Commanders Film Review: Joshua Josephs vs Dolphins

Commanders fifth round rookie Joshua Josephs stood out in Washington’s preseason opener against the Dolphins last Friday. Coming out of college, Josephs profiled as a unique blend of size, length, athleticism with upside not just as a pass rusher and run defender, but in coverage too. New defensive coordinator Daronte Jones comes from a Vikings defense where they task edge rushers to not just be able to rush the passer and stop the run, but also be capable of dropping into coverage.

They need edge rushers like Andrew Van Ginkel that can do all three facets because of the blitzing nature of the defense where anyone can rush and anyone can be asked to drop into coverage on any given play. Josephs has the profile to fit that role well, but he looked very raw coming out of college. In his first action in preseason. Josephs proved he was still raw with plenty to work on, but also that he could compete at this level and offer something in all three parts of what this defense asks from its edge rushers.

Let’s start first with the pass rush. Against the Dolphins, you could see that Josephs still has a lot to work on to improve his pass rush technique, but despite that, he is still a real handful for offensive lineman.

This was one of the first plays of the game for the Commanders defense. Josephs lines up on the edge opposite Dolphins left tackle Patrick Paul. Paul is an ascending young left tackle that is an excellent athlete and developing the technique that could push him into the conversation for one of the top 10 left tackles in the league by the end of this season. So Paul provides an excellent test for Josephs to work against.

At the snap, Josephs works up the field and closes the gap between himself and Paul. In college, Josephs had a good first step that helped him beat a lot of tackles, but Paul is an incredible athlete and won’t be beaten for speed too easily, so Josephs has to attack with something else. As he closes the gap, Josephs spots Paul leaving his chest exposed, so he works both hands into Paul’s chest to gain leverage. From there, Josephs is able to stay low and use that leverage to drive Paul backwards into the quarterback’s lap.

Now, there’s some technical things to pick up on here. Josephs does well to get his hands on Paul’s chest, but one of his best traits is his length. He’s got 34-inch arms and if he locks out his elbows to get full extension on those arms, he can keep himself a lot cleaner than he does here. Because he keeps his elbows bent, he’s a lot closer to the left tackle than he needs to be. That enables the tackle to fight and place his hands on Josephs’ shoulders.

Full credit is due to Josephs here because despite Paul fighting hard, Josephs is able to continue to drive him back into the quarterback to squeeze the pocket and provide pressure, eventually driving Paul to the ground emphatically too. Being able to do that despite lacking technique to unlock his best trait - his length - is impressive and tells you just how much of a handful he can be already without technique, while also leading to the question of how good can he be when he develops that technique to help keep himself clean?

It wasn’t the only good rep Josephs had against Paul either.

This time, Josephs comes with a little stutter move to switch things up against Paul. Josephs takes his first two steps directly up the field but on his third step, he slows himself down and stutters. He sells a jab step inside, designed to slow down the left tackle’s footwork before then bursting back outside to the edge. Paul is quick enough to stay with Josephs as he bursts back outside to the edge, taking a big drop step to cut off that angle, but as he focuses on getting depth with that step, he leaves his chest exposed again.

Josephs attacks that exposed chest, converting speed into power as he looks to drive Paul back into the quarterback again. Just like before though, he doesn’t use his length to keep himself clean, which enables Paul to regain some leverage as he replaces his hands and redirects Josephs’ rush. Paul manages to force Josephs a bit too deep as he runs slightly beyond the depth of the quarterback. Josephs recognizes that problem and gets properly into Paul’s chest. Just as the ball is being thrown, you can see Josephs attempt to lock out his elbows and reach full extension, which pushes Paul into the quarterback again, but unfortunately the ball had already been thrown.

As a rusher, Josephs is clearly someone with a ton of upside. He’s got a bit more power than I expected him to at this point in his career, which is great to see. He’s already proving to be a handful to block and his technique is nowhere near where it could be to help him unlock his best trait and stay a lot cleaner. It was a very promising debut from Josephs from a rush perspective, but it’s also very important to recognize that the technique is still lacking and that more experienced tackles might handle him a little better than Paul did. The talent is definitely there for him to become a good pass rusher in this league, but it’s still very raw and needs developing, so stay patient with him there.

In the run game, Josephs had a few ups and downs. There were some good plays, for sure, but also a few plays where he has to do better. Let’s start with the positives.