Can Washington Commanders survive, thrive with Nick Allegretti at center?

With the season opener against the Philadelphia Eagles less than a week away, the angst about the Commanders’ starting center position has reached obsessional levels. The level of concern about a single roster position may have even surpassed the anxiety about the offensive tackle situation which gripped the fanbase ahead of the 2024 season. And just look how that turned out.

The makeshift duo of rookie third-round pick Brandon Coleman and fringe starter/reliable backup Andrew Wylie, whom many predicted would get the Commanders rookie quarterback killed, actually held up well enough for Jayden Daniels to have the best rookie debut of any QB in the modern era, leading the Commanders to within one game of the Super Bowl.

The truth is nearly every NFL team has a few weak links on the roster, even those that make it to the Super Bowl. Sometimes that is the result of attrition through the season, with backups replacing starters. And in other cases, it is the result of situations like the Commanders found themselves in this offseason, when luck didn’t go their way in free agency or the draft.

To illustrate what I mean, and hopefully put the Commanders’ center situation in perspective, I had a look at the starting offensive lines of teams that played in the Super Bowl over the past six NFL seasons.

After missing out on Tyler Linderbaum in free agency, and failing to find value at center in the draft until Day 3, the Commanders are set to face the Eagles on opening day with Nick Allegretti snapping to Jayden Daniels. Allegretti is no All-Pro, but is he really bad enough to single-handedly prevent his team from making it to the playoffs? To answer that question, we’ll take a tour of the weakest links along the interior offensive lines of the last 12 Super Bowl teams.

But before we do, let’s take a close-up look at the player at the center of attention.

The Next Man Up

G/C Nick Allegretti, 8th year, age 30

6′ 4″ | 310 lbs | 32.25″ arms | RAS: 7.6 | 2026 cap number: $3.84 million

Allegretti has been a career backup with occasional stints as a starter, playing his first five seasons with the Chiefs and his last two with the Commanders. In his second season with the Chiefs, he started nine games at left guard, including two playoff games and Super Bowl LV. In 2024, he started all 17 regular season games and three playoff games for the Commanders at left guard.

Throughout his career, Allegretti has played predominantly at left guard, but has also started three games at center and four at right guard.

The Commanders like Allegretti’s toughness, reliability, intelligence and ability to play all three positions on the interior. Performance-wise, he is a replacement-level player at this point in his career, meaning that he is about what you’d expect from a veteran free agent on an inexpensive contract.

Allegretti’s 5.7% pressure rate allowed in pass protection in just four starts in 2025 would have placed him at the 21st percentile of starting iOL (approximated by the 96 centers and guards with the highest snap counts), if he had maintained that rate for a full season. Median for “starting” iOL was 4.6%. However, that is a very small sample to draw conclusions from blocking metrics, which are subject to considerable game-to-game variability. I would usually like to have at least twice as many games played.

The figures from his most recent full season starting might be more representative of his abilities. In 2024 he allowed a pressure rate of 4.99%, which is at the 40th percentile using last season’s figures. That year he allowed three sacks and one QB hit in 650 true pass blocking snaps. Unless he’s had a dramatic decline at age 30, he is probably somewhere between a below average starter and a bottom 20% starter in pass protection.

Allegretti’s run blocking grades peaked at 71.3 in his sophomore season and have held steady in the low 60’s through 2024, before cratering to 45.1 last season. That might indicate a sudden drop off, but is more likely an artifact of having only played four games. His 63.9 run blocking grade from 20 games in 2024 ranked 57th among the 96 most active iOL (41st percentile). Unless he really fell off the cliff in 2025, his run blocking is probably a little below average for a staring interior offensive lineman.

Overall, Allegretti’s performance in his most recent full season profiles in the below-average starting range. The numbers from 2025 are much worse. But it is dangerous to draw conclusions from a 4 game sample due to game to game variability.

Comparable or Worse iOL Who Have Started in Super Bowls

Now that we have a handle on the Commanders’ 2026 starting center, let’s see how he stacks up against the weakest links on the interior offensive lines of Super Bowl teams over the past 6 NFL seasons.

Super Bowl LIX (2025) – Seattle Seahawks 29, New England Patriots 13

RG Anthony Bradford, Seahawks

6′ 4″ | 335 lbs | 33.5″ arms | RAS 9.78 | 3rd year | age 24

I’ll kick this off with the player who inspired this article. Some Seahawks fans believe that their Super Bowl champion right guard is the worst player in football.

Bradford started all 20 games at RG for the Seahawks last season and earned a Super Bowl ring in the blowout victory over the Patriots. His performance in the big game was not wonderful, with three QB hurries allowed and a pressure rate of 7.5%. But it was hardly his worst game of the season.

Bradford is a physically imposing blocker with freakish athleticism, who has become legendary on the internet for his frequent mental gaffes and lapses of awareness. Let’s take a look at some of his work:

In an otherwise great season for the Seahawks, he was the one player who managed to stand out for the wrong reasons. His 6.1% pressure rate in pass protection ranked 83rd out of 96 starting iOL in 2025. His numbers were worse than Allegretti’s last season and well below Allegretti’s level in 2024. Bradford’s 2025 run blocking grade ranked 74th out of 96 iOL (23rd percentile).

The frustrating thing for Seahawks fans is that Bradford is wildly inconsistent. Plays where he is completely lost or whiffs are interspersed with dominant blocking efforts. Overall, his play is worse than Allegretti’s, but not bad enough to keep the Seahawks from taking home the Lombardi.

Super Bowl LIX (2024) – Philadelphia Eagles 40, Kansas City Chiefs 22

LG Mike Caliendo, Chiefs

6’4″ | 301 lbs | 30.9″ arms | RAS 6.91 | 3rd year | age 27

Caliendo is a backup guard for the Chiefs. He got an opportunity to start 6 games at LG late in the regular season and the playoffs, when Andy Reid moved starting LG Joe Thuney to LT to replace struggling starter Wanya Morris.

His numbers in pass protection and run blocking are even worse than Bradford’s and Allegretti’s. Nevertheless, the Chiefs won three regular season games and two playoff games with Caliendo starting at left guard.

Super Bowl LVIII (2023) – Kansas City Chiefs 25, San Francisco 49ers 22

LG Nick Allegretti, Chiefs

The weakest link on the Super Bowl LVIII champions’ iOL was none other than the man himself, Nick Allegretti. He was primarily a backup for the Chiefs in 2023. Allegretti started the final game of the regular season at center, to allow Creed Humphrey to spell a banged up Trey Smith at RG. Then he got the start at LG in the AFC Championship and Super Bowl, replacing injured starter Joe Thuney.

Allegretti’s 2023 pressure stats are inflated due to an injury suffered in the Super Bowl. He tore his ulnar collateral ligament in the second quarter, and played through the injury to finish the game and earn a Super Bowl championship. Seven of the 12 pressures Allegretti allowed in 2023 were in that game. He allowed five pressures in his other two starts.

Super Bowl LVII (2022) – Kansas City Chiefs 38, Philadelphia Eagles 35

This Super Bowl is the exception that proves the rule. The weakest link either line was the Commanders’ current backup, Andrew Wylie playing RT for the Chiefs – not an iOL position. Wylie’s numbers that season were at the average starter level for an OT.

Super Bowl LVI (2021) – Los Angeles Rams 23, Cincinnati Bengals 20

FOXBOROUGH, MA – DECEMBER 24: Hakeem Adeniji #77 of the Cincinnati Bengals looks to block against the New England Patriots during the game at Gillette Stadium on December 24, 2022 in Foxborough, Massachusetts.(Photo By Winslow Townson/Getty Images) | Getty Images

RG Hakeem Adeniji, Bengals

6’4″ | 302 lbs | 33.75″ arms | RAS 7.80 | 2rd year | age 24

Going by the numbers, Adeniji is the worst interior offensive lineman to start in a Super Bowl over that last six seasons. He was a sixth-round pick by the Bengals in 2020. He earned the start at OT late in his rookie season, then missed the early part of the 2021 season with an injury. He was activated in Week 9, and started the final nine regular season games and four playoff games at RG.

Commanders’ fans can rest assured that Allegretti, playing with a torn ligament in his elbow, is about the same as the fully healthy Adeniji, who nevertheless helped the Bengals to their first Super Bowl appearance since 1988. Since 2021, he has become a swing tackle, recording two more starts in his final season with the Bengals and single seasons with the Vikings and Cowboys.

Super Bowl LV (2020) – Tampa Bay Buccaneers 31, Kansas City Chiefs 9

RG Stefen Wisniewski, Chiefs

6’3″ | 305 lbs | 33.0″ arms | RAS 5.98 | 10th year | age 31

Wisniewski was drafted by the Raiders out of Penn State in the second round in 2011. He was a quality starter at center for Oakland for four years and the Jaguars in 2015. He switched to right guard with the Eagles for three seasons, followed by stints with the Chiefs and Steelers.

Wisniewski started his 10th season in 2020 with the Steelers. He suffered a chest injury in the season opener and was placed on injured reserve and later waived. He signed with the Chiefs in Week 12 and started at RG in Week 15 and at LG in Week 17. Wisniewski played 20 snaps at RG in the conference championship win over the Bills, after an injury to LT Eric Fisher caused a shuffle of the OL. He remained at right guard as the starter in Super Bowl LV, the last game of his career.

While Wisniewski had been a high performer throughout much of his career, his skills were in decline by his final season. Nevertheless, he had enough left in the tank to help the Chiefs get through injury struggles on the offensive line and make it to the Super Bowl.

Wisniewski was joined on the AFC Champions’ iOL by Nick Allegretti, who started 9 regular season games and all 3 playoff games at left guard, including the Super Bowl. Allegretti was below average in pass protection that season (5.4% pressure rate) but graded well as a run blocker (70.2 run block grade).

Final Thoughts

LANDOVER, MARYLAND – DECEMBER 22: Michael Deiter #60 and Nick Allegretti #67 of the Washington Commanders react after defeating the Philadelphia Eagles at Northwest Stadium on December 22, 2024 in Landover, Maryland. (Photo by Timothy Nwachukwu/Getty Images) | Getty Images

Is it worth freaking out about Nick Allegretti starting at center? That’s really a personal question, which each fan must answer for themselves. Some people seem to thrive on anxiety. For others, it just gets in the way of enjoying football.

To put the current angst-fest in context, the Commanders’ starting center for the 2026 season is below league average for his position. But five of the last six Super Bowls have featured at least one team with an interior offensive lineman at Nick Allegretti’s level or worse. In two seasons, that player was the man, himself. So, it is without doubt possible for teams to succeed with a weak link on the interior offensive line.

That doesn’t mean that the Commanders will make it all the way to the big game, or that the offensive line won’t be an issue. With the team changing offensive and defensive schemes under new coordinators, and a star QB hoping to bounce back from a dismal, injury-plagued season, there are a lot of possible outcomes to the season and too many unknowns to make an informed prediction.

The concerns about the offensive line heading into the 2026 season echo those raised in 2024, which turned out to be the best season of football in Washington in more than three decades. Teams with weaker links on their offensive lines than the 2026 Commanders have made it one game further than that, and a few have even taken home the Lombardi.

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