Dan Orlovsky, bullish on the 2026 Commanders offense?
Indeed, even if he’s not exactly sure what coordinator David Blough’s version of an offense will look like just yet.
“There’s a little bit of unknown exactly what Blough’s offense is going to look like; he’s played in a couple different places and different wrinkles of offenses, so I would imagine it’s a little bit of a Shanahan-Ben Johnson marriage, visually,” Orlovsky told BMitch & Finlay on Monday. “I think it’s going to be a lot different than what Kliff ran, way more traditional football – more Jayden under center and play action – but it’s such an unknown.”
We only saw Jayden Daniels for three plays this season, one of which was a handoff, so we’re really not sure, either, but Orlovsky sees the general plan of putting Daniels under center more and running a lot more play-action as beneficial in all realms.
“Explosives are at a premium, because defenses are putting on the umbrella shell, matching coverages immediately, and daring teams to put the quarterback underneath center and have efficient drives,” Orlovsky said. “There are two ways to get explosives; one is put a guy on the outside and throw them the ball down the field, but the Commanders don’t have that, so the other is consistent play-action to get the defense to commit downhill, then stretch them down the field and create those voids in the middle. That makes any quarterback’s job easier; the more you can change where he’s throwing the ball from, the less hits he’ll take, and keeping the QB upright is a big deal, especially with the loss of Tunsil.”
That also depends on how the line blocks and the running game develops, but even though the Commanders don’t have that Ja’Marr Chase/Julio Jones ‘throw it and go get it’ receiver, they did bring in one who will help immensely.
“Stef (Diggs) still wins, and can kill in the crossers, and that’s something Jayden can throw at a high level,” Orlovsky said. “This offense will be more deceptive, and the more they can be diversified on offense and do a bunch of the same things from different looks, the more consistent they can be.”
And, of course, there’s also new tight end Chig Okonkwo, who can be a big help there, too.
“Being as successful as he was in Tennessee with up-and-down quarterback play, he can be a real weapon as a pass catcher,” Orlovsky said. “He’s a really athletic player, and he’s a little bit like Trey McBride. I don’t see that production, but usage, where you’re trying to get those matchups where he’s stretching the field vertically, and then breaking away from coverage; him working the middle in the ins, crossers, climb game where he’s gaining leverage down the field, that’s a strength. One of the things Jayden has done well is throw that intermediate route where you layer over people, and that’s the place I would expect them to utilize Chig and his vertical speed as much as they can.”
Check out Orlovsky’s entire visit with BMitch & Finlay above!
