The Washington Commanders' 2025 season ended earlier this month with a 24-17 win over the Philadelphia Eagles. They finished with a 5-12 record -- a dramatic slump compared to the 12-5 run in 2024 -- and they're set to spend the next few months trying to build up and improve the roster to reclaim that success.

Though we don't have any say in how the new front office will mold the team going forward, Commanders.com will look back at how each group performed last season, breaking down top performers and looking ahead at where they could go next. After starting with the running backs, the linebackers are next up on the list.

On the roster

Nick Bellore
Ale Kaho
Frankie Luvu
Jordan Magee
Kain Medrano
Bobby Wagner

*Wagner is a pending unrestricted free agent

Top performers (per Pro Football Focus)

OVR: Bobby Wagner (79.3)
RDEF: Bobby Wagner (90.3)
TACK: Bobby Wagner (90.5)
PRSH: Bobby Wagner (92.4)
COV: Jordan Magee (55.6)

Stats to know

-- Wagner, 35, put together another strong season with 162 tackles -- the fourth highest single-season total of his career and his 14th consecutive 100-tackle season. He was the Commanders' best run defender and one of the few on the defensive side of the ball to play in all 17 games, missing only seven snaps for the entire season. Wagner also became one of just three players to record 2,000 career tackles, joining linebackers Ray Lewis and London Fletcher. Wagner needs 60 tackles next season to have the most all-time.

-- Jordan Magee saw an uptick in his playing time this season and showed noticeable improvement in his second season. Magee, a former fifth-round pick from Temple, suffered a knee injury prior to the start of the 2024 season that forced him to miss most of his rookie campaign. Now healthy, Magee showed the quickness that made him stand out during the draft process, recording 54 tackles with three stops for a loss. Although Magee still split his time between the defense and special teams, the coaching staff seems excited about his development and what he could accomplish in 2026.

Questions to answer

-- What happens with Wagner? Wagner did not provide an answer on whether he intends to retire after the 2025 season, although he certainly showed that he can still be an NFL starter as one of the oldest active players in the league. Wagner is also set to be a free agent in March, and there could be interest from both sides to get a deal done. Wagner loves playing for Quinn as well as linebackers coach Ken Norton, and he was their most consistent defensive player. However, it's possible that his future in Washington will depend at least partially on who the Commanders bring in as their new defensive coordinator.

-- What's next for Magee? Magee took one of the biggest jumps last season and seemed like he was closer to being a bigger fixture in the Commanders' defense. He was one of the few linebackers on the roster who had the speed to keep up with running backs in coverage, and his ability to run sideline-to-sideline started to flash more often in the second half of the season. The next logical step for Magee is to be a full-time starter on defense, but that will depend on how he looks during the offseason and in training camp. The Commanders' coaching staff prefers to give more snaps to players who earn them, which is why he was more involved in the game plan last year. It's possible that Magee could become the on-field play caller for the defense in the near future, but part of that might depend on whether the team decides to re-sign Wagner.