Ben Sinnott, the Washington Commanders’ 2024 2nd-round pick, didn’t have the rookie year Commanders fans expected. Coming out of Kansas State, where he began his career as a walk-on, Sinnott was selected with the 53rd overall pick in the NFL Draft. The rookie tight end was expected to have more of an impact offensively. Sinnott left Manhattan as one of the best TEs in program history, setting three different program records in his final season at K-State. In a tight-end room in Washington, with veteran Zach Ertz and three-year pro John Bates, Sinnott found a different way to contribute.
Sinnott entered a crowded tight end room, making it tough to carve out a major rookie role. He played just 311 offensive snaps, half of Bates’ total and a third of Ertz’s. With Ertz’s reliable hands (second on the team with 91 targets from Jayden Daniels) and Bates’ standout blocking ability, even studied by Ertz himself, the rookie was naturally eased into a limited role in Kliff Kingsbury’s offense.
Heading into year two, Sinnott is progressing well, showing flashes of both Ertz’s receiving and Bates’ blocking traits, which he credits to skills developed in another sport while growing up. After an NFC Championship game appearance, the Commanders are running it back at tight end, re-signing Bates (three years, $21 million) for his blocking and Ertz (one year, $6.25 million) for his receiving.
How can Sinnott bring more with his physicality to the Commanders in 2025?
Sinnott originally hails from Waterloo, Iowa. He didn’t just play football in high school; he lettered in golf, baseball, tennis, and track at Columbus Catholic High School. He was also an incredible hockey player. Sinnott began playing hockey when he was three years old and credits the sport for teaching him how to be physically aggressive. Although his high school didn’t have a hockey team, he played on a combined Waterloo team all four years, scoring a whopping 130 goals and recording 206 points.
Sinnott also enjoyed being physical on the ice, recording 365 penalty minutes (PIM) over his high school career, where he averaged 4.4 PIM per game in his senior year. What a beauty.
Sinnott, who was listed at 6’4 220lbs (probably about 6’7 on skates) in HS, is the reason why youth hockey coaches tell players not to cut to the middle of the ice with their head down in a high school hockey game:
*Note the commentator in this first clip*
Sinnott was spotted with his Commanders teammates at Game Two of the Capitals’ first-round playoff game against Montreal rocking an Alex Ovechkin NHL All-Time Goals Leader T-Shirt:
Just awesome stuff there.
Talk about a “Hockey Guy.”
In College
Ben Sinnott’s strengths in college were his physicality, athleticism, versatility, and ability to make contested catches. Building off his physical presence from hockey, he was a reliable blocker in the run game and a multi-dimensional tight end who could line up in various formations to be an easy target for the quarterback. Oh, and his scoring touch from the ice carried over to the gridiron as well. In his last season at K-State, he broke three different school records for tight ends. Sinnott recorded the most single-season receptions (49), receiving yards (676 yards), and receiving TDs (6) in program history.
Role in Washington So Far
Sinnott came over from K-State and was listed as the third-string tight end on the first unofficial depth chart going into the preseason. In the preseason, Sinnott caught four balls for 67 yards and highlighted his physicality most notably on a 44-yard reception against the Jets, where he broke a number of tackles to pick up a big gain.
Sinnott entered the regular season as the third-string tight end, where most of his early-season work consisted of run blocking with Bates and special-teams play, “arriving violently” just as Head Coach Dan Quinn preached. He recorded a special-teams tackle in week 4 against Arizona and didn’t receive a target until week 7 against Carolina, where his first reception was also his first career touchdown.
Sinnott’s role grew on special teams throughout the season, but he was only able to find offensive snaps whenever Zach Ertz needed to come out.
During Washington’s run to the NFC Championship game, Sinnott’s role remained limited. All of that changed, though, when he made the biggest play of his young career, catching a pass off a fake punt from punter Tress Way in the NFC title game.
The most significant area of strength for Sinnott was his vastly improved blocking ability from college. Sinnott led the Commanders’ tight ends in blocking rates with a rating of 81 in pass blocking and 62.3 in run blocking, highlighting his pass blocking ability. While he’s still early in his development, Sinnott has shown flashes similar to those of his counterparts, such as Ertz’s receiving skills and Bate’s blocking abilities, due to his physicality and athleticism/versatility.
An area of weakness for Sinnott at K-State, particularly in his first year, was his ability to gain separation and run routes efficiently. His ability to make contested catches compensates for this weakness, but at the combine, scouts noticed two significant things. He showed good acceleration and burst, but his overall movement was more measured and methodical, as he lacked the higher-level breakaway speed and agility to create separation or run clean routes.
An area of huge weakness and scheme fit specifically for Sinnott in Washington is his ability to block on the line of scrimmage, specifically in the run game. This is what earned Bates his new contract as a now four-year pro due to his consistent ability to block in the run game. The Commanders were unable to run the ball successfully late in the season due to offensive line injuries, so Bates filled a key role for Washington when they decided to keep the ball on the ground. If Sinnott is looking to shine in 2025, he must improve his blocking on the line of scrimmage.
The good news, though, is that it appears Sinnott has improved in these areas so far this offseason. Those at Washington’s mandatory minicamp this week have reported Sinnott looking much improved in these two areas. Coach Quinn mentioned Sinnott’s improvements and added, “He’s been someone who’s just had a fantastic offseason” in his Wednesday mini-camp press conference.
Sinnott showed flashes of both Ertz and Bates in 2024. Heading into 2025, he’s expected to maintain a similar role on offense and special teams. Still, he should see more opportunities to showcase his off-line blocking ability, especially in Washington’s revamped screen game, working alongside Bates.
While he likely won’t see many targets in the passing game with Ertz still leading as the receiving tight end, the addition of wide receiver Deebo Samuel changes the offensive dynamic. Samuel’s versatility out of the backfield and at the line of scrimmage gives the Commanders the flexibility to use tight ends like Sinnott and Bates as screen blockers, helping to set up space for Deebo to thrive. That in turn could reduce Ertz’s workload as a short-yardage target, keeping him healthier while still maximizing his impact.
With Deebo, Terry McLaurin, and a deep group of playmakers around them, also at running back, plus Jayden Daniels’ rushing threat, the Commanders now have a diverse and dangerous attack at and behind the line of scrimmage. That sets the stage for Sinnott to make his mark in 2025 as a physical blocker, especially in the open field.
Another clip shows Sinnott in full hockey mode, angling a defender like he’s pinning someone into the boards to create a lane for Daniels to get out of bounds:
The key question now: Can Sinnott turn his physicality and off-line blocking into a consistent strength that helps spring ball carriers downfield?
If he continues to develop into a true TE1, adding receiving production to his physical style, Sinnott could become a cornerstone of what’s shaping up to be a part of one of Washington’s most promising homegrown draft classes in years.
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