ASHBURN, Va. -- The speculation about his impact began the moment the Washington Commanders traded for cornerback Marshon Lattimore. He would alter the pass coverage. He would help expand the playcalls and pressure packages. He would help the run defense, perhaps, by allowing more defenders in the box and less in coverage.
And for the next month, thanks to a bad hamstring, that's all it was: a lot of talk about what Lattimore might do.
Finally, on Sunday against his former team, the New Orleans Saints, the Commanders will get to see the impact Lattimore can make. They sent three draft picks to New Orleans -- selections in the third, fourth and sixth rounds of the 2025 draft -- to get Lattimore plus a fifth-round selection.
His return comes at a good time, with Washington holding the seventh and final playoff spot entering the final four games. How much impact Lattimore can make remains to be seen, but he provides Washington its most decorated cornerback in some time.
Lattimore has made four Pro Bowl teams; Washington hasn't had a corner who made multiple Pro Bowls since DeAngelo Hall retired after the 2017 season. The Commanders haven't had a Pro Bowl corner since Hall last made it after the 2010 season.
"That's a big deal for us to add a player of his caliber," Quinn said.
Teammates feel that as well. In the final three weeks, Washington will play receivers such as A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith (Philadelphia), Drake London (Atlanta) and CeeDee Lamb (Dallas). Adding a player of Lattimore's caliber can help down the stretch.
"It's a guy that has the ability and shown he can lock down the side and travel and do all those amazing things," linebacker Bobby Wagner said. "So it's dope having somebody out there like that."
Lattimore can impact Washington's defensive playcalls, perhaps allowing the Commanders to expand what they do -- whether it's mixing more coverages or simply playing more man. Or just having more success in coverages they already play.
"It does a lot," safety Quan Martin said. "Matchup-wise, stick him on the best receiver or whatever the game plan is this week. It will definitely help out. We'll definitely have matchups where I could leave him on his own because he's that kind of corner."
Washington has been one of the worst teams when it comes to playing man coverage against receivers. The Commanders rank 28th in opponent quarterback rating in those situations. They have allowed an NFL-worst 14 touchdowns to receivers when playing man.
Meanwhile, New Orleans ranked second in those spots with Lattimore on the field; it ranks fourth for the season.
The Commanders have played the 13th-most snaps in any form of man coverage. But when Quinn was Dallas' defensive coordinator for the previous three seasons, the Cowboys played the second-most number of snaps in man coverage (to New Orleans) as well as in the number of single-high safety looks, according to Next Gen Stats.
Washington ranks 16th in number of single-high looks. Quinn's coordinator in Washington, Joe Whitt Jr., served as his defensive backs coach and passing game coordinator in Dallas and likes playing man-to-man. But Whitt said he doesn't think it will alter the pressure packages they use.
"I don't know if I can pressure more than we've been pressuring," Whitt said. "We haven't protected the corners."
But it could be that the packages become more successful simply because they have a corner who excels in this coverage. Two days after the trade, Whitt said he had scouted Lattimore before the 2017 draft; he was then a cornerbacks coach for Green Bay.
"He was just a guy that got up there and challenged and that's all we did," Whitt said. "We pressed all the time. We got up and pressed and challenged everything. And so, that's what he is. And I like the fact that in this league, you're going to get beat at times. And then if he does get beat, he does not shy away. He gets right back up there, and he does it again. And that's what it takes in this league to be a really good corner and just have that dog mentality, and he has that."
After Washington acquired Lattimore, coaches and players mentioned that "dog mentality." Or, as Martin said, Lattimore is "just feisty."
His presence also allows Washington to mix its coverages more or, Martin said, disguise more often.
"It adds another piece to the puzzle," rookie corner Mike Sainristil said. "He's known for being a guy who's sticky in coverage. He's an elite competitor."
Could it help against the run? Washington hopes so. However, the Commanders rank 27th in rushing yards allowed per game; they have defended the run with a single-high safety the 12th-most times in the league. In theory, that puts an extra defender closer to the line of scrimmage. Yet, in those spots, they still allow 4.5 yards per carry.
So playing more single-high safety looks might not be the recipe for a stronger run defense. Whitt said a lot of that stemmed in the past from what he considered poor technique -- whether in how defenders rotated or filled gaps.
One offensive coach who faced Lattimore, 28, earlier this season said he did not think he was playing at the same level as in previous years. But Washington general manager Adam Peters did not share that assessment.
"He's still in his prime," Peters said after the trade. "He's still, in terms of his metrics and everything, he's still running at a really high level, and you see it on the tape as well."
But regardless, he's better than what Washington has on the roster -- and better than what it felt it could do in free agency or the draft. Peters said at the time of the trade it was as much about the future -- Lattimore is signed for two more seasons -- as it was about the present.
For now, it'll be about helping a defense rather than transforming one.
"One guy's not going to come and just change all that," Whitt said. "He's added to what we're doing."