With three preseason games down, it’s time to starting culling the roster in advance of Washington’s first regular season game, against the Buccaneers. Below is my prediction of the final 53, and much of the practice squad.

Offense (24):

Quarterback (2):

In the first season of the Dan Quinn regime, the team gets a complete re-boot at the QB position. Thankfully, the rookie, Daniels, has looked the part of a starting NFL QB so far this season, and has won the job from seasoned veteran Marcus Mariota. If all goes according to plan, Mariota should serve primarily as a mentor for Daniels this year, and ride off into the sunset of retirement in 2025. For the time being, rookie Sam Hartman heads the practice squad, eventually being slotted in as QB2 next season.

Jayden Daniels

Marcus Mariota

Running Back (3):

I’m excited by the 1-2 punch of Robinson and Ekeler, and I think both could have great seasons this year. Beyond them, the team has some options. I lean towards UDFA Michael Wiley as RB3, as he’s shown some nice burst, and has solid hands out of the backfield. That said, I get the impression that veteran Jeremy McNichols may have the inside track for the role, with Wiley going to the practice squad. I think Chris Rodriguez could be cut altogether.

Brian Robinson

Austin Ekeler

Michael Wiley

Tight End (3):

There are only three tight ends on this roster worth keeping, but it could end up being a very good room, particularly if Ertz is healthy. Cole Turner and Colson Yankoff are potential practice squad candidates.

Zach Ertz

Ben Sinnott

John Bates

Offensive Line (9):

Washington’s offensive line has struck fear into the hearts of many fans. I certainly think this is a transition year for the unit, but I expect it to be in the average range by the end of the season.

Brandon Coleman

Nick Allegretti

Tyler Biadasz

Sam Cosmi

Andrew Wylie

Cornelius Lucas

Chris Paul

Ricky Stromberg

Trent Scott

Wide Receiver (7):

Washington’s WR room leaves a lot to be desired, on paper, and as of this writing, I’m still not sure Brandon Aiyuk doesn’t end up in DC before the season. If this group remains the final list, however, expect Kliff Kingsbury and Jayden Daniels to spread the ball around a ton.

Terry McLaurin

Dyami Brown

Olamide Zaccheaus

Luke McCaffrey

Byron Pringle

Kazmeir Allen

Jamison Crowder

Defense (26):

Last year’s biggest defensive weakness – linebacker – is probably this season’s greatest defensive strength, with the addition of Bobby Wagner and Frankie Luvu. The defensive line remains talented, and has added some interesting EDGE rushers, while the cornerbacks remain a concern.

Defensive End (6):

Dorance Armstrong

Dante Fowler

Clelin Ferrell

KJ Henry

Andre Jones

Javontae Jean-Baptiste

Defensive Tackle (5):

Jon Allen

Daron Payne

John Ridgeway

Johnny Newton

Benning Potoa’e

Linebacker (5):

Wagner and Luvu are great as starters, but beyond that, there are a lot of question marks. Magee, in particular, is likely to be out for several weeks, but will still require a roster spot initially.

Bobby Wagner

Frankie Luvu

Jamin Davis

Jordan Magee

Mykal Walker

Cornerback (5):

Will the team only carry 10 defensive backs? Seems a little thin, but I’m sticking with it.

Emmanuel Forbes

Benjamin St-Juste

Mike Sainristil

Tariq Castro-Fields

Chigozie Anusiem

Safety (5):

Quan Martin

Jeremy Chinn

Darrick Forrest

Jeremy Reaves

Tyler Owens

Special Teams (3):

I think Cade York played his way onto the roster last night with a solid performance, but I would be unsurprised if he’s not the kicker at the end of the season.

Cade York (K)

Tress Way (P)

Tyler Ott (LS)

Practice Squad:

Several of these players could potentially be poached, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see them traded for late draft capital in advance of cutdowns, if Peters can make it happen.

Among those who I think will make the PS are:

• QB Sam Hartman
• RB Chris Rodriguez
• RB Jeremy McNichols
• DT Phil Mathis
• DT Norell Pollard
• S/LB Dominique Hampton
• S Percy Butler
• OT Armani Taylor-Prioleau
• CB Noah Igbinoghene
• TE Cole Turner
• WR Mitchell Tinsley
• WR Brycen Tremayne
• WR Martavis Bryant

Conventions aren’t really the place for a candidate to roll out clear-eyed plans about how he or she plans to tackle the thorniest political issues confronting the country in the coming years. Democrats weren’t prepared to hold Harris’s feet to the fire so they could hear her five-point plan to address the economy, inflation, a housing crisis, and immigration. But she offered a taste for anyone tuning in who might be a persuadable voter worried about whether she was taking voters’ concerns seriously. 

At the top of many voters’ lists of concerns is illegal immigration. President Joe Biden has been raked over the political coals throughout most of his tenure for a border crisis that has unleashed a flood of illegal immigrants into the country. Harris has suffered by association, having been deemed Biden’s “border czar” when she was tasked with working out diplomatic solutions with countries in Central America as a way to address the “root causes” of immigration into the United States. 

Her handling was less than pristine, and her unofficial job title was the first attack Republicans used when it became clear she was stepping into the shoes left by Biden at the top of the ticket. 

After weeks of building pressure to offer solutions instead of substitute talking points, Harris offered a sketch of a plan that offered little new content but did start her down the road into a broader conversation. 

Immigration Reporter Anna Giaritelli broke down the outline and the criticism Harris ran into for us this morning. 

“Harris reiterated this week that she would sign a bipartisan border bill the White House negotiated with the Senate earlier this year, suggesting she, like President Joe Biden, considers the millions in border crossings to be a liability in November,” Anna wrote. 

“However, her pivot to the center on immigration, a departure from her 2020 views, has not quieted Republican criticism on what promises to be one of the most important topics of the 2024 race,” she wrote. 

Immigration is one of several issues Harris has moderated herself on as she prepares for a general election fight with former President Donald Trump. Instead of running to get as far to the left as she could in a Democratic primary, Harris is working to position herself as a left-of-center figure rather than a leftist in the mold of Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) or Elizabeth Warren (D-MA). 

Harris’s campaign is also talking about working with Congress to institute a solution rather than promising a sweeping move that would come from the top down and risk not having the lasting qualities a piece of legislation would enjoy. 

“We know at the end of the day the only way to really modernize our immigration system and secure our border is for Congress to pass commonsense immigration legislation,” Julie Chávez Rodríguez, Harris’s campaign chief, told CBS News last month. 

Republicans are skeptical that Harris means business on the border. 

“The one and only concrete policy Kamala Harris proposed tonight was to give amnesty and citizenship to every illegal alien in the country,” former Trump White House senior adviser Stephen Miller wrote in a post to X in response to Harris’s Thursday night speech referencing creating an “earned pathway” to citizenship. 

There’s also some question about how much change Harris plans to implement beyond what is happening at the border now. The Biden administration recently cracked down on the number of asylum-seekers allowed at border checkpoints each day, which has reduced the number of reported daily crossings. 

“I think, at this point, you know, the policies that are, you know, having a real impact on ensuring that we have security and order at our border are policies that will continue,” Chávez Rodríguez said.

Click here to read more about what Harris plans to do with the southern border. 

Supremely busy summer

Supreme Court justices haven’t technically been on the clock for months, though salaried employees are rarely ever fully in vacation mode. The busiest time of year for the nine justices is during their term that runs from October through June, when they hear oral arguments on some of the most pressing legal matters of the day, have their own arguments with each other in the privacy of their chambers, and then shape news cycles with the release of opinions. 

The offseason is generally made up of choosing which of the hundreds of cases that are appealed to them they want to hear further and the occasional spot decision to address an emergency development that can’t wait for the full treatment in the fall. 

However, in recent years, those emergency decisions, sometimes referred to as the “shadow docket,” have been coming thick and fast, with dozens coming before the court in recent years, Supreme Court Reporter Kaelan Deese wrote for us this morning. 

“On Thursday, the high court agreed to revive part of a Republican-backed Arizona law that aims to deter illegal voting in the state. They also decided last Friday to keep holds on new Title IX guidelines for schools in 26 states while lower court challenges proceed, a short-term win for conservative litigants who argued the updated sex and gender definitions would harm and discriminate against women’s privacy rights and fairness in sports,” Kaelan wrote. 

“The last time the high court’s summer was this busy was during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, when there were at least 21 applications rising up during the court’s seasonal break. In 2021, 2022, and 2023, the range was between six and 15 applications per summer,” he wrote.

Some legal experts are frustrated with the justices for making so many decisions without the benefit of having the full menu of arguments laid out before them. Others place the blame on the Biden administration for inviting the rulings by altering and adding a slew of rules this spring to get them on the books before the Congressional Review Act could be invoked under a Trump administration to challenge them. 

Three major decisions the court is set to make before they return in full force during the second week of October will be related to the Biden administration’s sweeping student loan relief plan and its environmental air pollution policy, as well as “a challenge from Oklahoma over Biden’s requirement for family planning clinics that receive federal public health funding to provide referrals for abortions to patients who request it,” Kaelan wrote. 

Click here to read more about the Supreme Court’s “shadow docket” and how the justices feel about it. 

Dogging it 

It’s hard for Harris to say she is the underdog in a contest when she has raised more than $500 million in the span of a month. It’s harder when she has reversed polling that showed her predecessor losing and her coming out on top in key contests. It’s nearly impossible when criticism of her and Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) appears to bounce off of them without tarnishing their images. 

Democrats in Chicago told our crack team of reporters and editors last week that they are prepared to abandon the “underdog” viewpoint for 2024 and embrace the idea Harris will have to leg out the rest of the race in a defensive mode. That’s a change of perspective for the party that has spent most of the last month staring down a likely defeat. 

It feels good to be in the lead, though changing the mindset from being the surging party scrapping for a win to fending off Trump could pose a new set of problems. 

“The underdog story, everybody loves it, because the majority of us in America, we’re underdogs, so we believe in that story. That’s gonna be one of her stronger suits,” Michigan delegate Bobby Christian told the Washington Examiner last week. “Sometimes being too confident can come off real cocky and negative, so you always just want to, you want to be even-keeled, and you want to relate to everybody you can. But the underdog, everybody relates to.”

Click here to read more about how Democrats view the race and Harris’s place in it.

New from us 

The Democratic Party’s Google cartel

What bills Harris would sign as president — and how the filibuster might stop her

Three hurdles Utah governor’s Democratic challenger will need to overcome to pose a threat

Alaskans could repeal ranked choice voting in November

In case you missed it

The debate about debates is still running strong: ‘Stay tuned!’

Kamala Harris is rolling in cash

Trump playing nice for once gives GOP hope for November

For your radar

Biden has nothing on his public schedule and will remain in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, this week. 

Harris has nothing on her public schedule. 

Trump will speak at the National Guard Association of the United States General Conference & Exhibition in Detroit, Michigan, at 2 p.m. 

Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) attends a campaign fundraising reception in Pikeville, Kentucky.