When the Washington Commanders revealed their list of inactive players ahead of the Week 2 home opener against the New York Giants, it contained a surprise.
Fourth-year linebacker/edge rusher Jamin Davis was a healthy scratch. Davis, transitioning to defensive end/edge rusher from linebacker, played 13 snaps in the Week 1 game at Tampa Bay, making three tackles, including one for loss. Davis was sharp in his limited number of snaps.
Through two games, defensive end Clelin Ferrell has Washington’s only two sacks. None of the Commanders’ other edge rushers have applied consistent pressure on opposing quarterbacks, making head coach Dan Quinn’s decision to sit him in Week 2 even more puzzling.
One day after the Commanders defeated the Giants, Quinn explained why Davis did not play on Sunday.
“We actually put up five defensive tackles,” Quinn said. “We knew we were going to have a pitch count, so to speak on [DT] Johnny Newton. We felt with [Newton], 12-15 reps for his first game, we needed an extra big guy in the rotation for that game. So, it was more by design if Johnny was going to be up, then we were going to add an extra practice squad player up to have five defensive tackles as opposed to five [defensive ends] based on the limited playing time for Johnny. So, that was by design.”
Interestingly, on Saturday, the Commanders elevated veteran defensive end Carlos Watkins from the practice squad. So, essentially, Washington chose Watkins and rookie seventh-round pick Javontae Jean-Baptiste over Davis as the fourth defensive end. The Commanders list Dante Fowler Jr. as a linebacker, but he’s also an edge rusher.
Washington knows Davis is a work in progress, but he also offers athleticism that the others in his position group lack. Why not continue to give him 15-20 pass-rushing snaps per week? It’s not like others in the position group are lighting up the stat sheet.
It will be interesting to see Davis’ usage in future weeks.