The opinions expressed in this article do not reflect those of the team unless specified by a direct quote.
The Washington Commanders have officially wrapped up training camp. Once they finish up their final preseason game against the Baltimore Ravens, the team will make the final roster cuts and begin preparing for their Week 1 game against the New York Giants.
It's been an eventful month as the players have tried to improve upon their 12-5 season in 2024. Here are three players who stood out during camp.
Trey Amos
It's rare for a rookie to be an immediate standout in the NFL. The Commanders managed to draft two such players last year in Jayden Daniels and Mike Sainristil. They seem to have added another one this year in Amos.
Amos, who the Commanders considered taking with their first-round pick, was placed among the defensive starters and played well against Washington's best weapons. He's disrupted the timing between the quarterback and receiver, which has led to either incompletions or pass breakups. An example of the latter came during the team's Burgundy and Gold scrimmage, when he laid out to swat away a pass to KJ Osborn.
The only disappointment surrounding Amos is who he hasn't been matched up with. Terry McLaurin and Noah Brown have not been at practice for their own reasons, and while they will return to the field at some point, the Commanders would have preferred to give Amos more competition against bigger wideouts. He was also held out during the Bengals' preseason game, which means he didn't get to cover Tee Higgins or Ja'Marr Chase.
Still, Amos has risen to every challenge the Commanders have given him, and barring injury, he is expected to be a mainstay of their starting defense this season.
Deebo Samuel
Judging by how the Commanders have used Samuel, both in practice and in the Bengals game, the coaching staff is having fun with him in their offense.
Samuel's versatility has been on display throughout camp. He's lined up out wide, in the slot and in the backfield, but what's been most impressive is what he's done as a traditional wide receiver. He made several explosive plays in practice and has often been a deep threat downfield.
While the Commanders would have preferred it if Brown, McLaurin and Samuel were on the field at the same time, the absence of the former two meant that Samuel got more reps with Daniels so the two could build their chemistry, which Daniels said is going well.
"I just think he's starting to understand how I see things, and I love to hear his feedback," Daniels said.
The Commanders haven't revealed all their plans for Samuel, but he looked quick and healthy. The team wanted him to add another dimension to their offense, and it seems like he is an ideal fit for the job.
Josh Conerly
It's still unclear as to when Conerly will be part of the Commanders' starting offense, but it's closer to being a reality after seeing how he improved over the final weeks of camp.
Although Conerly is best known for his abilities as a pass protector, head coach Dan Quinn highlighted his run blocking as being "even better than I had thought." Quinn liked how Conerly is able to effectively move defenders when engaged with them, as he showed on a 10-yard run from Jacory Croskey-Merritt against the New England Patriots and Chris Rodriguez's 40-yard run against the Cincinnati Bengals.
"I thought he'd acclimate to that just based on the athleticism, but the running game part, I've certainly been impressed by that so far," Quinn said.
Conerly spent the last week of camp splitting reps with Andrew Wylie at right tackle. The Commanders used a similar strategy with Brandon Coleman, who split time with Cornelius Lucas at left tackle before taking the job for himself. It seems like they will replicate that with Conerly, although with guard Sam Cosmi's future unclear, it's possible that they bump Wylie to guard and let Conerly be the Week 1 starter.
