Beyond Jayden Daniels, Washington’s quarterback depth is looking flimsy at best. Saturday’s 30–3 home drubbing at the hands of the Ravens underlined it in brutal fashion, with Sam Hartman sinking fast as the preseason winds down and Josh Johnson offering little more than a veteran placeholder vibe. With Marcus Mariota sidelined, the Commanders suddenly look one injury away from disaster…

His rehab has gone smoothly. So, the plan now is for him to be ready for the September 7 season opener at home against the Giants. But the preseason finale came a little too early for Mariota. This roster, loaded with receiving talent and strength elsewhere, grows harder to ignore as its fate may rest on what sits behind its rookie star.

The Ravens were already leading 17-3 when the tragedy struck. Shortly into the second quarter, Hartman threw a pass into coverage near the sideline. Ravens’ undrafted rookie cornerback Keyton Martin picked him off and ran 26 yards for a pick-6 touchdown. And just like that, Hartman seems to have sealed his fate even before the game enters the fourth quarter. While this just might be the final nail in the coffin, the plays leading up to this were no short of a heartbreak, either.

In the first quarter, Hartman completed a few short passes to gain a little ground. But with 1:56 minutes left in the first quarter, Hartman stepped back to throw and could only deliver an incomplete pass intended for Ja’Corey Brooks. The second quarter was where the disasters really started piling up. One complete short pass later, Hartman threw yet another incomplete pass intended for Colson Yankoff. With 12:26 minutes left in the second quarter, Hartman scrambled for 9 yards and got tackled. He got picked off by Jalyn Armour-Davis and tackled by K.J. Osborn on the very next play. With a few more short completions to his name, Hartman took a sack. The pick-6 came with just 1:16 left in the second quarter, and with just 30 seconds left on the clock, Hartman rounded it all off with a sack and a forced fumble.

Sam Hartman’s night ended with a mixed bag. 12-of-17 passing for 114 yards. No touchdowns. And two interceptions. Josh Johnson took over in the third quarter and followed a similar script. He completed three short passes before a string of misses. But then, he added four completions in the fourth before Thomas Graham picked him off in the end zone. Johnson’s final throw was also incomplete. That means his stat sheet for the night read:  7-of-13 for 50 yards, no touchdowns, and one interception.

As the Ravens won 30-3, the story for the Commanders became about who played worse. And sadly, for Sam, he came out on top. With that, HC Dan Quinn’s impending roster cuts have been significantly simplified. Two QBs could make it to the final roster, but if Quinn decides on a third, it doesn’t look like Hartman has a case.

Roster cuts impending: bad news for Sam Hartman

Earlier in the preseason, both Josh Johnson and Sam Hartman had thrown two picks each with no touchdown passes to make their case. Before the Ravens’ clash, Hartman had only amassed 93 yards, with 13 out of 29 completions. On the other hand, Johnson had at least 1 touchdown against two picks, 229 yards and 21 of 31 completions. Hartman’s latest pick-6, along with the two picks already to his name, has all but decided the final roster: Jayden Daniels and Marcus Mariota. But if there’s a third-string QB behind them, it could be Johnson with his single touchdown in the preseason.

Following his Achilles injury rehab, Washington can expect Mariota to be ready to go by Week 1. On Thursday, August 21, Mariota admitted that when multiple voices weigh in on a player’s health, disagreements can slow things down. But he credited Washington’s staff for eventually aligning. “The entire staff. We all got on the same page. And I appreciate the fact that they were all willing to let me take some time to get it right,” Mariota said.

The path forward for Mariota, as the man himself stated, is simple. “I’m kind of in that process to return to play. Part of that process is to come out here, start doing some individual work and then slowly get acclimated into the team setting. And then once that happens, I should be ready to go by Week 1.” Neither Johnson or Hartman have made a strong case for themselves throughout August. So, the path forward for Dan Quinn could be to cut one and sign the other to the practice squad. 

As CBS Sports’ Zachary Pereles notes, “It’s a near certainty that if Washington opts just keep two quarterbacks on the active roster… One of Johnson or Hartman would land on the practice squad.” With the Commanders’ preseason finally behind them, and the Week 1 matchup against the Giants now looming, there’s just one question that remains to be answered for Dan Quinn. Who stays, and who fades into the pages of preseason history.