Commanders OTA Notes: Tempo is up, vibes are high
Much has changed in Ashburn but the players seem ready to embrace the challenge
Football in May without pads requires plenty of caveats, but watching the Commanders first offseason workout open to the media stood out for a number of reasons. To begin, the team had nearly perfect attendance.
Laremy Tunsil - one of the best left tackles in football with a history of missing voluntary team activities - was there. That was a big statement in itself. Washington GM Adam Peters promptly took care of Tunsil this offseason when the tackle approached an offseason without guaranteed money on his contract, and perhaps reciprocally, Tunsil showed up for OTAs.
Tunsil’s attendance was simultaneously not a big deal but also a big deal. It showed a level of buy-in from arguably the team’s most accomplished player. Go back a year, Tunsil wasn’t at OTAs and Terry McLaurin was in the midst of a contract showdown.
None of that energy existed inside the Ashburn practice bubble on Wednesday. The energy was high.
It helped this was also the first time to watch Jayden Daniels sling it since an early December injury in Minnesota. Daniels looked sharp, and more importantly, completely in tune with the new offense installed by David Blough.
“It’s been awesome just to see his offensive mind, his creative mind and juices flowing and we’re building this thing together,” Daniels said. “I love the offense. I mean, I love what Blough’s doing. I love how he’s creating and designing different things and then we’re going from there.”
There was an obvious tempo to the offense, especially during 11v11 work. To be clear, this wasn’t an up-tempo offense like we saw with Kliff Kingsbury running the show. Rather, there was a pace to the practice, getting in and out of the huddle, and an attempt to maximize practice reps. Speaking with one veteran offensive player after practice I asked if that was intentional, and the reply was “oh yeah.”
It was an encouraging first look at the new offense, and the players seemed enthusiastic about the early results.
More notes below:
NFL rules dictate the media can’t provide many specifics about formations or play design from practice sessions, but a few things were obvious from a broad prism. Daniels will be under center much, much more in Blough’s offense, and the skill position players will be in motion at a much higher clip. That doesn’t mean shotgun looks and the pistol formation won’t continue to be a feature, but the days of almost all shotgun and McLaurin lined up exclusively on the left side appear to be over.
For all the fan angst about adding a new veteran receiver, the current crop looked impressive on Wednesday. Beyond McLaurin, Dyami Brown looked highly productive, Jaylen Lane made a number of catches from different positions, and Luke McCaffrey found the correct soft pocket for a good outlet connection with Daniels.
Speaking of receivers, rookie Antonio Williams certainly looked like he belonged. Check out this video:
Mitchell Tischler@Mitch_TischlerI thought Antonio Williams had a really nice day today. He looked comfortable in the offense and seemed to have a good sense of finding soft spots in the defense and sitting down giving the QB's a nice target to throw to12:59 AM · May 28, 2026 · 12.9K Views20 Reposts · 407 LikesThe kicker battle will be a fun one to watch all summer. And it should go on all summer. Undrafted rookie free agent Drew Stevens definitely has the stronger leg, but veteran Jake Moody has proven to be accurate inside 40 on the NFL level.
JP Finlay@JPFinlayNBCSKicking battle will be fun to watch. Stevens just absolutely ripped all 6 FG attempts. Moody went 5 of 6 and made his longest (about 53ish). AP & DQ watched intently. Stevens’ power is obvious; if the accuracy can match he’s a weapon.4:55 PM · May 27, 2026 · 45.4K Views20 Replies · 58 Reposts · 862 LikesI spoke with veteran tight end John Bates after practice and asked him specifically about the TE role in the new offense. Bates explained tight ends will have a bigger role and expect to see multiple sets with multiple tight ends on the field. Maybe even 13 personnel like the Rams ran to great success last season. That’s exciting.
Speaking of tight ends, for the past two seasons Zach Ertz was Washington’s top pass catcher at the position. Ertz was very good at getting off the line of scrimmage and a real tactician running routes. This offseason the Commanders brought in Chig Okonkwo and he’s a different player than Ertz. Chig has a level of athleticism and agility that Ertz once had but not in his two years in Washington. On one pass reception down the right sideline Okonkwo showed a burst of speed and movement that should be a big boost to the Commanders offense.
Sam Cosmi talked about what a weapon play action can be for the offensive line, and the excitement of more play action in the offense. That’s good news.
One fun part of watching practice is watching the coaches interact with the players. Blough has a stoic, serious demeanor on the field. He’s locked in but not very emotional. Another offensive coach that got a big promotion this offseason is David Raih, where he got bumped up from tight ends coach to passing game coordinator. Quite often Blough and Raih were standing next to each other though their reactions to plays were quite different. Blough maintained a steely focus while Raih jumped around and showed an infection enthusiasm. On one play in 11v11, Daniels connected with McLaurin in the deep middle of the field and as Terry jogged to the sideline Raih greeted him with a jumping high five while Blough looked at his play sheet. Teams need all different types of personalities, and coaching staffs do too.
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Ed Note: As always leave comments or questions and I’ll do my best to respond. Also at the first OTA session I made a point to watch the offense. Next week I’ll try to focus on the defense.