A morning roundup of content from the Washington Commanders on Friday, Aug. 2, 2024.

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The Washington Commanders, like the rest of the teams in the NFL, are looking for the best players to put on the field to win games this season. They'll go through training camp practices and preseason games, pitting their players against themselves to see who rises above the rest.

An ideal scenario would be for the Commanders to find some clear answers at every position. The reality, however, is far murkier than that. The final decisions can and will be difficult at the end of August, as they weigh one player's skills over the others to figure out who should be the starters.

Head coach Dan Quinn is looking at things a little deeper than that. To him, it's not necessarily about finding 22 players who are objectively better than the rest but rather seeing which players fit certain molds and using them in the most effective ways.

"Where the real secret sauce is, is finding the unique things that a player can do and then featuring them into that role," Quin said. "Whether they're a starter or not, but on the roles that they play, they're excellent at."

The Commanders spent the first seven days of camp mixing and matching players on both sides of the ball, so much so that it can sometimes be hard to differentiate the "first group" from the second and third. One play might feature a player in the slot, while the next could feature that same player lined up out wide. On the offensive line, players are moving from guard to tackle and center to guard to find the best "winning" group, as Quinn put it.

"Not every player is excellent at everything, but the things that we ask them to do, they have to be elite at," Quinn said.

At some point between now and the first preseason game against the New York Jets, the Commanders will need to provide some sort of answer as to who will be a "starter" by way of releasing an unofficial depth chart. But as Quinn pointed out, the same 11 players won't be on the field for every snap.

So, rather than focusing on finding 11 players on either side of the ball who will play, Quinn would rather expand his search to finding 18 players and figuring out how to maneuver them into the most advantageous positions.

"That's, to me, where it goes because it can be misleading when sometimes you guys are watching practice, you may see the tight end with a third team. Well, it was really [that] we wanted to see him work one specific technique for one play."

Even then, it doesn't sound like there is one concrete answer. The Commanders will continue to play with their roster throughout training camp and likely into the regular season. It's on the players to produce, no matter the situation, but it's on the coaches to put them in the best spot to maximize their potential.

"That's where I think excellent coaching happens because you're putting someone into a spot to evaluate and to test and to find out."

Check Out What's On Commanders.com:

• Training camp notebook | Brian Robinson looking forward to more snaps as pass-catcher
• K Riley Patterson brings competition to Commanders special teams
• Top quotes from the first full week of Commanders training camp
• Training camp notebook | Newton takes another step in recovery, participates in 11-on-11 work
• Dotson feeling more comfortable in Washington's new offense
• Chris Rodriguez ready to prove himself again in Year 2
• Three standouts from Week 1 of Commanders training camp
• Training camp notebook | Daron Payne loves working with Dorance Armstrong, Clelin Ferrell
• Training camp notebook | Jayden Daniels has sharp first day of practice
• Training camp notebook | Focus shifts to line of scrimmage in first padded practice
• Luke McCaffrey leaning on veteran leadership to maximize potential
• Terry McLaurin | 'He naturally has a good feel of where to position the ball'
• Jonathan Allen | 'He's going to challenge us every day'
• HC Dan Quinn | 'He's got such a prove it mentality to him'