{"id":717820,"date":"2026-06-21T18:34:11","date_gmt":"2026-06-21T18:34:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/717820\/"},"modified":"2026-06-21T18:34:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-21T18:34:11","slug":"leo-chenal-on-why-he-chose-commanders-daronte-jones-sonny-styles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/717820\/","title":{"rendered":"Leo Chenal on why he chose Commanders, Daronte Jones, Sonny Styles"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Leo Chenal surveyed the NFL landscape and his market developing in free agency. Washington sure looked like a good one.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">It sure seemed like an opportunity to both cash in and thrive on the football field after solid seasons in Kansas City.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">\u201cI really like (the system). It\u2019s very linebacker friendly,\u201d Chenal said <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hogshaven.com\/pressers\/418407\/washington-commanders-mandatory-minicamp-jayden-daniels-terry-mclaurin-bill\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Wednesday in a post-minicamp practice press conference<\/a>. \u201cIt was cool coming here. To be able to look at my options and decide to come here and join a great administration with good coaches and players across the board. The scheme that Coach Jones brought from Minnesota is linebacker friendly in my opinion. There are a lot of eyes on the quarterback, and also to be able to see the running back and just make plays. It\u2019s an exciting scheme to play in.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">\u201c&#8230;They have great linebackers and great guys on the edge. Overall, this defense should be exciting. I\u2019ll be able to play anywhere they want me to play.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Chenal can play several different spots. He\u2019s an off-the-ball linebacker by trade, but is impactful rushing the passer off the edge or from a linebacker spot. He\u2019s a relentless run defender who is physical at the point of attack.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Those two will join <a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nfl\/player\/_\/id\/3127273\/frankie-luvu\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">veteran Frankie Luvu<\/a> leading the position, which makes playing time and role breakdowns somewhat of an unknown as we move toward the regular season.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">\u201cWe have great guys all around,\u201d Chenal said. \u201cFrankie is great and I want to be able to add to that and contribute where I can. We drafted Sonny in the first round, so you never know how it\u2019ll play out. It\u2019s a good problem to have. We have great linebackers all around. We have great guys on the edge. For me, it\u2019s about playing where I can and playing where they want me to play.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">The Commanders will move Styles around some, but his speed and athleticism make him a great coverage option. Odds seem great he\u2019ll be a three-down player with the green dot, a role he\u2019ll have to earn even after making a solid first impression.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">\u201cYou can tell why he was drafted in the top 10 picks,\u201d Chenal said. \u201cHe looks the part. He plays the part and he sounds the part. From a young guy and coming from a big program and playing like he did, he\u2019s up for early meetings and staying late at the facility. He commands the defense well. He\u2019s very communicative. He\u2019s a freak athlete. I already see a great maturity from him that you don\u2019t get a lot from younger guys. It has been cool to watch him already grow from a high starting point.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Luvu\u2019s entering a contract year, meaning an every-down Styles-Chenal partnership might be a long-term play.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Where will Chenal play in 2026 and how will be impactful during his first season in Washington? Let us know what you think in the comments below.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Leo Chenal surveyed the NFL landscape and his market developing in free agency. Washington sure looked like a&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":717821,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[63],"tags":[349,99,15981],"class_list":["post-717820","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-nfl","tag-sports","tag-washington-commanders-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/717820","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=717820"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/717820\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/717821"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=717820"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=717820"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=717820"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}