Two years of injuries, apprenticeship, and limited snaps. Washington's young linebacker has earned his shot — and a full season of tape says he can handle it.
Bobby Wagner's return is looking increasingly unlikely as the offseason rolls on. With a middle linebacker seat likely open, the defense is being rebuilt under Daronte Jones, and Jordan Magee is the most intriguing linebacker question mark on the entire roster. Can a 25-year-old with fewer than 400 career defensive snaps become a starting piece of Washington's defense in 2026? The tape offers encouragement.
The Profile
Magee is 6-foot-3, 225 pounds — bigger than his draft listing suggested — and an athlete first. His Relative Athletic Score coming out of Temple put him in elite company among linebackers at his size. He ran track in high school, played quarterback and safety before converting to linebacker, and his movement skills show it. He's not a traditional downhill thumper. He's the kind of linebacker today's NFL actually wants — someone who can sideline to sideline, process quickly, and get to the spot before the ball does.
At Temple, that showed up every week. He led the Owls with 80 tackles and 14 tackles for loss in his final season, finishing third in the entire AAC in TFLs. He graduated with 235 career tackles, eight sacks, 11 passes defended, two forced fumbles, and two fumble recoveries. For a fifth-round pick, the production was legitimate and the leadership was real — he was a team captain.
What the Film Shows
The thing that jumps off the tape is his closing speed. Watch Magee in Washington's later-season games in 2025 — when he was finally getting consistent defensive snaps — and the read-and-react quickness is the standout trait. Against Kansas City, the Chiefs ran a counter scheme with a pulling guard and looping tight end. Magee reads the guard's movement at the snap, triggers immediately, and beats the blocking assignment entirely by getting across the formation so fast the tackle can't peel off his double team in time. That's not just athleticism. That's a linebacker who understands what he's looking at before the ball is snapped.
On perimeter runs, he's the guy who prevents the 12-yard gain from becoming a 20-yard gain. He scrapes the edge with pursuit angles that most linebackers his size can't generate, chases from the back side, and makes first contact on plays that should be blown up before he even arrives. The Commanders struggled with perimeter runs all season due to edge injuries, and Magee's speed at least puts a lid on the damage.
His run fits have improved considerably since his rookie year. Early on, he was hesitant — too much reading, not enough triggering. By the second half of 2025, he was hitting gaps downhill with conviction, taking on blocks for an undersized linebacker, and actually driving blockers back rather than absorbing them. There's growth there, and it's real.
Where He Has to Grow
Coverage is probably Magee's biggest weakness right now. He posted a 53.1 PFF coverage grade in 2025 — 47th out of 88 qualifying linebackers. That number is not awful but average, and when you watch the film, you see why. He can get caught peeking in the backfield before his coverage assignment demands his attention, which lets tight ends and running backs sneak into windows behind him. Against speed — slot receivers on crossers, pass-catching backs in the flat — he can get turned around. His hip fluidity in zone drops is functional but not yet polished, and NFL offensive coordinators will find that seam if they haven't already.
Coverage technique is something that can be coached and is not a huge concern for me with his 4.55 speed - he's young and will improve there. Wagner's was only 59.4 last season, and he was a Pro Bowl alternate. Magee needs a scheme around him that limits his solo coverage responsibilities and lets him play downhill and fast. That's a conversation for Daronte Jones, but it's worth noting that Jones runs an aggressive, gap-shooting defense that tends to favor linebackers who can blitz, trigger, and flow to the ball — not linebackers who have to match routes across the middle for 15 yards all game long.
The 2026 Outlook
Magee finished 2025 with 54 total tackles — sixth on Washington's defense — despite playing in fewer than half the defensive snaps available across the first six games. Once he saw consistent playing time, he was producing. He made seven starts by season's end. In a full season of 60-plus percent snap share, those tackle numbers climb significantly.
The concern isn't talent. Nobody questions the athleticism or the football IQ — former defensive coordinator Joe Whitt Jr. called out Magee's call command specifically, which isn't something coaches say casually about a second-year linebacker. The concern is whether coverage limitations and a history of injuries mean Washington needs a proven veteran next to Leo Chenal and Frankie Luvu rather than a bet on Magee's development.
The answer is probably both. Magee should start — his speed and his run defense are already NFL-starter caliber, and he's 25. But pairing him with a coverage-capable linebacker who masks his zone gaps in the short-to-intermediate areas is how you get the best version of him. Ask him to be the fast, physical, sideline-to-sideline linebacker Washington has needed for three years. That player already exists. He needs the snaps to prove it.
The apprenticeship is over. Year three is when we find out who Jordan Magee actually is.