Maybe the biggest addition to the Washington Commanders 53-man roster was offensive lineman Tanoa Togiai, who can add athleticism to the unit's depth
The Washington Commanders announced its initial 53-man roster for the upcoming 2026 regular season which featured an undrafted free agent addition making the final roster for the third straight year. The first was Drew Stevens weeks ago after beating Jake Moody for the starting kicker job after just one preseason game, giving the former Iowa star a chance to get comfortable through the rest of the month.
Maybe the more surprising roster addition was Tanoa Togiai, an offensive lineman out of Utah who arrived in Washington back in April as an undrafted free agent. Yet after the offensive line drew scrutiny through training camp with both Laremy Tunsil and Nick Allegretti sidelined due to injury, Togiai emerged as a versatile piece along the offensive line.
Though the 6-foot-6, 321 pound offensive lineman boasted experience at tackle in a handful of games, the overwhelming majority of Togiai's college reps came at guard where he blossomed into an honorable mention All-Big 12 selection in his sixth and final season. For a Commanders' staff that spent preseason analyzing the quality of depth at guard, Togiai made his case as a potential upgrade along the interior offensive line after drawing reps at both left and right guard through preseason.
With over 100 reps to show for it across his three preseason games, the agile, yet raw lineman was able to flash his upside in pass protection as Togiai stuck out after not allowing a pressure in the preseason opening win vs. Miami.
He also contributed to Washington's first touchdown of the game. On running back Robert Henry Jr.'s 22 yard touchdown in the closing minutes of the first half, Togiai pulled to help seal the edge with center Matt Gulbin to pave the way for Henry to bounce outside and run untouched into the endzone. One notably bad rep by Togiai in preseason came after struggling to adjust to a delayed inside blitz late in the first half of the week two loss vs. Detroit, though the play ended in Washington recovering Sam Hartman's fumble after right tackle Nicholas Petit-Frere stumbled.
Assistant general manager Lance Newmark pointed to August as the chance to watch Togiai's physicality materialize into production once the pads came on as head coach Dan Quinn and offensive line coach Darnell Stapleton evaluated the unit's depth.
"His size and physicality and what he brings to the field really started to come to light even more than maybe it does in the spring," Newmark said of Togiai.
"I would say over the course of August, during the preseason, he really started to show us a lot of positives."
The question now becomes whether Togiai can live up to expectations if called upon in the regular season with Andrew Wylie and Matt Gulbin joining the undrafted rookie as depth options along the offensive line on the 53-man roster ahead of the regular season opener.
