Dan Orlovsky Sees ‘Shanahan-Ben Johnson Marriage’ in Washington's Offense

Dan Orlovsky Commanders offense — ESPN's Dan Orlovsky believes David Blough's offense will blend Shanahan and Ben Johnson concepts for Jayden Daniels. Plus, the Commanders worked out 8 defenders. | Philip Hughes | HTTR4LIFE LLC

The Washington Commanders spent their entire offseason installing new offensive coordinator David Blough's system, a scheme that many outsiders have no clue what to expect from. ESPN analyst and former NFL quarterback Dan Orlovsky told BMitch & Finlay on Monday (player below) that he fully expects Washington's offense to be completely different from Kliff Kingsbury's. Orlovsky thinks Blough’s system could visually resemble a Shanahan-type scheme mixed with Ben Johnson’s offense.

"There’s a little bit of unknown, exactly what Blough’s offense is going to look like; he’s played in a couple different places and different wrinkles of offenses, so I would imagine it’s a little bit of a Shanahan-Ben Johnson marriage, visually," Orlovsky said. "I think it’s going to be a lot different than what Kliff ran, way more traditional football — more Jayden under center and play action — but it’s such an unknown."

The interview starts at 2:05, after what seems to be a non-stop line of ads that you can skip over.

Orlovsky believes the change could benefit Jayden Daniels through play-action and changing the quarterback’s launch point rather than asking him to operate from the same location repeatedly. In a world where Laremy Tunsil is not protecting his backside, Washington should be looking for every way possible to keep Daniels clean. He also thinks the play-action will create more explosive opportunities against defenses trained on the long ball that look to force offenses into longer drives.

"There are two ways to get explosives; one is put a guy on the outside and throw them the ball down the field, but the Commanders don’t have that, so the other is consistent play-action to get the defense to commit downhill, then stretch them down the field and create those voids in the middle."
Orlovsky is convinced that changing where Daniels throws from can make his job easier, while also reducing the number of hits he takes.

Orlovsky loves Stefon Diggs and says he can still win consistently in the league, particularly on crossing routes Daniels already excels at. Chig Okonkwo is another target Washington brought in this offseason, and a player Orlovsky believes will make Daniels' life much easier by creating more favorable matchups as a result of his athleticism and vertical ability. Nobody outside Washington knows exactly what Blough’s finished offense will become, but Orlovsky believes the changes being installed could make Daniels’ job simpler while allowing the Commanders to attack defenses in more creative ways.

Commanders Work Out Eight Defensive Players

In a move to examine roster depth while trying to fill in places where the roster is currently thin, the Washington Commanders brought in eight players to work out before Monday's practice. Among the players: Carlos “Boogie” Basham, Joshuah Bledsoe, C.J. Brewer, Demone Harris, Quindell Johnson, Tysheem Johnson, Derrick McLendon, and Mike Smith. Every player came from the defensive side of the ball and either in the secondary or on the defensive front.

Out of the players listed, Basham stands out the most; Buffalo selected the former Wake Forest defender in the second round of the 2021 NFL Draft. Since leaving Buffalo, he's spent time with the Giants, Panthers, and Raiders. While working players out never guarantees a signing, holding those workouts this late in August shows Washington is still examining options at the bottom of the roster. The team also has a laundry list of players still recovering from injuries, and Quinn said the players who sat out against the Lions will likely sit again in the last preseason game.

Today's workout players for Washington:

LB Carlos 'Boogie' Basham (2021 2nd round pick)
DB Joshua Bledsoe
DT C.J. Brewer (last 3 years with Tampa Bay)
DE Demone Harris (UFL player
DB Quindell Johnson (UFL)
DB Tysheem Johnson
DE Derrick McLendon
DB Mike Smith
— John Keim (@john_keim) August 24, 2026

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