The opinions expressed in this article do not reflect those of the team unless specified by a direct quote.
The Washington Commanders are inching closer to final roster cuts, and there are still several players trying to prove they deserve a spot. Here are three standouts from the past week.
RB Demetric Felton
The Commanders have a tough decision to make at the running back position, and players like Felton aren't making things easy for them. The running back was a key part of the Gold team's offense during Tuesday's scrimmage, as he showed off his skill as both a pass-catcher and runner.
Felton's day got started when the Gold team faced a fourth down on its second drive. Felton connected with Sam Hartman on a deep pass downfield that helped put the group in scoring position. Two plays later, Felton scored a touchdown that was negated because of a holding call, but he showed off quickness and vision to get in the end zone on the play.
As it stands now, Felton faces a long road toward making the roster, as he was listed as seventh on the team's unofficial depth chart. However, the starters are expected to play limited snaps against the Bengals, which means there will be more opportunities for Felton to at least show he can be a practice squad player during the regular season.
QB Sam Hartman
It was an objectively tough night for Hartman during the Commanders' first preseason game against the Patriots. He completed nine of his 19 pass attempts for 64 yards in the 48-18 loss with an interception in the first half, which falls in line with "up and down" performance, offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury said Hartman has been experiencing throughout camp.
Tuesday was an "up" performance for Hartman, as he completed six passes on the day, including the deep shot to Felton. He and Felton connected again later in the morning, which helped set up a touchdown run by Hartman four plays later.
Hartman is currently in a battle with Josh Johnson to be the Commanders' third quarterback. Johnson has looked the more consistent of the two players, but Hartman does know the system and has the talent to possibly win the job. However, he'll need to string together some better games against the Bengals and Ravens to do so.
Commanders' pass rush
It was difficult to name one member of the Commanders' pass rush who performed better than the others during Tuesday's scrimmage, but so many had a good practice that the entire group deserved a shoutout.
The Gold team sacked Jayden Daniels three times on Tuesday, the first of which came from Dorance Armstrong on the opening drive of the day. Frankie Luvu also got in on the action later in the day, and on that same drive, the entire front was credited with a sack to force a turnover on downs.
But the pass rush didn't need to get to Daniels to affect him. Players like Von Miller and Bobby Wagner forced Daniels to get the ball out earlier and disrupted the timing of plays. An example of this came when Daniels missed a wide-open Deebo Samuel in the middle of the field, which would have resulted in a touchdown.
The Commanders struggled to consistently rush passers last season, and it put a strain on their secondary. Although just in a scrimmage, the fact that Washington's front could get to Daniels could be a promising sign for the season.
