Washington Commanders starters make problems stand out more during preseason loss to Dolphins

We've,  already discussed the good performances and the guys who helped their case when it comes to making the Washington Commanders' 53-man roster. So, naturally it's time to talk about the ones who didn't do so well.

Granted, each performance comes with important nuance, but at the end of the day, these guys watched their stock drop, pretty far, during Saturday night's 13-6 loss to the Miami Dolphins.

Commanders players whose stock dropped during loss to Dolphins

1. K Riley Patterson

Patterson is easily the hot topic on Sunday morning and not in a good way: He missed two of his four field goal attempts against the Dolphins, adding to what is already an inconsistent preseason.

Commanders head coach Dan Quinn said after the game that there's still "work to do", but also refused to leave Patterson completely out in the cold by citing the positives he's seen from the fourth-year kicker.

"We got work to do. We got practice next week, and we'll see where that takes us," Quinn said after the game. "But I was pleased to see Riley come back. He had an early miss and [I said], 'Hey man, we're going to get a lot more chances, here in this game to go for it. And so, to see a player come back in that spot when you go through the, you know, adverse times...

"... That's basically, I'll explain to him, say, 'Man, get right back to it.' Because he had a fantastic day [on] Thursday and I think you guys who are at practice, saw six-for-six, and maybe three of them over 50. I think in pregame, he hit, over 60 yards today. He was really ready. Those are hard when you don't nail the performances, when you really feel ready. And so we got work to do there."

The good news for Patterson is he's the only placekicker on the roster, for now, so he'll see all the reps. Unless the team adds another guy, which isn't out of the equation.

Either way, Patterson is trending down and this situation will certainly be something to keep an eye on over the next nine days.

2. CB Benjamin St-Juste

There are plenty of questions surrounding the Commanders' cornerback room, especially former first-rounder Emmanuel Forbes, who allowed a touchdown to reserve receiver Jason Brownlee in the first preseason game against the Jets.

Next up is Benjamin St-Juste, who is projected to be one of the Commanders' starting outside corners come Week 1. He has plenty of questions to answer and things to prove in his own right and unfortunately, he got burned for a touchdown against the Dolphins.

Like Forbes, it was against a reserve receiver. Not a No. 1, No. 2, or even No. 3 option in the passing attack. Dolphins wideout River Cracraft beat St-Juste with a nifty move at the line of scrimmage, which gave him just enough separation to catch a perfect throw from Tua Tagovailoa. Cracraft and St-Juste are at the bottom of the screen in the below replay:

It's one thing to get torched by Garrett Wilson, Tyreek Hill, or Jaylen Waddle. It's a completely different conversation, though, when talking about what we've seen from St-Juste and Forbes the last couple of weeks (though Forbes had a bit of a better game than that one play, but still).

To add to the situation - veteran Mike Davis hasn't flashed much, either. He has three tackles and a tackle for loss over the course of 26 snaps, so far.

Overall, the Commanders cornerbacks are a very precarious group and if they don't find some kind of footing soon, then we are probably repeating last year's disastrous outing, again.

3. Andrew Wylie

Like cornerback, the Commanders have questions at both tackle positions, even if Wylie has played in 86 games and won two Super Bowls as a starter. The problem with Wylie (and Cornelius Lucas, for that matter) is he has a low ceiling. At best, he's an average starter.

Saturday night was Wylie's first extensive action all training camp/preseason, as he's been dealing with what's been described as "tightness". So, he certainly was knocking off some rust. The lowlights of his night came during the Commanders' second drive of the game, when he false started and then was called later on for holding.

The Commanders offense was able to overcome the false start, thanks to a nice 11-yard run from Brian Robinson, but the holding penalty was too much to overcome, as it occurred on a converted 3rd and 1 that instead turned into a 3rd and 11 from the Dolphins 32. Immediate pressure off the right side forced Daniels to lob up a Hail Mary in hopes of hitting Terry McLaurin deep, but the play didn't come through.

Wylie's abilities are already a problem on bad days, but he can't be committing penalties like this, on top of things. He had quite a few drive-killers, last year, which is also bothersome when zooming out and looking at everything.

It's remains unclear as to what the Commanders' starting tackles look like by Week 1 since Brandon Coleman is nursing an injury, but one thing is clear: Wylie has to shake off the rust and he has to do it, fast.