INDIANAPOLIS — J.J. McCarthy stood tall in the face of pressure — internally and the kind brought by pass rushers — throughout the University of Michigan’s championship season. The idea of meeting Dan Quinn and the Washington Commanders’ contingent at the NFL Scouting Combine gave the quarterback a case of knee-knocking.

“It was my first (formal interview), so I was super nervous. I’m not gonna lie. Sweating a little bit,” McCarthy said.

The football adults in the room kept their composure, but one can imagine some angst on the other side of the interview.

The Commanders’ staff, only assembled in recent weeks under managing partner Josh Harris, arrived with the task of taking steps toward determining their offseason plan. Not just any plan, but one involving quarterbacks and the No. 2 overall selection in April’s draft. Franchises rise and flounder based on such choices.

But the combine isn’t solely about evaluating prospects. Here’s a look at the other topics discussed involving the Commanders, free agency and the draft.

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1. QB holding pattern

Though armed with more personal and measurable data on the perceived top passers, Washington’s decision-makers returned home without a definitive outcome, according to internal sources. No fully-formed decision appears imminent for a specific quarterback or Washington’s first-round pick following interviews with Caleb Williams, Drake Maye, Jayden Daniels and McCarthy, and conversations with other teams.

That’s hardly a calamity. The draft remains over a month away. The information-gathering continues with college pro days and individual interviews at the team facility with a maximum of 30 prospects. The on-the-field parts are mainly known — “the tape is the tape” was frequently said all week — but learning about the person under the pads remains ongoing.

“That’s a huge part of really any position, getting to know the person,” general manager Adam Peters said. “That’s where we’ve always found in scouting (that) you make the biggest mistakes, more so on the person than the actual talent.”

Washington won’t have until April to finalize the QB plan. The unofficial legal tampering period for free agents starts March 11. Some teams will show their cards long before April’s festivities by acquiring veteran free agents Kirk Cousins and Baker Mayfield, trading with Chicago for Justin Fields or maneuvering around the draft board for a passer.

The best bet for the Commanders remains a choice at No. 2 between North Carolina’s Maye and LSU’s Daniels. Moving up to No. 1 for Williams, a Washington-area native with a Heisman Trophy resume and generational talent hype, or dropping a few spots to gather a massive haul of future picks and assets cannot be ruled out.

“I think we’d do anything to make our team better,” Peters, who led a staff at the combine for the first time, told NFL Network. “(Whether) trade up, trade down, (we) had a lot of good conversations with a lot of GMs this week. Really productive. So, we’re going to look through every avenue to make our team better.”

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2. First impressions matter

The quarterbacks expressed positivity from their meetings with Peters, Quinn, offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury and an observing Harris.

“It was just how cool the whole staff was,” Daniels said at his Friday morning media availability. “Dan Quinn, Kliff Kingsbury, all those guys. I was just able to sit in there and get to know (them as) people.”

Talking with Peters before the formal session and catching a “great vibe” from the “awesome” Quinn and others in Washington’s group put McCarthy at ease. The quarterback who went 27-1 as a college starter went through various play clips and scenarios with Kingsbury.

“Coach Kliff Kingsbury was just like, ‘Hey, if you get a matchup out here and you really like it, could you just switch it to go on the outside?’ I was telling him, ‘I wish,’” said McCarthy about discussing audibles. … “Great to talk ball with them.”

Williams and Kingsbury didn’t require introductions since the coach joined USC’s staff as an offensive assistant last season. The football world knew plenty about the 2022 Heisman winner’s story as one of the first college stars to reap a financial jackpot. Williams earned roughly $10 million from name, image and likeness sponsorships.

That financial strength, combined with a family’s grasp on the quarterback’s future marketing power and a radio-silent period after his final season at USC, added a component of mystery to Williams’ professional desires — including whether he and his father, Carl, would push any agenda onto the draft process, like declining to play for the Bears.

If not Chicago, perhaps the Gonzaga College High School alum preferred playing for Washington. “It’s hometown, as everybody knows,” Williams said in Friday’s media availability. “It would be really cool to be back there and experience that.”

Concerns of a power play dissipated at the combine. Unless the Bears seek a trade or prefer another quarterback, Williams going first to Chicago seems to be a likely outcome, even though his meeting with the Commanders went “really well. Everybody was in the room,” Williams said when asked about takeaways from the meeting with officials from his hometown team. “Getting a taste of how they are, who they are because … everything is new there.”

Caleb Williams on his meeting with the Commanders and what it would mean to play with his hometown team. pic.twitter.com/GThHNPXKRN

— Ben Standig (@BenStandig) March 1, 2024

3. Maye vs. Daniels

Landing McCarthy or Williams is likely the result of a trade back or up. Narrowing targets to Maye or Daniels doesn’t exactly help pinpoint any clubhouse leader for Washington. Though some evaluators offered a clear favorite between the two, the head-to-head battle is more a taste preference, and the overall unofficial polling landed relatively even.

Maye’s classic QB size at 6-foot-4, 223 pounds plus arm strength and mobility is enticing. One league source mentioned Maye’s “presence” in the room for his team’s interview and that he displayed good recall and smarts despite some restless nerves. Concerns with ball placement and positional nuances make Maye polarizing for some.

Like Williams and Maye, Daniels skipped the combine workouts. The reigning Heisman winner also passed on testing for height, weight and other measurables until LSU’s pro day. That weight data may become a tiebreaker for teams concerned about the 6-foot-4 dual-threat QB possibly holding up physically at around 205 pounds.

Another variable is leadership qualities. The Arizona State transfer was a bit reserved at his media availability. That aligns with the description from a former LSU teammate and a league source in one of Daniels’ combine meetings. The source didn’t see the quiet aspect as a red flag.

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The official releases of left tackle Charles Leno Jr. and tight end Logan Thomas were about salary-cap savings. They were also the most overt indications of a roster rebuild or, as Quinn prefers, recalibration, though neither release was surprising. What happens with two-time Pro Bowler Jonathan Allen remains the most fascinating signal of the organization’s plans.

There has been no loud chatter from the Commanders about moving Allen, but the rumor mill in Indianapolis made some noise about a possible trade. The pairing with fellow tackle Daron Payne is the defense’s strength. It’s unlikely that Quinn, a longtime defensive coordinator, would want to break them up.

None of that changes Washington’s expected conversation with the interior disruptor. Allen, 29, has two years remaining on the original four-year, $72 million extension signed in 2021. With zero guaranteed dollars remaining and an annual salary below Payne’s $22.5 million average, contract extension talk is likely.

Perhaps the rumor was merely an echo from last season when the buzz about Allen possibly getting traded at the 2023 midseason deadline was legitimate. The team seemed uninterested in moving the 2017 first-round pick at the time. Still, Allen acknowledged that he was “very frustrated” after the team’s seventh consecutive losing record. But he said he felt more energized after speaking with Peters.

The Commanders can afford Allen’s salary-cap charge of $21.4 million; the figure jumps to $23 million in 2025. They have the second-most projected salary-cap space at $80.5 million, per Over The Cap. Any restructuring would allow Washington to lower those cap numbers by pushing or adding money to future years.

Allen’s 5 1/2 sacks and 10 tackles for loss fell below the production generated in his 2021 and 2022 Pro Bowl seasons. The entire defense labored in 2023, and Allen began the season with plantar fasciitis. He’s also a force inside for a unit that lacks much help in the back seven or on the edge. Whether or not to tie more dollars into a veteran lineman when the team might not be ready to contend quickly is a legitimate question — and one Peters and Quinn must eventually tackle.

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The Commanders see using the 2021 first-round linebacker more in pass-rush situations this season. The plan is to have the athletically gifted Davis become a “hybrid” defender, which should translate into less pass coverage and more attempts at getting after quarterbacks.

That’s a logical consideration on many levels. Davis played his rookie season at Mike linebacker before moving to the off-ball role in Washington’s 4-2-5 base. His limited coverage instincts led to opposing coordinators attacking him with wheel-route throws to running backs almost every game. According to Pro Football Focus, Davis tied for the highest yards per catch allowed (12.1) last season and ranked fourth-worst in average depth of target (5.5)

The hope is the new defensive staff can get more from the fourth-year linebacker.

“I went through the last few years of every blitz (Jamin) had,” Quinn said at the combine. “Where do I see burst? Where do I see traits? All I can do is evaluate on that. And then you find ways to train him.”

As the Dallas Cowboys’ defensive coordinator, Quinn underwent a similar exercise with another physically gifted linebacker, Micah Parsons. Dallas began using Parsons more at defensive end or anywhere to create a mismatch.

“Putting a player like (Parsons) in the spots (where) they can do their thing. And that’s what I enjoy most on the coaching is finding all these unique things that a player can do and then how do you feature ’em,” Quinn said.

Or, as another team’s personnel executive put it, “just blitz him and have him chase the ball.” Davis had three sacks, eight tackles for loss and eight QB pressures last season.

Quinn said he had not discussed the situation with Davis (seven career sacks). The linebacker is recovering from surgery after a Week 13 shoulder injury. Another looming discussion involves picking up the fifth-year player option. That seems unlikely based on Davis’ showing over three years.

On Friday, Davis received a suspended sentence of 180 days in jail for a reckless driving charge from March 2022, according to records from the Loudoun County, Va., court. He will have his driver’s license suspended for six months and must pay a $2,500 fine.

(Photo of Dan Quinn: Kirby Lee / USA Today)