The opinions expressed in this article do not reflect those of the team.
The Washington Commanders are now officially done with training camp, and soon they will be nearly done with the preseason after they play the Kansas City Chiefs.
Here are some of the standouts from the final week of practice.
Jahan Dotson
Jahan Dotson made it clear during OTAs that his skills are legitimate. He showed all the skills that led to him being the 16th overall pick in the draft, from his precise routes to his wide catch radius. He had a mostly quiet camp, but that changed this week.
Dotson grabbed three touchdowns in practice, and each showed off his athleticism. Two of them came on back-to-back plays, and one of them was an insane catch that was lodged between his legs. The other came when he beat Danny Johnson in the left corner of the end zone.
Dotson did not make a catch during last week's game against the Carolina Panthers, but that was because of a defensive holding that prevented what would have been a sizable gain. With Saturday's game against the Chiefs being "dress rehearsal," there should be more opportunities for the rookie to have more impact for the offense.
Danny Johnson
Yes, Dotson got the better of Johnson on a play. The cornerback has had a strong camp overall, though.
Johnson, who was the Commanders' top option to fill William Jackson III’s place when he had to miss practice time, had an uneven performance against the Panthers, but he bounced back with one of the best plays of the week. He made a one-handed interception on Taylor Heinicke, who was targeting Dax Milne on the play, and ran all the way back to the other end zone.
Johnson spent the first four games on the team's practice squad in 2021 before being elevated to the active roster in October and recorded a career-high 21 tackles. While he may not have had the best performance against the Panthers, he'll have an opportunity to be more consistent against the Chiefs.
Jamin Davis
We've heard from Ron Rivera, Jack Del Rio and Jamin Davis himself about how much the second-year linebacker has improved. There have been occasional flashes of that progress, but this week offered multiple examples of that.
Del Rio said that Davis has a better understanding of where he needs to be. That was clear when he secured an interception after a pass from Wentz popped up in the air on a collision with Milne and a defensive back. He's also improved in coverage; he broke on a pass to Eli Wolf that was nearly intercepted during an 11-on-11 period.
"Jamin looks good. He's flying around, he's block shedding," said running back J.D. McKissic. "He's like a totally different player."
Davis will need to play well with the linebacker depth being thin. He recorded one tackle against the Panthers on 18 snaps, but he should more opportunities with the starters seeing an increase in snaps against the Chiefs.
