footballenthusiast
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Featuring 13* White players on the roster in total and 3* White starters, the 2025 Washington Commanders under HC Dan Quinn are another prototypical caste team. The number of White starters has been halved from 2024 as WR Luke McCaffrey and G/T Andrew Wylie were relegated to backup roles while G Sam Cosmi was placed on the reserve/PUP list before the season started. These changes took the offensive line from 4/5ths White down to 2/5ths. The QB room went from 2 White backups to having no White players at all. Sam Hartman, who went viral on social media last year due to his good looks, was signed to the Commanders' practice squad and Jeff Driskel was let go earlier this year. Super Bowl champion TE Zach Ertz is back again as a starter. Remaining viable at the age of 35 is remarkable and his tutelage will certainly be invaluable to the Commanders' young and White TE room. Meanwhile, the defense is completely bereft of White starters and only features two backups, which is typical of a team coached by Quinn. LB Nick Bellore is still a good ole WSTD and at this point will probably never be anything more, as unfortunate as that sounds.
Unsurprisingly, Quinn has relegated McCaffrey to a backup role in favor of the recently acquired Deebo Samuel Sr. McCaffrey is a gifted athlete who hails from an exalted athletic pedigree and boasts an incredible 9.44 RAS. In contrast, the aging and temperamental Samuel posted a 7.92 RAS. While not a bad score, it pales in comparison to McCaffrey's. Samuel is still coasting on the hype of his 2021 season, which saw him get elected to the Pro Bowl and first All-Pro teams. But that was 4 years ago and he isn't getting any younger. One has to wonder if McCaffrey is really being given a fair shake here? Given how similar his trajectory is to other White WRs who have been railroaded over the years, I think not.
MLB Kain Medrano is a new addition to the team, having been selected in the 6th round of the 2025 NFL draft out of UCLA. He is yet another supremely-talented White athlete with an elite RAS of 9.83, which includes a 4.46 40 yard dash time. Sitting third on the depth chart, it is expected that he will be under the tutelage of starting MLB and probable future Hall-of-Famer Bobby Wagner. There is no doubting that Medrano has the physical tools to excel on the field, but will he be given the opportunity to do so? Only time will tell.
Overall, the 2025 Washington Commanders relapsed from last year's numbers. From 16 White players to 13* and 6 White starters to 3*. Although to be fair, one of those starters is injured. The Commanders went 12-5 last year with a rookie QB and even made it as far as the NFC championship game. Perhaps this will be the year that said QB undergoes the infamous "sophomore slump" and the team fails to match or surpass last year's success. One thing is certain, this year's Commanders are a typical caste product under their typical cast disciple HC and will likely continue to be that for years to come.
Offense:
WR - Luke McCaffrey
TE - Zach Ertz, John Bates, Ben Sinnott, Colson Yankoff
C - Tyler Biadasz
RG - Nick Allegretti, Andrew Wylie
Defense:
WLB - Nick Bellore
MLB - Kain Medrano
Special Teams:
K - Matt Gay
P - Tress Way
LS - Tyler Ott
reserve/PUP List:
G - Sam Cosmi*
Practice Squad:
QB - Sam Hartman
G - Tyler Cooper
C - Michael Deiter
* = G Sam Cosmi will almost certainly be back to a starting role when he is available to play
Number of White starters: 3*
Total number of White players on 53-man active roster: 13*
Grade: F
P.S. I figured that since Cosmi wasn't a part of the active roster when the season started, and won't be allowed back on it until 4 games have been played, he technically should be left out of the count even if he is likely to be a starter when he returns.
Unsurprisingly, Quinn has relegated McCaffrey to a backup role in favor of the recently acquired Deebo Samuel Sr. McCaffrey is a gifted athlete who hails from an exalted athletic pedigree and boasts an incredible 9.44 RAS. In contrast, the aging and temperamental Samuel posted a 7.92 RAS. While not a bad score, it pales in comparison to McCaffrey's. Samuel is still coasting on the hype of his 2021 season, which saw him get elected to the Pro Bowl and first All-Pro teams. But that was 4 years ago and he isn't getting any younger. One has to wonder if McCaffrey is really being given a fair shake here? Given how similar his trajectory is to other White WRs who have been railroaded over the years, I think not.
MLB Kain Medrano is a new addition to the team, having been selected in the 6th round of the 2025 NFL draft out of UCLA. He is yet another supremely-talented White athlete with an elite RAS of 9.83, which includes a 4.46 40 yard dash time. Sitting third on the depth chart, it is expected that he will be under the tutelage of starting MLB and probable future Hall-of-Famer Bobby Wagner. There is no doubting that Medrano has the physical tools to excel on the field, but will he be given the opportunity to do so? Only time will tell.
Overall, the 2025 Washington Commanders relapsed from last year's numbers. From 16 White players to 13* and 6 White starters to 3*. Although to be fair, one of those starters is injured. The Commanders went 12-5 last year with a rookie QB and even made it as far as the NFC championship game. Perhaps this will be the year that said QB undergoes the infamous "sophomore slump" and the team fails to match or surpass last year's success. One thing is certain, this year's Commanders are a typical caste product under their typical cast disciple HC and will likely continue to be that for years to come.
Offense:
WR - Luke McCaffrey
TE - Zach Ertz, John Bates, Ben Sinnott, Colson Yankoff
C - Tyler Biadasz
RG - Nick Allegretti, Andrew Wylie
Defense:
WLB - Nick Bellore
MLB - Kain Medrano
Special Teams:
K - Matt Gay
P - Tress Way
LS - Tyler Ott
reserve/PUP List:
G - Sam Cosmi*
Practice Squad:
QB - Sam Hartman
G - Tyler Cooper
C - Michael Deiter
* = G Sam Cosmi will almost certainly be back to a starting role when he is available to play
Number of White starters: 3*
Total number of White players on 53-man active roster: 13*
Grade: F
P.S. I figured that since Cosmi wasn't a part of the active roster when the season started, and won't be allowed back on it until 4 games have been played, he technically should be left out of the count even if he is likely to be a starter when he returns.
