The Washington Commanders are paying close attention to Quan Martin as he gets ready for his third NFL season. It's not just because he had surgery on both shoulders earlier this offseason, either; they have high hopes for what he could contribute to the defense and how much he could elevate his skill set.

"This kid has the potential to be one of the better safeties in this league," Commanders defensive coordinator Joe Whitt Jr. said of Martin.

Martin, a second-round pick from the 2023 season, had the best campaign of his career so far, recording 87 tackles in the regular season and two total interceptions, one of which was the touchdown he scored in the Divisional round against the Detroit Lions. He started 16 games, compared to just five in 2023, and forced three fumbles as the team's strong safety.

But Martin's growth has been a work in progress under Whitt and his defensive staff. Whitt had him playing with the second group during last year's OTAs, primarily because he was making mistakes that the defensive coordinator said, "We can't afford to make."

After that, Martin ripped off three consecutive strong practices. He worked his way back onto the starting defense, which is when he made one of the more impressive plays of the offseason by catching an interception behind his back.

Now, Martin has taken his development a step further and become a leader in terms of communicating on the field with his teammates. Whitt gave a lot of the credit for that progress to defensive pass game coordinator Jason Simmons and defensive backs coach Tommy Donatell, but he also took some time to say how pleased he was with the effort Martin has put in to improve this offseason.

"Quan is really what we stand for here," Whitt said.

Like the rest of the Commanders' roster, Martin has high expectations for what he can accomplish in the upcoming season. Now that he's shown Whitt what he can accomplish, the defensive coordinator wants to see how far he can grow.

"That's what I'm holding him to," Whitt said. "That's what I expect of him, because of what he has."

Here are some more observations from Wednesday's practice.

-- As was the case last year, the Commanders had several players returning kicks during special teams drills. Usual suspects like Jaylin Lane and Austin Ekeler were present, but so were Brian Robinson Jr., Deebo Samuel, Kazmeir Allen, Demetric Felton, K.J. Osborn, Ja'Corey Brooks and Noah Igbinoghene. Most of these players likely will not return kicks during the season, but the Commanders do want all options available to them if some of the primary returners are injured. Also, while the drills were certainly controlled, it was clear that Lane has a different level of speed.

-- Drills this time of year are often planned in such a way that the offense can appear to have the edge. With that in mind, Jayden Daniels and his receivers looked sharp during seven-on-seven and red zone periods. Chris Moore beat Trey Amos deep downfield as Daniels aired out a pass to the wideout. During red zone drills, Daniels threw a couple darts to Noah Brown and John Bates. Of the two, the one to Brown was arguably the most impressive, as Brown stretched out his arms to make the catch and held on after briefly coming into contact with the goal post.

-- Samuel also made a nice contested grab against Igbinoghene during red zone drills, which highlights one of the main reasons the Commanders traded for him. Samuel can use his physical traits to help keep chains moving, and if he can continue to do that later in training camp when the pads come on, it should help open up the offense.

-- Fans shouldn't look too heavily into this, but Brandon Coleman was lined up at left guard during an 11-on-11 period near the end of practice. If that is where he lands during the regular season, he certainly looks like he can handle himself. On one play, he moved particularly well in space downfield and helped clear a path for Robinson. Coleman's quickness and overall athleticism was why the Commanders thought he could be a good NFL tackle. He might still be, but for now, those traits are serving him well in the interior.

-- One other small update: Quinn confirmed during his press conference that the Commanders would have joint practices with both the New England Patriots and Baltimore Ravens during the preseason. It is not clear yet when those practices will occur, but it makes sense that Quinn would want to practice against other teams again after how beneficial their time was against the Miami Dolphins and New York Jets last year.

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