The Washington Commanders surprised a lot of people in 2024. If they were being totally honest, they might even admit to surprising themselves just a bit.
It isn't that the Commanders didn't stock the shelves full of self-confident individuals who could breed that same characteristic into others and the group as a whole, but these guys know as much as we do that four-win teams don't go to the NFC Championship Game the next season without some dramatics involved.
Well, in Washington those dramatics included a coaching staff and front office overhaul, and clearing out nearly two-thirds of the previous year's roster. This year, the dramatics aren't going to come from the team surprising anyone, but from everyone coming for them as they hunters become the hunted.
"This year, we're going to get everyone's best shot, and so it's up to us to go out there and execute at a high level every game," tight end Zach Ertz said in a press conference following the signing of his new one-year deal that will bring him back to the Commanders for 2025.
Having that level of awareness that every team on the Washington schedule next year is going to come into it looking to expose a Super Bowl contender is valuable. Approaching roster moves is just as valuable.
So, with that in mind, the Commanders have gone out and gotten people who are used to being targeted. People Ertz believes could help them stave off the upcoming attacks.
"Obviously adding a guy like Deebo is going to make all of our jobs a lot easier. Arguably the best left tackle in the league is going to make our job a lot easier," Ertz says.
The scariest part about Washington if you're the rest of the NFL is that the team was only getting better as it departed the postseason. Though the final game didn't highlight the best parts of the group, there was another gear being found entering that NFC Championship Game, and if the Commanders can get back to that gear earlier this year to build off it, the addition of these new combatants will help them as they prepare to get all the respect they can handle from their upcoming opponents.
