry runs, man. As far as the YAC’s concerned, the way he’s able to catch the ball and turn into a running back instantly is something that stands out. He’ll run through tackles, and, believe it or not, at his size, he still has the speed to pull away.
You go back, and you look at the [Houston] Texans game last year in Houston, you look two years ago against the Chiefs, and you see this guy catch the ball and break a tackle and put his ‘get-somewhere’ shoes on and take it to the house.”
Heavy.com
Commanders Praised for Signing 1,500-Yard ‘Bargain’ Free Agent RB
Pro Football Focus singled out signing White as 1 of their “Most Favorite” free agent contracts in the 2026 cycle.
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“White signed with the Commanders on a very cheap contract, as he will make just $2 million across one season,” PFF’s Zolton Buday wrote. “He was an above-average running back throughout his career in Tampa Bay, sidelined only because of the emergence of Bucky Irving. The Arizona State product had a limited role in 2025, but he shone on his way to an 87.2 PFF rushing grade, which ranked fourth among all running backs.”
White’s frustration with his role in Tampa Bay’s offense came to a head by the end of a disappointing 2025 season in which the Buccaneers went 8-9 overall and missed the playoffs for the 1st time since 2019.
Almost immediately following the season, White took to social media to express, pretty clearly, that he was leaving. He may not have realized how much his value had plummeted over the course of 17 games.
White had over 1,000 yards from scrimmage in 2023 and 2024, including a career-high 1,534 yards in 2023, but his numbers plummeted to a career-low 790 yards from scrimmage in 2025.
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“Teams shouldn’t look to sign White as their RB1, but he’ll make an excellent third-down option for many clubs,” Bleacher Report’s Alex Kay wrote on December 30. “Expect him to ink a modest contract, likely in the $7 million per year range, with a team that could maximize his talents as a receiving weapon. The Washington Commanders could be an intriguing landing spot for White. The back has a history with quarterback Jayden Daniels—playing together at Arizona State in 2021—and could round out a backfield that has a promising young piece in Jacory Croskey-Merritt but is set to lose both Austin Ekeler and Jeremy McNichols this offseason.”
If he wants inspiration, he can just look at 1 of the running backs in his own division. The Dallas Cowboys signed Javonte Williams to a 1-year, $3 million free-agent contract before the 2025 season.
After Williams reeled off a career-high 1,200 yards in 2025, the Cowboys brought him back on a 3-year, $24 million contract — something not out of the realm of possibility for White in 2027.
ESPN
Commanders lauding upgraded pass rush this offseason
With [Washington’s free agent] additions, the Commanders now have four former first-round picks along their front. They are hoping the new starting foursome — Payne, Oweh, Chaisson and Javon Kinlaw — will help produce the pressure on opposing quarterbacks Quinn covets.
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“The best teams that I’ve been a part of had waves of players that could apply pressure,” Quinn said. “We’ll need to be able to do that and we will.”
Best case scenario, Washington will be able to create more pass rush packages for new coordinator Daronte Jones than it has in Quinn’s first two seasons. They can also use Luvu more effectively as a blitzer, moving him around more as they did 2024, when he recorded eight sacks compared to just three last season when he was forced to play more on the edge.
But this isn’t just about sacking the quarterback more, it’s about trying to create takeaways. The Commanders ranked 31st the past two seasons combined in turnovers forced. During that same period, Minnesota, where Jones was a key assistant to defensive coordinator Brian Flores, ranked fourth. And the Vikings led the NFL with 21 takeaways off blitzes compared to only four for Washington.
Some of that will fall on the secondary. But, the Commanders hope, they can cause hesitation in quarterbacks with disguises. Then the rush can be more versatile — with more effective stunts — and that, in turn, can help create takeaway opportunities.
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The versatility stems from having more options to create pass-rush packages. They can use Omenihu inside. They can use three defensive tackle packages. They can use three ends in rush situations — pairing Omenihu with Armstrong and Oweh or Chaisson outside. They can rush out of a 3-4 package with four rushers — using a combination of Payne, Settle and Jer’Zhan Newton inside. And they can rush over center — as can Omenihu.
Then it’s about adding Chenal’s rush ability. The former third-round pick in 2022 recorded seven sacks in four seasons, but Andy Reid called him “one of my favorite guys.” He also served as a spy on quarterbacks — it helped that he was the fourth fastest linebacker at the 2022 combine, running the 40 in 4.53 seconds.
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NFL execs on NY Giants’ free agency: ‘Nothing they did really scares you’
Free agency has been filled with mostly prudent decisions and has brought the Giants some nice players, but hasn’t transformed the roster into a title contending one.
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NFL executives who spoke to The Athletic with the promise of anonymity also seem to see it that way.
“I think what they have done is pretty good to this point,” an exec said. “To get some familiarity, Likely is a good get for them. The key is, the two rookies from last year, (Cam) Skattebo and (Jaxson) Dart. They did the right thing by letting the receiver (Wan’Dale Robinson) go, but they do not have a lot there beyond (Malik) Nabers. I could see them drafting one of the receivers early on.”
The two big-money signings the Giants made were tight end Isaiah Likely and linebacker Tremaine Edmunds. One exec did not seem impressed.
“We liked Isaiah Likely,” another exec said. “They know him well. He is a good No. 2 (tight end). I’ve never been a huge fan of Edmunds. We were looking at linebackers, and that was not someone we spent a lot of time on. Nothing they did really scares you.”
Bleeding Green Nation
The noise inside the Eagles’ headquarters needs to stop
At the end of the day, ESPN’s article painted what I felt was a fair assessment of Jalen Hurts’ 2025 season. It offered critiques and some praise. But praise is hard to come by with an offense that was expected to be one of the best in the league yet struggled throughout the season to find consistency. In the end, there wasn’t a lot reported that we didn’t already know.
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Jalen Hurts is stubborn. Yep, that tracks.
Hurts’ stoic personality sometimes alienates him from teammates and coaches. Yep, knew that, too.
Hurts’ personality can also be beneficial to blocking out the noise, including articles like the one released by ESPN this week.
Hurts didn’t trust a gameplan authored by first-time offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo. No one did.
Hurts resisted certain offensive changes, like more snaps under center and pre-snap motion.
Hurts often changed calls at the line of scrimmage, and often played out of structure, frustrating teammates.
None of these items were surprising, although they confirmed some disturbing trends about the franchise QB. Perhaps the biggest revelation was that it was Hurts who suggested the Eagles run “four verts” on their final 4th down play at the end of the Birds’ wild card loss to the 49ers. That assertion has since been backed up by other reputable sources.
The Eagles have been a running soap opera for a few years now….They are what the Dallas Cowboys and New England Patriots used to be.
The people responsible for the drama surrounding the Eagles are not the reporters. It is the people inside the building who are trying to further some kind of agenda by sharing these nuggets of information. One can’t help but look at a story like ESPN’s and see that, whoever was talking to them was trying to paint Hurts in a mostly negative light. It may have been mostly true, but that was the motive. There have also been stories in the last few years that have done the same thing to Brown, Sirianni, and others.
But as a reader and fan of the team, it’s understandable to find these stories both informative and annoying, because who does it help? What does it accomplish? Who is benefitting by this story coming out about Hurts? It only leads to speculation and further discontent in the locker room. It is awful for team chemistry for people inside the organization to be running off to the side and leaking information to reporters without putting their name on it.
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I’m sorry, but professional football isn’t the same as national security. It’s time for whoever is doing this to stop running off to the media and sharing information in secret. The fanbase is exhausted. In this case, Hurts is made to look bad with no attribution from those casting aspersions. And the same holds true when Brown or Sirianni or anyone else is made to look bad without attribution.
As the CEO head coach of the team, Sirianni needs to get a handle on what’s happening here, and if anyone within his inner circle is responsible, they need to be told to stop or to be let go. Same goes for anyone else on the inside.
Get it together. Be adults. Work together. Stop the backbiting.
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ESPN
Rise of RBs sharing carries, what it means for the NFL draft
WHEN NOTRE DAME running back Jadarian Price went through the speed dating-like gauntlet of NFL combine interviews in February, he heard two questions more than any others.
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Teams peppered him about his role in a multiback offense at Notre Dame — specifically what it was like sharing the spotlight with Jeremiyah Love, the jet engine who last season won the Doak Walker Award as the top college running back.
“The other half asked: Why didn’t you go somewhere else and want to be a feature back?” Price said.
Price and Love were at the combine to be evaluated as individual draft prospects, on their own merits — but fully separating them proved difficult. Not only did they share a position and a team, but both project strongly in the draft, and are set to enter a league that is shifting in how it uses running backs.
Although featured backs remain in some corners of the NFL, more teams are employing and seeking multiback rotations. Super Bowl participants Seattle (Kenneth Walker III, Zach Charbonnet) and New England (TreVeyon Henderson, Rhamondre Stevenson) both used two-back systems in their offenses this past season.
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“The NFL has become a two-back league,” an NFL running backs coach told ESPN.
ESPN
Caleb Downs and the NFL draft: How high is too high to take a safety?
“At the end of the day, it’s about affecting the game,” Downs answered. “Whoever affects the game the most should be picked the highest — and I feel like I do it at the highest level.”
The top 10 of the draft has long served as a barometer of how the league values positions — and who it believes affects the game the most.
To no one’s surprise, quarterbacks — with the ball in their hands on every offensive play — have gone in the top 10 more than any other position this century with 49 selections. After that, come offensive tackles (42 selections since 2000), who protect the quarterback, and edge rushers (38), who hit the quarterback. Not far behind are wide receivers (37), who catch the ball, and cornerbacks (25), who cover them.
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Outside of interior offensive linemen and tight ends, no position on offense or defense has been selected in the top 10 less often than safeties, who traditionally line up farthest away from the quarterback before every snap.
Since 2000, only eight safeties have been selected in the top 10: Roy Williams (2002), Sean Taylor (2004), Michael Huff (2006), Donte Whitner (2006), LaRon Landry (2007), Eric Berry (2010), Mark Barron (2012) and, most recently, Jamal Adams (2017).
That’s fewer than defensive tackles (22 selections), running backs (18), and even off-ball linebackers (14).
The Athletic (paywall)
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NFL rejects Bears’ appeal for compensatory draft picks after Falcons hire Ian Cunningham
The Chicago Bears won’t be getting any compensatory draft picks for Ian Cunningham departing to become general manager of the Atlanta Falcons after four years as Ryan Poles’ assistant GM.
The NFL on Friday rejected the Bears’ appeal of the original decision. Had it been successful, the Bears would have picked up a third-round pick in this month’s NFL Draft and another in next year’s.
[T]he NFL confirmed that it considers Atlanta’s primary football executive to be Matt Ryan, who was hired by the Falcons earlier this offseason to their newly created position of president of football.
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“The matter is now closed following the club’s appeal,” the league said in a statement. “The NFL informed the Bears today they will not receive compensatory picks. The policy is designed to provide picks for the Primary Football Executive position. The League determined Mr. Cunningham did not fill that role with the Falcons as it is defined in League rules.”
Free agency scraps
Pro Football Talk
Najee Harris visited Raiders on Friday
Free agent running back Najee Harris visited the Raiders on Friday, according to the NFL’s transactions report.
He previously visited the Seahawks.
Ashton Jeanty, a first-round pick in 2025, is the Raiders’ starting running back, with Dylan Laube and Chris Collier also on the roster.
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Harris is working his way back from a torn Achilles. He was injured in a Sept. 21 game against the Broncos while playing for the Chargers.
Harris, who signed with the Chargers as a free agent last March, landed on the non-football injury list ahead of last summer’s training camp after a fireworks accident. He missed all the Chargers’ training camp practices but returned for the beginning of the season.
The 2021 first-round pick spent his first four seasons with the Steelers and ran for 4,312 yards during his time in Pittsburgh.
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