When they hired Daronte Jones as their new defensive coordinator, the Washington Commanders probably expected to get some version of the elaborate defense he helped Brian Flores run with the Minnesota Vikings, but it turns out Jones is following a the lead of a different marquee play-caller, one whose defense dominated the NFL and helped the Seattle Seahawks win last season’s Super Bowl.
The Commanders are copying Seahawks’ head coach Mike Macdonald’s best idea, according to former Washington tight end Logan Paulsen. He appeared on ‘The John Keim Report’ and told ESPN’s John Keim how the Commanders have been learning “module defense” on Jones’ watch this offseason by “installing fronts separate from pressures, separate from coverages. And when you look at the best defense in the league, that’s what they’re doing.”
That trendy sounding phrase is what Macdonald has made all the rage around the league. It’s also key to the Commanders transforming a defense that ranked last in yards allowed in 2025.
Paulsen noticed Jones is finding simple but clever ways to unleash some of his most dynamic new personnel by following the Macdonald playbook.
Daronte Jones Building on Mike Macdonald’s Best Idea
When asked by Keim what he meant by “module” defensive training, Paulsen quickly pivoted to Macdonald’s Seahawks as the best illustration of the trend. Paulsen explained, “It’s like, if you have four fronts, if you have four pressures and you have four coverages, now that’s like technically, that’s what is that? 12 kind of plays, but that’s 64 combinations. And so it takes something that is relatively simple and straightforward and lets you add a bunch of complexity.”
“So obviously Seattle, what’s his name? Macdonald, is that the guy in Seattle, the head coach? He’s kind of the one who’s brought that to the league, and there are stories from the Super Bowl of them installing pressures in game because they just say, ‘oh, we’re going to run this front and this pressure, which we’ve already installed.’ And so I think that’s something that I’m really excited, I think, about what Daronte Jones is bringing, what this staff is bringing.”
GettyThe Commanders are copying the Seahawks’ defense that baffled and battered Jayden Daniels last season.
The benefits of mixing and matching multiple coverages and pressures are almost endless for a creative coordinator. Macdonald made his chameleon-like schemes work in Seattle by moving players across the front, along with freely blitzing defensive backs from all angles.
It’s a similar one-two punch to what Jones learned from Flores in Minnesota. Fortunately, the Commanders have given former Vikings defensive backs coach Jones the right new personnel to make Macdonald’s “module” approach work in Washington.
Commanders Have Players to Make “Module” Defense Work
The first step toward emulating what Macdonald does is to field a platoon of versatile, front-line pass-rushers. That box has been checked for Jones after Commanders’ general manager Adam Peters and head coach Dan Quinn signed edge defenders Odafe Oweh and K’Lavon Chaisson in free agency.
Peters and Quinn also added flexible defensive end Charles Omenihu, who can slide inside to tackle, as well as blitzing linebacker Leo Chenal. It’s not a stretch to imagine Jones will come up with a myriad of ways to get as many of these hybrid disruptors onto the field at once as possible.
Moving Oweh and Co. around will change blocking assignments for offensive lines and complicate pressure recognition for quarterbacks, without the Commanders having to radically alter their fronts. So will unleashing blitzing raids from the secondary, a role rugged new safety Nick Cross is the perfect fit to perform.
The same is true of third-year cornerback Mike Sainristil, who once thrived as a seek-and-destroy playmaker from the slot in the defensive scheme Macdonald designed at Michigan. Sainristil’s natural talent for moving across formations is ideal for a brand of defense defined by its moving parts and flexibility from a simple structure.
It’s worked wonders for Macdonald and the Seahawks, so the Commanders have chosen the right formula to copy to finally toughen up defensively.
Commanders Copying Mike Macdonald’s Best Idea for New Defense