Commanders Predicted to Replace LB Bobby Wagner With Former First Round Pick
The ways the Washington Commanders have failed in 2025 are numerous and cover all levels of the franchise. On the coaching side of things, the biggest failure has come on defense.
That’s where head coach Dan Quinn is supposed to be at his best, but that unit has looked completely lost and outmatched since the season opener. It’s gotten so bad Quinn ended up taking over the defensive play calling duties from defensive coordinator Joe Whitt in recent weeks.
Quinn doing that is probably more symbolic than anything else, because for all intents and purposes, this is a lost season for the Commanders.
Washington is 3-8 and losers of 6 consecutive games headed into their bye in Week 12 and the real fix for their problems probably isn’t coming until the offseason.
That’s when the Commanders can draft for the future and hopefully make a splash in free agency, where Bleacher Report’s Kristopher Knox thinks Jacksonville Jaguars inside linebacker Devin Lloyd might be the solution.
Knox put Lloyd at No. 5 overall on his list of the Top 50 NFL free agents in the 2026 cycle and listed the Commanders as the perfect fit for the 27-year-old former first round pick.
“Jaguars linebacker Devin Lloyd was mostly just sort of ‘fine’ in his first three NFL seasons,” Knox wrote. “The 2022 first-round pick was a good-enough starter but didn’t regularly make wow plays. That’s changed in 2025, though, which happens to be a contract year for him. The 27-year-old has been all over the field this season, making impact plays as a run-stopper and coverage-backer. The elite athleticism that made him a first-round prospect has been on full display.”
Lloyd Could Be Dynamic Playmaker for Commanders
Lloyd, 6-foot-3 and 235 pounds, was a 2-time All-Pac-12 pick and All-American at the University of Utah, and capped his career by being named Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year in 2021, when he had 66 tackles, 8.0 sacks and 4 interceptions including a Pick 6 in the Pac-12 Championship Game.
The Jaguars selected Lloyd in the first round (No. 27 overall) of the 2022 NFL draft, which was bad luck for Lloyd because they’re arguably the worst run franchise in the entire league.
Lloyd is in the final season of his 4-year, $12.93 million rookie contract after the Jaguars declined the fifth year option for 2026. Through his first 4 seasons, Lloyd has at least 110 tackles each year and has 38 tackles, 3 TFL and 4 interceptions through 8 games in 2025. That includes an incredible 129 interception return yards, including a 99-yard interception return for a touchdown in a 31-28 upset win over the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 4.
Wagner Seems to Have Finally Hit Wall
If there’s any truth or fairness to the universe, Commanders inside linebacker Bobby Wagner will one day end up in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
The 2025 season probably won’t be part of the list of accomplishments for the 35-year-old 11-time NFL All-Pro, 10-time Pro Bowler and Super Bowl champion.
While Wagner still leads the Commanders with 107 tackles, he’s seemed a step slow this season — a year in which the expectations were for his team to be Super Bowl contenders. Now, it’s not hard to see Wagner swapped out for Lloyd to form a dynamic combo with linebacker Frankie Luvu in 2026.
Jets HC Aaron Glenn Has Strong Words for Mason Taylor Before Ravens Game
The New York Jets haven’t been winning games, and rookie tight end Mason Taylor has fallen off a cliff.
A media member revealed to head coach Aaron Glenn that Taylor hasn’t been as productive in the last five games versus the first five games of the season. She asked what AG has seen from him, and if the team has plans to get him the rock more.
“Absolutely. I mean, he is one of our dynamic players. So he is always in the plan of making sure that we are giving him the ball. Things happen sometimes where the ball doesn’t get to him, but there’s not a week that goes by that we don’t plan on trying to get him the ball. He has always shown what he can do as far as a receiving tight end and as a blocker. But being one of our threats, we have to make sure that we are getting him the ball. So you’re absolutely right about that,” Coach Glenn admitted.
The Numbers Back up the Media Member’s Claims
Taylor, 21, entered the league as the No. 42 overall pick in the second round of April’s draft. The 6-foot-5, 251-pound behemoth was a factor offensively through the first five games of the season.
During those games, Taylor was targeted 28 times and caught 20 passes for 175 receiving yards. However, in the next five games, Taylor has disappeared from the stat sheet.
The former LSU product was targeted 20 times and caught 14 receptions for 101 receiving yards and a touchdown.
Taylor has three and a half years remaining on his $10.4 million rookie contract.
Insider Says Jets Made QB Change With Taylor in Mind
This week, ahead of the Week 12 Baltimore Ravens game, the Jets made a QB change. Justin Fields got sent to the bench, and Tyrod Taylor was promoted to the starting lineup.
This was the first time this season that Coach Glenn made a change at QB ahead of a game, not due to injury. Coach Glenn went to Taylor because of Fields’ ineffectiveness in the passing game.
What was the other reason the Jets made the change?
According to ESPN NFL Insider Dan Graziano, rookie tight end Mason Taylor.
“The Jets’ reason for moving from Justin Fields to Tyrod Taylor has a lot to do with their desire to evaluate the young non-quarterbacks on their roster, especially tight end Mason Taylor and recently acquired wide receivers John Metchie III and Adonai Mitchell,” Graziano explained. “They haven’t been able to develop any kind of real passing game around Fields, whose running ability wasn’t keeping them competitive in games. They know Tyrod Taylor brings increased turnover risk because he’ll take chances Fields won’t, but they need to figure out what they have in the rest of their receiving corps before making an offseason plan. And they felt they weren’t going to be able to do that with Fields constantly checking it down and/or holding the ball too long.”
The Proof Will Be in the Pudding
How will one Taylor perform with another Taylor at quarterback? Shoulder shrug emoji.
Taylor has only started one game at QB this season for the Jets. It was the Week 3 road game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The former LSU product finished with the third-most receptions he has had in a single game this season. However, it’s hard to draw much from that, considering it was a one-game sample size.
The veteran passer should at least provide more opportunities/targets for Taylor in the passing game than Fields did, which is certainly progress.
