The ‘pleasant surprise’ at Commanders OTAs that Jayden Daniels will love

The Washington Commanders are currently taking part in OTAs as they prepare for the upcoming 2026 NFL season. The Commanders are looking to bounce back after a rough 2025 campaign that saw them miss the playoffs altogether on the heels of 2024’s surprise run to the NFC Championship Game.

On Wednesday, Commanders insider Nicki Jhabvala of The Athletic reported on a big name in attendance for that day’s session.

“Laremy Tunsil is here at OTAs. Pleasant surprise,” reported Jhabvala on X, formerly Twitter.

The 31 year-old Tunsil is a key veteran on Washington’s offensive line, and it’s not always the case that older players who have already earned their keep are in attendance at OTAs.

However, clearly, the whole team is taking things seriously as they look to bounce back from the ugliness that was the 2025 season.

Last year, injuries certainly played a big role in why Washington fell off so severely, with Jayden Daniels and numerous other key players missing significant time. Concerns about Daniels’ durability, considering his slight frame and tendency to put himself in harm’s way as a runner, turned out to have some justification, even if they still might have been overblown in the moment.

The Commanders also couldn’t seem to close out some of the tight, crunch-time games that they routinely found a way to pull out of the fire in the 2024 season, which also certainly contributed to their dropoff in record.

Washington has made some big changes this offseason, both to the roster and the coaching staff, in hopes of rectifying those issues moving forward.

The Commanders are slated to kick off their 2026 season in early September with a tough road game against the Philadelphia Eagles.

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