Nearly 3 out of 4 Commanders fans say they are most excited about one player acquired this offseason

Survey results!!

The survey

In last week’s Reacts survey, we addressed three questions.

Most exciting veteran acquisition

The first question asked which veteran offseason acquisition fans are most excited about.

I don’t think it’s very surprising that the top two answers were Laremy Tunsil and Deebo Samuel — two huge offensive upgrades.

I think some people (not me) might be surprised that Tunsil out-polled Samuel by more than 3-to-1. During March, I read more than one article penned by national sports writers who talked about Deebo as the premier or most exciting offseason acquisition.

But here as Hogs Haven, we aren’t influenced so much by fantasy football; plus, the burgundy & gold fan base has a long history of appreciating the value of outstanding offensive linemen. Hence, the excitement about Jayden Daniels’ new blind side protector, former Houston player and 5-time pro bowler Laremy Tunsil, dubbed Jayden’s “security guard on the left side” by former Texans and current Commanders wide receiver Noah Brown.

It’s still a bit unclear exactly what the Washington starting offensive line will look like in Week 1 of the regular season. I’d say that the only two unquestioned player positions right now are Tunsil at left tackle and Tyler Biadasz at center. It seems likely that the other three starters will be Brandon Coleman, Nick Allegretti and Andrew Wylie, but the final configuration of the line may depend on whether the coaches end up with Coleman lining up at left guard or right tackle.

Of course, long-term, the right guard position will be manned by Sam Cosmi, but having torn his ACL in the playoffs and undergone surgery on January 28th, Cosmi clearly won’t be ready to play at the start of the season and could very well miss all of 2025.

Laremy Tunsil is one of the best left tackles in the NFL, and his addition to the Commanders offense should raise the overall line play. Tunsil is especially well-regarded for his pass protection skills, so his addition should mean better protection for Jayden Daniels in the coming season.

Least exciting

Of course, not every addition to the roster is met with jubilation from the fan base. Some moves leave fans shrugging their shoulders or even scratching their heads.

For me personally, the only head-scratcher this offseason was the return of backup C/G Michael Deiter. I was underwhelmed when he was initially signed a year ago, and was dumbfounded when he beat out the competition to make the 53-man roster in 2024. Based on his very poor showing when he took the field for the Commanders last season, I never expected him to be offered a contract to return. He not only got a new deal, but even got a signing bonus and some guaranteed money!

But last week’s survey wasn’t about returning players — it was about players who hadn’t ever before been on the Commanders roster.

The second question asked which new veteran player fans were least excited about. My vote would have gone to either OL Nate Herbig or DL Eddie Goldman; I don’t expect either player to make the 53-man roster in Week 1.

But that’s not the way the survey results went.

Overall, about one-third of Hogs Haven readers responding to our survey said that they were least excited about WR Michael Gallup — a 29-yr-old former Dallas Cowboy who abruptly retired prior to the start of the 2024 regular season, and is now attempting to un-retire.

In 2021, Gallup was injured twice — the second injury was an ACL tear in Week 17. That injury divides his career into two halves.

• In his first three seasons (2018-2020) Gallup caught 158 passes for 2,457 yards and 13 touchdowns.
• In his subsequent three seasons (2021-2023) Gallup caught 108 passes for 1,287 yards and 8 touchdowns

Any one of those final three seasons in which he typically caught around 36 passes for about 430 yards would have been relatively comparable to 2024 receiving production from Olamide Zaccheaus, Noah Brown, Dyami Brown and Austin Ekeler.

When I consider that Gallup — if he makes the team — will have a cap hit of just $1.1m in 2025, I find myself feeling like there’s more potential upside than downside with this signing. Personally, I see Gallup as the likely #5 receiver for Washington this season. In my mind, that puts him ahead of back up offensive lineman Herbig, who seems to like a long shot to even make the regular roster.

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What to do withe the 29th pick in April’s draft

Our final question in last week’s survey asked what Commanders fans want from the first round pick, which is #29 overall.

The tendency in the 21st century mock-draft obsessed NFL is for fans generally to identify the team’s biggest roster hole and demand that the GM fill it with the first round pick.

Impressively, two-thirds of Hogs Haven readers who responded to the survey resisted that temptation.

What most of our survey respondents voted for was a trade-back to acquire more draft picks, believing that more picks in the draft offer more opportunities to select a winner.

The second-most popular answer was to simply select the best player available.

Both of these answers indicate that fans are willing to rely on GM Adam Peters to exercise good judgement in getting the best value possible out of the Commanders’ first round pick. Hogs Haven readers, for the most part, are trusting the Washington brains trust to use the draft to raise the ceiling with the team’s draft picks at the end of the month, regardless of the specific positions of drafted players.

Hopefully, if Peters does well with the team’s 2025 draft selections, the Commanders will be picking late in the draft again next year and the year after that.

In fact, with skill and some luck, we can hope that Washington will never routinely pick near the top of the draft again.