Payne's Injury Is Confirmed Season-Ending. The Defensive Line Depth Chart Is What It Is Now.

ESPN confirmed Friday what NFL Network reported a day earlier: Daron Payne suffered a Jones fracture in practice and is done for the year. The Commanders made several roster moves along the defensive line ahead of the Eagles game to patch the gap. Ricky Barber is the top name at defensive tackle on the current depth chart. That's the hand they're playing.

Javon Kinlaw has been out with a knee issue and Jer'Zhan Newton, whose practice window opened coming out of the bye, is still working his way back. So the interior pass rush that was already thin before Week 1 is now thinner. T.J. Maguranyanga and Kyle Kennard are the edge options. The names further down the chart — Joshua Josephs at DL, the linebackers absorbing extra responsibility — are not names that were supposed to matter this much in November.

Sonny Styles has 50 tackles and a sack through eight games. That's a linebacker doing linebacker work, not a defense generating pressure. The secondary has picked off passes, but a back seven can only do so much when quarterbacks are getting comfortable pockets. That problem just got worse, and there are ten games left.