Jack Del Rio was fired along with his defensive back coach Brent Vieselmeyer. We took a look back at his numbers over the years. Del Rio’s first season with the Commanders was 2020, the defense finished top five in yards per game and points allowed, it regressed in 2021 to 22nd in yards per game and 25th in points per game, then rebounded to 3rd and 7th in 2022. 2023 has been an absolute dumpster fire, with the exception of being 6th in sacks prior to the Sweat and Young trades, there hasn’t been much to appreciate.
Despite the insistence of some of the local media and fans, Jack wasn’t a dinosaur running an out of date defense that didn’t work in the modern NFL. He actually ran a base package that included the Buffalo Nickel, a hybrid position that is explained well here. While Del Rio was up and down, he obviously was a capable coach, and his firing appears to be more about holding someone accountable than his ability to get the job done. It’s also worth noting that whenever the local media covers the defense they’re eerily quiet about the organization trading away its two best pass rushers. Perhaps that would be a good question for the next press conference, who decided to trade them, and do they still think it was a good decision? I can’t imagine Pittsburgh trading away TJ Watt, Cleveland trading Myles Garrett, SF trading Bosa and expecting the defense to improve, and while neither Sweat or Young may have been on that level, certainly the two of them combined would be comparable if not more impactful.
