Why 2 Undrafted Free Agents Landed on Commanders Initial 53-Man Roster

Washington Commanders head coach Dan Quinn explained a pair of decisions on the 53-man roster.

Washington Commanders safety Tyler Owens. / Instagram/tko214

When the Washington Commanders unveiled their initial 53-man roster on Tuesday there were the usual surprises.

Ahead of those decisions the Commanders traded third-year receiver Jahan Dotson to the Philadelphia Eagles. Then, when decision day came, fifth-round 2023 NFL Draft pick defensive end KJ Henry was the surprise player waived and subsequently claimed by the Cincinnati Bengals.

Occassionally teams will find undrafted gems they decide to keep on the active roster as well. These are the more pleasant surprises in the NFL. For Washington, they came in the form of tight end Colson Yankoff and safety Tyler Owens.

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Washington Commanders safety Tyler Owens. / Instagram/tko214

"I would say both of 'em really have the propensity to absolutely go for it. You feel their intensity, you feel their speed when they play both on special teams and on offense and defense respectively," coach Dan Quinn said about the decision to keep both on the initial active roster. "So at the end of it, when you're really trying to establish an identity - you've heard me use that word before - I think those examples back up, the speed, the physicality, the effort, the straining, those are things that are commander style play, and I thought those two really represented that."

Establishing an identity - some call it creating a culture - but we'd argue the former is more intimate. Less about how a team functions, and why they function the way they do, the personality that goes into doing the job and in turn fuels the product that will come to the surface. That's the identity, and more what Quinn is looking for than simply identifying the importance of working hard in the NFL.

And he's right, we've heard him use the term before, and we'd hear it again on Wednesday in a press conference to discuss the roster decisions even further before the Commanders' first regular season practice of the year.

"You better have an identity and know what you're gonna be about and how you get down," Quinn said when asked about prioritizing their identy over raw talent. "Because if you don't, you'll just kind of hodgepodge it around. And so, I think you see us play, you've got a glimpse so far of some of speed, of physicality of going to finish, and so those are some of the traits that we admire about a lot of the players on this 70-man roster. And the more we do it, the stronger it's gonna get. But that is a really important piece of it."

The 70-man roster is another part of the equation for Washington football these days. No longer is the practice squad viewed as an outside element of the team.

On that list, even more undrafted free agents reside, training, getting better, and waiting for their chance to show their team they can help lead them to victory as well.

Like Yankoff and Owens appear set to, when the regular season kicks off in less than a dozen days, in Tampa, Florida.

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