Commanders Defensive Coordinator Unveils Bold New Role for $45M Breakout Star That Could Transform the Entire Defense

The Washington Commanders raised eyebrows when they handed Javon Kinlaw a three-year contract worth $45 million in 2025 NFL free agency, but the expansive role planned for the defensive tackle could make the deal look like money well spent.

Defensive coordinator Joe Whitt Jr. will use the 14th player selected in the 2020 NFL draft “all over the line,” per ESPN’s John Keim. The latter also reported Whitt confirmed Kinlaw will “be tough for TE’s to block if/when outside. Can be a problem inside.”

Whitt concluded 27-year-old Kinlaw’s “an intriguing young man to work with.”

What’s more intriguing is whether Kinlaw can live up to the bumper contract or if the Commanders will have overpaid. A lot will depend on the many ways the former San Francisco 49ers and New York Jets starter can change Washington’s defense up front.

Commanders Have Big Plans for Javon Kinlaw

Moving Kinlaw across the D-line will recreate a template head coach Dan Quinn has used before. Namely, one involving putting a big-bodied lineman on the edge to act as a force player against the run.

Quinn used it when he called the legendary ‘Legion of Boom’ defense that helped the 2013 Seattle Seahawks win a Super Bowl. While a star-studded secondary loaded with heavy hitters got most of the attention, those Seahawks played more interesting games up front.

That’s where Quinn regularly shifted 326-pounder Red Bryant from the interior to the outside. Putting a massive, two-gap defensive end on one side, next to a nose guard, pass-rushing tackle and a versatile edge-rusher helped the Seahawks mix their fronts.

As Quinn explained to The Seattle Times in 2014 (h/t Bill-in-Bangkok of SB Nation’s Hogs Haven), “We happen to have lots of 3-4 looks, but we are a 4-3 team.”

Kinlaw, all 6-foot-5 and 319 pounds of him, gives the Commanders the same hybrid personality in the trenches. He can help Whitt put more beef on the field along with Daron Payne and Jer’Zhan ‘Johnny’ Newton.

Having three tackles in the pits would bolster a run defense soft enough to allow 4.8 yards per carry last season. Some of Kinlaw’s best plays have come from attacking downhill and snuffing out rushing plays at source.

Like when he beat a double team against the Seahawks to stop a run behind the line of scrimmage in 2023, per Aaron Day of DLineVids.

Getting more of these plays from Kinlaw is how the Commanders replace two-time Pro Bowler Jonathan Allen. He was the most rugged run defender on the roster before joining the Minnesota Vikings in free agency.

Allen could also pressure the inside of the pocket, but the Commanders need more elaborate ways to harass quarterbacks this year.

Commanders Must Manufacture Pass Rush

General manager Adam Peters opting against using a prime draft pick on an edge-rusher left Washington’s pass rush short of a bluechip game-wrecker. It means Quinn and Whitt have to get creative about how they manufacture pressure.

One way would be to unleash Kinlaw off the edge. He’s proved adept in this role in the past, like with this pressure against the Chicago Bears in 2022, highlighted by Day.

Using Kinlaw in a variety of roles adds one more layer to how the Commanders move personnel around to wreck the pocket. The same as moving linebacker Frankie Luvu to the edge or inside gaps to blitz. Just like sliding end Dorance Armstrong Jr. inside.

It’s a smorgasbord of moving parts, but the Commanders have multiple pieces to make their complex schemes work. Players like ex-New England Patriots pass-rusher Deatrich Wise Jr., who can play end or tackle, while another former Pats lineman boasts the size and flexibility to replicate what the Commanders have planned for Kinlaw.

The Commanders will rely on quantity over quality to make things work, but a player like Kinlaw living up to the price tag will still be crucial for how this defense performs.