The Washington Commanders must feel like Batman right now, as Bane just keeps beating him down. Injuries have been unrelenting in the 2025 NFL campaign, and they show no signs of slowing down. The latest body blow to the Commies is the news that Dorance Armstrong is out for the year with a knee injury. This decimates an already weak position group at defensive end.
Commies fans have been focusing on the injuries at the wide receiver position. Fair enough. Losing your top three receivers is devastating. However, Terry McLaurin should be coming back soon. Same with Deebo Samuel. The position that Commies fans should be more worried about is defensive end.
The Commies had already lost starting defensive end Dietrich Wise, Jr. in Week 2 and backup defensive end Javonte Jean-Baptiste. This is awful news for Armstrong, who was having a break-out year with 24 tackles and 5.5 sacks. This is cataclysmic news for the Commies, as they now have lost both of their starting defensive ends by Week 7 of the 2025 season for the rest of the year. Throw on top of that the loss of a key backup defensive end, and the Commies have no good options going forward.
At this point, the Commies have one every down defensive end on the roster in Preston Smith. The Commies also have undersized pass rusher Jacob Martin and AARP member Von Miller on the roster. That is it as far as defensive end options.
Smith is the only one of the three remaining defensive ends with the necessary size (6′ 5″ 265 pounds) to play every down and defend against the run. Unfortunately, Smith’s best days are behind him. Martin is a nice reserve pass rusher, but he at 6′ 2″ and 242 pounds he is too small to be an every down defensive end and handle run defense on a consistent basis. Von Miller is too old and too light at 6′ 3″ and 250 pounds to be an every-down player. Miller definitely did not come to Washington to play run defense.
With the cupboard bare, the Commies may have to play some of their defensive tackles at the defensive end position. The Commies could rotate Daron Payne and Javon Kinlaw at the defensive end position. They could also use Frankie Luvu as a pass rushing defensive end and play Jordan Magee at linebacker in order to stay in their heavy nickel package.
The point is that the defensive end position has been blown apart by injuries, and the Commies are going to have to get creative in order to get around this problem. This comes at a time when the defense is getting worse with each game and unable to stop the pass, defend the run, or create turnovers. Combine this with a tough stretch of opponents in the schedule, and there is a good chance things get so much worse for the defense.
What the Commies should not do is trade anymore draft picks for defensive end help. The Commies are already down in draft picks and need to keep them in order to get this old and slow roster much better next season. Any solutions to the Commies’ problems on defense are going to have to come from within or through free agency.
The next three games are going to be interesting. The Commies’ offense is going to have to score at a prodigious rate in order to overcome such incredible shortcomings on the defense. The news just keeps getting bleaker and bleaker for Commies fans.
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