Commanders Snap Judgement: 5 Week 1 Roles That Reveal Who Washington Really Trusts

On paper, the Washington Commanders' Week 1 depth chart looked one way, but their 70 offensive snaps and 55 defensive snaps against Philadelphia gave a much clearer picture of who the staff trusted once the season started.

The five biggest snap-count takeaways from the game:

- Antonio Williams only played in 26 offensive snaps
- The RB room was really Jacory "Bill" Croskey-Merritt/Rachaad White, not a three-way split
- Sonny Styles played 48 of 55 defensive snaps
- Daronte Jones leaned on four DBs almost every play
- Odafe Oweh/K'Lavon Chaisson dominated the EDGE workload before Dorance Armstrong’s return

This is the first real hierarchy the team has shown this year when they weren't talking out of both sides of their mouth. Week 2 will tell us which roles are permanent and which were merely matchup-specific.

1. Antonio Williams’ 37% Snap Share Already Looks Too Small

Antonio Williams played just 26 of Washington's 70 offensive snaps against Philadelphia, which comes out to 37 percent. Terry McLaurin was on the field for 87 percent, Stefon Diggs for 63 percent, and Dyami Brown for 53 percent. That is how Washington deployed them in the game, but Williams may have already given them a reason to change that plan.

Four catches, 64 yards, and a touchdown on 26 snaps is getting a lot out of a little, and his 91.2 PFF grade only adds to the argument. This isn't about taking snaps away from McLaurin or Diggs; those two are going to be on the field. The question is whether Williams should continue playing fewer snaps than Brown if he's going to continue making plays every time the ball comes his way.

Blough spent the week before the game talking about how Williams had been earning his rep share and hadn't flinched when more was put on him. "He's made for kind of those big-time moments," Blough said. Week 1 certainly didn't make that statement look foolish. If anything, it made 37 percent feel like Washington isn't even scratching the surface heading into Week 2.

Antonio Williams all routes from his NFL debut

4/64/1 on just 10 routes… GET HIM ON THE FIELD MORE! pic.twitter.com/F9mfhB8yc6
— NFL Draft Files (@NFL_DF) September 14, 2026

2. The RB Rotation Was Much More Defined Than Expected

All offseason, the Commanders talked about their running backs as a group that could each bring something different to the table. Week 1 showed that may be true, but it also showed there is already a clear hierarchy. Jacory Croskey-Merritt played 34 snaps, Rachaad White played 29, and Kaytron Allen played only seven snaps, with three of his four carries coming after the Croskey-Merritt fumble.

That is less of a three-man rotation and more of a 1A, 1B, and then everybody else setup. Croskey-Merritt's 16 carries for 63 yards and a touchdown certainly helped make that look like the right decision, even if PFF wasn't nearly as impressed with his overall performance, giving him a 46.3 grade. That's where the snap count matters more than somebody else's grade. Washington trusted him enough to give him the largest share of the backfield, and that's what we're trying to find out here.

Allen's seven snaps are probably the bigger surprise. Coming out of the preseason, it looked like his short-yardage ability would give him a defined role right away. Maybe Philadelphia simply wasn't the matchup for it, or maybe Washington really does see Croskey-Merritt and White as the two backs who will handle almost everything unless a specific situation calls for Allen. Week 2 should tell us a little more.

3. Sonny Styles Was Already an Every-Down Player

There was plenty of discussion all summer about how much Washington would ask of rookie linebacker Sonny Styles right away. Apparently, the answer is almost everything. Styles played 48 of Washington's 55 defensive snaps, or 87 percent, and once Frankie Luvu left the game, his responsibilities only grew.

That workload is more important than any individual play because it shows Washington didn't have a rookie plan for Styles. It had a starter plan. Quinn pointed out Monday that Styles ended up wearing the green dot after Luvu went down, along with covering kicks and making plays on defense. "I thought that's a sign of a mature young player who impacted the game in some different ways," Quinn said.

His PFF grades show there is still plenty to clean up. Styles finished with a 48.6 overall grade and a 29.2 tackling grade, while his 71.4 pass-rush grade showed where some of his impact came from. That's probably about what you would expect from a rookie playing almost every defensive snap in his first NFL game: some really good things mixed with some things that need fixing. The important part is Washington already trusts him enough to let him work through those mistakes on the field.

Sonny Styles NFL Debut vs Eagles.

4 TKL, 2 TFL, 1 SACK, 1 QBH. https://t.co/ma4aR4UFim pic.twitter.com/jZH8wB8udC
— Football Performances (@NFLPerformances) September 14, 2026

4. Daronte Jones’ Secondary Was Far Less Rotational Than Camp Suggested

If there was one position group that looked like it would be a constant revolving door based on camp, it was the secondary. Washington talked about moving players around, matching people up, and using different combinations depending on what the offense showed. Against Philadelphia, that rotation was much tighter than expected.

Jeremy Reaves and Amik Robertson played all 55 defensive snaps. Mike Sainristil and Nick Cross played 54. Quan Martin played only 21, while Rasul Douglas played 17. So, for all the talk about flexibility, Jones essentially picked four defensive backs and told them to stay out there.

The PFF grades make this even more interesting. Robertson finished with a 76.7 overall grade and a 77.2 coverage grade, which lines up nicely with Washington trusting him for every snap. Sainristil also barely came off the field, but his numbers went the other direction, with a 30.0 overall grade and 29.3 in coverage. Quinn didn't exactly sugarcoat what went wrong, either. "The touchdown play definitely felt like as the motion got over, man, like, you have to go get set," Quinn said. "Mike's a very good competitor. I'm certain that we will, but to have that type of play and just not have the right focus at the right time, completely not acceptable."

That doesn't mean Washington should suddenly pull him off the field, but it does make Week 2 worth watching. If the explosive plays continue, does Jones stick with the same four players almost exclusively, or do Martin and Douglas start eating into those snaps? Washington showed us who it trusted in Week 1. Now we get to see whether one bad game, or even a handful of bad plays, is enough to change that trust.

5. Odafe Oweh and K'Lavon Chaisson Were Treated Like Full-Go Starters

Odafe Oweh and K'Lavon Chaisson spent most of the week leading into Philadelphia on the injury report, but once they were cleared, Washington clearly wasn't interested in babying either one. Oweh played 46 of 55 defensive snaps, while Chaisson played 42. Joshua Josephs played 13, and Javontae Jean-Baptiste played nine.

That's not much of a rotation. That's Washington putting its two veteran EDGE players on the field and leaving them there.

The bigger question comes this week with Dorance Armstrong returning from suspension. Washington now has another established player to work into a group that already gave 84 percent of the snaps to Oweh and 76 percent to Chaisson. Those snaps have to come from somewhere, and unless Jones wants to pull his top two players back considerably, Josephs and Jean-Baptiste are the most obvious places to look.

That doesn't mean either young player did anything wrong. It's simply what happens when a position group gets deeper overnight. Week 1 gave us a pretty clear EDGE hierarchy. Armstrong's return could be the first thing that forces Washington to change it.

'DAFE 😮‍💨

📺 #WASvsPHI FOX pic.twitter.com/rF7Z5KVq8z
— Washington Commanders (@Commanders) September 13, 2026

The unofficial depth chart gave us names in an order. Week 1 gave us something much more useful: who Washington actually trusted when the game counted. Williams had a smaller role than his production suggests he deserves, Styles had a much bigger role than most rookies would get, and the secondary showed that equal trust does not always lead to equal results. The running backs and EDGE group also showed much clearer hierarchies than we saw during camp.

None of that means Week 1 is permanent. That's why the snap counts will be worth watching every week. Washington showed us its first real pecking order Sunday. Now we'll find out which parts were matchup-specific, which players earn more, and which ones start watching their snaps disappear.

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