Commanders Stock Report: Marcus Mariota Rises While One Starter’s Role Suddenly Shrinks

Last week's Stock Up, Stock Down came on the heels of a 0-2 start, and much of what we saw largely affirmed what we'd seen the week before. Beating Seattle 33-31 changed that just as quickly as it snapped the Seahawks' 12-game winning streak that stretched back into last season.

Keep in mind this post is about players moving in a better or worse direction this season, not just what happened in Sunday's game. Washington finally won, but that doesn't mean everybody's stock went up with it.

Stock Up

Marcus Mariota

Last week, Marcus Mariota said he wasn't trying to be Jayden Daniels, and that leaving the Superman cape off was better for him. On Sunday, Clark Kent went 19-of-31 for 183 yards, three touchdowns, and no interceptions. It was his first three-touchdown game since Week 8 of the 2022 season.

While he didn't light up the stat sheet with 350+ yards, he did quietly get Washington into better calls at the line, including the third-and-nine run by Rachaad White that helped put the game away. Mariota also has a leadership ability that a lot of the younger guys on the roster look up to. Quinn said Monday that Mariota and David Blough were "very in sync" when it came to finding the best plays and places to attack.

Amik Robertson

The secondary as a whole is going to show up later in this post, but Amik Robertson is heading in the other direction and, quite frankly, is starting to show me what Daronte Jones meant when he called him a "pit bull." He was on the field for 65 of Washington's 67 defensive snaps against Seattle and finished with six tackles, four passes defensed, and a forced fumble. The four pass breakups were the most by a Washington player in a game since 2023.

Robertson was also responsible for creating Washington's first takeaway of the season when he forced Jadarian Price to put the ball on the ground in the first quarter. Tim Settle recovered it at the Seattle 21, and the offense turned the short field into seven points a few plays later.

For a secondary that still has plenty to clean up, Robertson has quietly become one of its more dependable pieces.

Amik Robertson was LOCKDOWN today. Best CB performance I’ve seen in years #RaiseHail pic.twitter.com/EnyTajBUjB
— brady (@burgermanders) September 27, 2026

Terry McLaurin’s production

Terry McLaurin's production was on the Stock Down side of this post last week after he opened the season with four catches for 64 yards in two games. That was never about McLaurin suddenly forgetting how to play receiver; Washington simply wasn't getting enough out of its No. 1 target.

That changed Sunday.

McLaurin caught six passes for 77 yards and finally found the end zone on a 30-yard touchdown from Mariota in the third quarter. The play itself wasn't even exactly how Washington drew it up. Mariota said afterward it "kind of changed on the fly," and the two veterans adjusted well enough to turn it into McLaurin's first touchdown of the season.

Ten catches for 141 yards and a touchdown through three weeks still isn't some monster start, but the arrow is finally pointing in the right direction.

Kain Medrano

Kain Medrano had never played a defensive snap in an NFL regular-season game before Sunday. By the end of the afternoon, he had played 44 of them and was responsible for one of the biggest plays in Washington's first win.

Medrano stepped in after Leo Chenal went down and finished with five tackles before jumping Sam Darnold's fourth-quarter pass to A.J. Barner and taking it 50 yards the other way for a touchdown. Washington was clinging to a three-point lead at the time, which made the play even bigger.

The opportunity came because Washington was pretty much out of healthy linebackers, and Medrano is a regular on special teams. What Medrano did with it could keep him on the field even after some of those bodies start coming back.

KAIN MEDRANO PICKS OFF SAM DARNOLD FOR A PICK SIX!@Commanders extend their late lead

📺: FOX/FOX One pic.twitter.com/R4di9f5PoL
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) September 27, 2026

David Blough's Playcalling

This isn't one of those "David Blough figured it all out" entries. Washington finished with only 258 yards and went 3-of-13 on third down, which is pathetic. There's plenty to clean up.

Still, this was probably the best example we've seen so far of what Blough's offense can look like when the quarterback and coordinator are on the same page. Mariota threw three touchdown passes to three different receivers, passed to nine different receivers on the day, Washington didn't turn the ball over, and the offense found enough answers despite playing without Jayden Daniels, Sam Cosmi, and Chig Okonkwo.

Quinn said Monday that Mariota and Blough were "very in sync" when it came to finding the best plays and locations to attack, while also giving Mariota the ability to get Washington into different calls at the line.

It wasn't pretty for four quarters, especially on the ground, but Blough's offense showed some flexibility Sunday that we hadn't seen enough of through the first two weeks.

Sonny Styles

We've talked plenty about Sonny Styles already, but it's getting harder to put together something like this without including him. Styles played all 67 defensive snaps against Seattle and finished with five tackles, two passes defensed, his first career interception and a forced fumble.

The interception came after Seahawks QB Sam Darnold's pass caught the top of Tim Settle's helmet, with Styles coming down with it at the Seattle 43. A few plays later, Washington was in the end zone.

Three games into his rookie season, Styles already has a sack, an interception, and a forced fumble. More importantly, with Frankie Luvu out, Washington trusted him with an every-down role Sunday, and he continues to look more comfortable in it.

That's stock going up.

Sonny Styles was EVERYWHERE in Washington’s win over Seattle.

4 TKL, 1 INT, 2 PD, 1 FF, 1 QBH vs Seahawks

The rookie came away with his first career interception and forced a fumble against the defending champs. https://t.co/UMG5nOAliR pic.twitter.com/H3zRDCHDxE
— Football Performances (@NFLPerformances) September 27, 2026

Stock Down

The Run Game

This one was sitting on the other side of the report last week.

Washington ran for 132 yards against Philadelphia, then 182 against Dallas. Against Seattle, that number fell all the way to 82 yards on 32 carries, just 2.6 yards per attempt. Jacory Croskey-Merritt carried it 19 times for 36 yards.

Rachaad White's 19-yard run on third-and-nine late in the fourth quarter was huge, maybe the biggest offensive play of the game, but it also made the final rushing numbers look a little better than they actually were. White finished with 35 yards on eight carries, meaning 19 of those came on that one play. He also made that play with a hurt shoulder.

Seattle's front deserves some credit here, and Quinn made that clear Monday. Still, Stock Up, Stock Down is about direction, and the run game definitely went the wrong way for a week.

The Secondary / Pass Defense

The three takeaways changed the game. They didn't suddenly fix the pass defense.

Sam Darnold completed 31 of 45 passes for a career-high 379 yards and four touchdowns. Jaxon Smith-Njigba caught 10 passes for 128 yards and two scores, and after Medrano's pick-six gave Washington a nine-point lead, Seattle went 68 yards in 66 seconds to pull back within two.

That came one week after Dak Prescott completed 26 of 31 passes for 279 yards and four touchdowns against Washington. At some point, the explosive plays and easy completions have to slow down.

The takeaways were exactly what Daronte Jones has been asking for. The coverage still isn't where it needs to be.

Sep 27, 2026; Landover, Maryland, USA; Washington Commanders cornerback Mike Sainristil (0) reacts in the first half against the Seattle Seahawks at Northwest Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Mike Sainristil’s role

This one is less about one bad Sunday and more about what Washington did with Sainristil after his first two games.

He played 54 of 55 defensive snaps against Philadelphia, then 45 of 55 against Dallas. Against Seattle, that number dropped all the way to 26 of 67, just 39 percent. Robertson played 97 percent of the snaps, while Rasul Douglas played 67 percent.

Washington hasn't said Sainristil lost his job, and I'm not going to pretend a single snap count tells us that. But after the type of two-game stretch he had to open the season, going from basically an every-down defender to 39 percent of the snaps is telling. Whether that was strictly matchup-based or something more should become clearer in London. For now, his role is moving in the wrong direction.

Washington’s Health

There is finally some good news here. Daniels, Frankie Luvu and Okonkwo are all making the trip to London and Quinn said each will practice "in some form and fashion" this week. None of that guarantees they play Sunday, but it's progress.

Then there is everything else.

LB Leo Chenal suffered a season-ending neck fracture against Seattle and underwent surgery Monday. Quinn said the surgery went well. Cosmi remains in the concussion protocol; there was still no update on Nick Cross as of Monday, and White is dealing with the shoulder injury he played through against Seattle.

Washington is getting closer to having some important players back. The problem is, the injury list hasn't stopped growing while that happens. One win changed the direction of a few things in Washington. Now we'll find out how much of it makes the trip to London.

Get your Commanders updates delivered instantly to your phone by subscribing to our Facebook Messenger News Channel.

Add us as a preferred source on Google