As the Commanders break minicamp, these are Dan Quinn’s lingering concerns

ASHBURN, Va. — Long before the Commanders started their offseason program, head coach Dan Quinn convened his young staff for a summit.

With two new coordinators and a 30-year-old offensive play-caller, Quinn thought it would be beneficial to get an initial stress test before players arrived.

So he brought in a few speakers and put his staff through a training exercise.

“Testing people under pressure,” Quinn said. “I wanted to see that manifest through the teaching and competitiveness of a practice. I wanted to see how much this staff could grow. How much could they collaborate with the new systems and teach it together?”

So far, mission accomplished.

As Washington wrapped up its offseason schedule, the biggest hurdle was its coaching staff scrambling to install two new schemes before training camp.

After a 5-12 season in 2025, Quinn thought the answer was a pair first-time play-callers. But it was a gamble if they could lay the foundation quickly enough.

Thanks to Quinn’s unorthodox tactics, he thinks it worked.

“I thought they really applied [the lessons from the summit] together. I knew, if they did a really good job teaching, then the players would get it,” he said.

So, as the team breaks for 30 days before training camp, Quinn left Ashburn pleased with his group’s progress. There are a few outstanding issues that will gnaw at him in July, but for now he’s ready to close the chapter.

“It was a good minicamp,” Quinn said. “It was an important three days on the field. But we’ve got a good connection.”

Concerns over Jayden Daniels?

The most important player in that connection is quarterback Jayden Daniels.

In fact, the entire offensive system is geared toward helping the former Offensive Rookie of the Year. In 2025, Washington too often didn’t have any support for Daniels in the run game. And the passing attack became predictable.

So Quinn hired David Blough and gave him the green light to move the offense under center. From there, D.C. hopes to be more dynamic running the ball and more multiple from a personnel perspective. It will keep defenses guessing.

But it will also be a significant change for Daniels, who almost exclusively played out of the shotgun his first two seasons. Even he acknowledged he isn’t comfortable in the new setup yet.

“Long way to go,” he said this week.

Quinn is closely monitoring his quarterback’s acclimation. Most of the next month will be centered on Daniels getting more comfortable. Quinn believes that will come during camp.

“Knowing the offense and then making the plays come to life are two different things,” Quinn said. “The thing is, [Daniels] works at it. You can tell his ability to process is great. So for him the reps of doing it over and over is helpful.”

In minicamp, Blough installed about 80% of the playbook. To lay the foundation, the offense did not get the chance to rep concepts more than a few times.

“You have a certain set of plays [we install one day]. Then we do another set the next day. Then another one. So you don’t get the continuity to run that same concept 15 times in a row. That will take place in camp,” Quinn said.

Daniels will take his receivers to Los Angeles for a tuneup in July. When the team reconvenes, Quinn will start refining the system to Daniels’ liking.

“We’re going to feature this a little bit more, or you start to tailor it by player,” Quinn said. “When we get back to camp, the install process isn’t new again. I’m excited to see him grow into it.”

Running back help

Jacory Croskey-Merritt showed up to minicamp with added weight.

After leading the league in rushing success rate a year ago, the second-year back decided to put on muscle to be Washington’s top option.

“I was staying in the weight room. I was just trying to transition to my older body and get ready for the season,” he said.

Quinn acknowledged the new offensive scheme will put more emphasis on the rushing attack. And Croskey-Merritt could unlock that vision.

“From a play-design standpoint, we need some cutback-type of players. So, seeing him do that with his explosiveness, that’s a big deal. I do feel like there’s this evolution that’s taking place with him,” Quinn said. “You can see some of that through getting stronger, adding more size. You don’t do that during the first year. You do it during this time. That’s probably one of the things I noticed most.”

A move at receiver?

One of the main questions hovering over the Commanders’ minicamp was whether the team would make a move for a big-name receiver such as San Francisco’s Brandon Aiyuk.

And, if minicamp exposed one concrete development, it’s that the receivers are a work in progress.

Outside of veteran Terry McLaurin, there were plenty of drops in the three-day evaluation period. At the moment, Daniels’ best secondary options are Van Jefferson, Dyami Brown and Treylon Burks.

Quinn is open to signing outside help, as long as they fit the scheme.

General manager “Adam [Peters] and his staff have done a good job of making sure the players we sign and bring in are [aligned with what we do],” Quinn said. “That’s the first filter, at the top of the list.”