A delay imminent to debut of Jer’Zhan Newton with the Washington Commanders

It was a great 2024 NFL Draft for the Illinois football team, as multiple players went off the board.

The highest-drafted player for the Illini was former defensive lineman, Jer’Zhan Newton. He was an All-American in Champaign, and despite being slightly undersized at 6-foot-2, 304 pounds, Newton commanded a ton of attention with his tenacious play on the field.

Many franchises wanted Newton, but with the fourth pick in the second round of the 2024 NFL Draft, the Washington Commanders selected the great pass rusher.

Newton did it all at Illinois, and sometimes you go through injuries when you have the figurative weight of the entire program on your shoulders. One of those injuries is now coming back to delay his start with the Commanders.

On Friday, Washington reporter Zach Selby reported that Newton will be placed on the non-football injury list. He reports that Newton was placed on this list because the injury that is the issue was sustained while at Illinois.

Selby goes on to state that Newton can come off the list in training camp or the preseason. That gives fans some hope that we could see Newton in game one of the season, which is September 8 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

If I had to guess, we won’t see Newton for the first few games. Missing training camp time and potentially preseason games likely delays the debut of Newton. He needs time to heal the injury, and then he will need time to get up to speed. But all good things are worth the wait.

ESPN Washington Commanders depth chart has Jer’Zhan Newton next in line at defensive tackle

Just looking at the Commanders' depth chart, they are going to have a pretty good defense in 2024. They added middle linebacker Bobby Wagner, which is a huge upgrade.

Washington’s secondary seems okay too. Former Illini defensive back Quan Martin is slotted in as the starting nickel, so that is pretty cool to have two Illinois players on the same NFL defense.

On the defensive line, the Commanders have a lot of talent too. Daron Payne and Jonathan Allen are the projected starting defensive tackles. You don’t have to drop too far to find Newton. He is slotted in as the second-string defensive tackle behind Allen.

Newton gives Washington a ton of quality depth heading into the 2024 season. When healthy, he is going to be a monster for this franchise.