There was a sequence in the third quarter of Washington’s Week 1 victory over the New York Giants that perfectly epitomized what Mike Sainristil means to the Washington Commanders’ defense.
Despite thoroughly outplaying the G-Men, Washington was nursing a 14-3 lead, and the Giants were beginning a drive. On 2nd-and-4, running back Tyrone Tracy ran a sweep right. Sainristil, who lines up all over the field, was on the edge.
New York’s 300-pound guard Greg Van Roten was leading Tracy. Sainristil took him on and was pushed back about five yards. Then he recovered and came up to make the tackle.
The effort resulted in a minor injury, which pulled the second-year cornerback off the field for two plays. The Giants immediately attacked his replacement, Noah Igbinoghene, completing a 21-yard pass to Malik Nabers. He returned and blanketed the wideout on the following play. New York eventually settled for a field goal, their final points of the contest.
Sainristil, like the rest of the Commanders’ defense, played quite well against the underpowered Giants’ offense. But the budding defensive leader came crashing back to Earth when Washington was thoroughly outclassed by the Green Bay Packers.
Commanders must simplify Mike Sainristil's role to maximize his impact
To be fair, Sainristil bears minimal responsibility for what happened against the Packers. The Commanders' offense was atrocious. Their kicker was even worse. But the defense didn’t exactly cover itself in glory, and the secondary looked slow and confused.
According to Pro Football Focus, Sainristil had the worst night of any defender. That isn’t what I saw in rewatching the game, but there’s no sugarcoating what happened. Except for rookie cornerback Trey Amos, Washington’s entire secondary was awful.
Sainristil was beaten cleanly on a quick slant by Romeo Doubs for Green Bay’s first touchdown. Then, on the Packers’ first drive of the second half, he had his worst sequence.
With Green Bay already well into Commanders’ territory, Sainristil was slow to react to the motion by tight end Luke Musgrave and allowed an uncontested nine-yard pick up.
On the following play, he was wiped out by the tight end on a run, which didn’t end up mattering due to an offensive penalty. Then, with the Packers facing a 1st-and-25, Sainristil did not take a deep enough drop in his zone and allowed an easy 19-yard completion to tight Tucker Kraft. Several plays later, Green Bay would kick a field goal to extend its lead.
The three coverage failures may hint at why such a promising player — viewed as a core defender going forward — is struggling early in his second year.
On the Doubs' touchdown, Sainristil was lined up in man coverage as the left perimeter corner. On the Musgrave catch, he was in the left slot, tasked with following the motion receiver across the formation. And on the Kraft reception, the former Michigan star was lined up as a linebacker, responsible for the short zone.
This is one of the reasons Sainristil is so valuable. He is a smart, tough player with the physical tools to play anywhere in the back seven. But just because he is capable of doing a lot, that doesn’t mean Joe Whitt Jr. should be asking so much of him.
Perhaps simply allowing a young player to master his most natural position — in Sainristil’s case, the slot — is a good idea, before overloading him with so much more.
Sainristil does line up as a slot corner more than any other position, but you will see him out on the perimeter and playing a traditional weakside linebacker fairly often. He may even line up as an edge on the line of scrimmage from time to time.
Against Green Bay, Whitt took him out in certain two-tight-end and short-yardage packages. Usually, Tyler Owens would take his place lining up inside. On a few occasions, it would be Percy Butler or Jordan Magee in his spot. As we all saw, no matter what Washington tried, no defensive scheme managed sustained success against the Packers.
The defensive front has a huge impact on how well the secondary performs. Washington’s front seven did a nice job against the run, but they had trouble pressuring quarterback Jordan Love. That made it harder on Washington’s defensive backs.
Still, they have to perform better down the road. Sainristil and company will probably bounce back in the coming weeks. It might be wise to simplify his playbook for a little while as he regains confidence and swagger.
A poor game against Green Bay notwithstanding, Sainristil can be one of the top slot corners in the league. Time to let him become that.
Add all the other bells and whistles later.
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