The Washington Commanders are entering a new phase in the Jayden Daniels, Dan Quinn, and Adam Peters era. Just a season removed from an NFC Championship game appearance, Washington decided to move on from their main coordinators on both sides of the ball. The team then brought in their former assistant quarterbacks coach, David Blough, as their new offensive coordinator and former Minnesota Vikings defensive backs coach Daronte Jones as their new defensive coordinator. Both coordinators were recently identified as breakout candidates in an article by Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic.
“Blough and Jones combine to make another very intriguing coordinator pairing, and one facing a lot of pressure after a down year for Washington”, Rodrigue wrote.
“They both will call plays, and both are first-year coordinators at the pro level. Blough did play a part in quarterback Jayden Daniels’ Offensive Rookie of the Year season in 2024 as the assistant quarterbacks coach and worked his way up to his current role; meanwhile, Jones was a key assistant for the last few years of exceptional Brian Flores-led defenses in Minnesota, with a long college football resume prior to that.”
Both are bringing their own unique spin to Washington.
David Blough Brought In To Unleash Jayden Daniels
GettyWashington Commanders offensive coordinator David Blough played quarterback for four seasons in the NFL from 2019-2022.
Starting with Blough, who, as Rodrigue acknowledged, has already had experience working with Jayden Daniels. This negates a potential learning curve, as he already knows what Daniels prefers as a signal-caller. However, more importantly, he knows what he needs to work on and improve.
One of the biggest expected changes within Blough’s scheme is moving towards a more pro-ready offense. Previous OC Kliff Kingsbury was known for his RPO-heavy college style. While Daniels was effective within that system, Blough and Quinn have echoed that opening up the offense will allow Daniels to flourish even more. This starts by putting him under center and putting more pressure on the defense.
A lot of young quarterbacks don’t enjoy turning their back to the defense, as they do during a run or play action taken from under center. That is why most college QBs take their snaps out of the shotgun.
However, running plays from under center has a few huge benefits. On a run play, it has the running back already charging downhill, which allows them to reach a peak speed faster than taking the ball at an angle from the side. It also hides the ball better in a play action, which makes them more effective and opens up bigger opportunities downfield. Those are just some pluses, but there’s a lot more. Daniels’ development is crucial to the future success of the Commanders in 2026 and beyond. Blough has been brought in to maximize his potential.
Daronte Jones’ Scheme Expected To Transform Commanders’ Defense
GettyThe Minnesota Vikings blitzed 11% more than any other team in the NFL last season.
On the flip side, Daronte Jones was brought in to revitalize an old and underperforming defense. Pro Football Focus graded the Commanders as the sixth-worst defense last season. The front office made waves this offseason, spending nearly $260 million and signing a whopping 21 free agent contracts.
A solid portion of those moves were on defense. That doesn’t even account for the draft, where their first-round selection was used to bring in do-it-all linebacker Sonny Styles out of Ohio State.
Styles will be the key to Jones’ defensive scheme.
Jones’ tenure in Minnesota under defensive coordinator Brian Flores is expected to influence his system a lot.
Flores was known for a scheme that relies heavily on blitzing. Blitzing puts significant pressure on the linebackers to either get home in a pass rush or cover the gap left by the person being sent.
So far we’ve only seen glimpses of what Jones’ new-look defense will look like, but with Training Camp right around the corner, we should have a better look soon.
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