COMMANDERS SQUAD | Free Agency REACTION: Biggest Moves, Losses & WHAT'S NEXT in the NFL Draft

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Alright, I guess at this point the dust is settled and we can take a deep breath with

commanders for the agency.

And it looks like the vision is starting to come into focus and I like what I'm seeing.

So with some moves happening in the other conference, it lets you know that certain things

could still happen before the draft.

But you can't win a championship without a good defense and the commanders have certainly

done just that.

Let's go Nick.

Hail to the commanders.

It's the commander squad.

Everything Washington commanders every week.

Covering all the big hits and game-changing plays from the heart of the nation's capital.

The way only the Lockdown Podcast Network can.

The rally, the burgundy and goals, the commander squad show starts now.

Nothing like getting us for wide, getting everybody in here.

We got Melissa Kim.

We got Anthony Armstrong, David Harrison, we got Nick Ash.

You commanders now have a long list of guys they've resigned, guys they've added in an

off season where it felt like there was a lot of panic in the first 24 to 36 hours of

free agency and then all of a sudden the commanders and Adam Peter said, okay, we got this.

We got quite a bit.

Look at what the biggest impact for agent signings were.

Some of the head scratchers too, maybe some of the question marks that we got going on

there.

And what do the commanders still need to do before we head up to the NFL draft, not to mention

there might be some changes in draft strategy as we move forward, given all the things that

they've done.

But let's start there with what they've done, with what the additions were, with what

this roster looks like with the pieces that we were begging for this team to add.

To be honest with you, as I look around this, David, I see they added edge, they added

linebacker, they added a defensive tackle and bring it back to him, subtle tight end was

an issue, corner was an issue, safety, they added another safety.

I mean, you go down the list, they've added pieces at all these different positions to

a lower degree.

Obviously, a Deami Brown advanced Jefferson, I mean, look, those are depth pieces, probably

one of them will make the week one roster when it's all done.

But to go out there and show this level of aggression, the key for me, David, with really

all of these signings that they made it was either short term deals, which every team goes

and does that, it's just been magnified a little bit more with the way that Adam Peters

has handled business the first couple years, but it's also players that you look at where

the upside could end up putting them in a position where they're exceeding what that

contract is where they're exceeding a level of expectations fair or not that are placed

on them right now, even though by all way, who, you know, the $100 million, we know,

it's 68 million guaranteed, but there is a chance that if he lives up to that potential

in the flashes that we saw with the chargers, then he could be worth way more than what

that contract is.

So there's a lot of, hey, I see that what this guy can do, let's give him more of an

opportunity.

And then maybe they exceed what that contract value was, David.

Yeah, let me tell you some of the diving too deep into the weeds on incentives and all

that stuff.

If a Daffay away walks away from these next four years with $100 million in his bank

account, first of all, congrats because that's dope.

But also, congratulations to commanders fans, because enjoy that, that's super bowl celebration.

Maybe two of them in the next four years, that's what happens because that means

that that defense turns into a monster, because Daffay can't do it by himself.

So if he's able to hit all those marks, that means that there are other people on that

side of the ball also chipping in to make sure that he can do that.

But I think what you're seeing this off season, Nick, from the Washington commanders is really

an understanding of who you are, right now, who you want to be.

I think in 2024, you see obviously that, you know, Adam Peters gets in, Dan Quinn gets

in.

They never worked together before they got kind of figured it out as well.

And they're doing this all throughout the evaluation process and the free agency process

and just trying to build the team.

So you see a lot of connectivity, right?

I used to play for, this guy used to play for me, this guy used to play, you know, for

the team I was in the front office for, and just a lot of familiarity coming in.

And then even year two, it's, it's about, let's, let's maintain the level that got us

the energy championship game.

Well, let's also make a move here there in Lermy Tunsell, Debo Samuel, things like that,

like that.

To try to get us over that hump, then everything falls apart.

Why?

Because not because you didn't know who you were or who you wanted to be, but because

the evolution didn't continue as people, we got to, we got to continue evolving, right?

That's, you either evolve or die.

That's basically the rule that you have to live by.

The wash commanders didn't evolve in 2025 and we saw what ended up happening.

Well, now Dan Quinn and Adam Peters enter 2026 off season Anthony, understanding this

is what the Washington commanders are going to be so we can go find guys.

Maybe we didn't, we haven't worked with them before.

Raphael Wei has never played under Adam Peters.

He's never played under Dan Quinn, but we know who he is.

We know who we are.

So we know that marriage is going to work.

So we can take some of those swings and that's why you see the younger players, you see

the higher upside, but also you see Adam Peters being willing to spend big money because

Anthony, remember, it wasn't just a buffet.

It was also Alec Pierce.

It was also Tyler Linderbaum that they were in conversations with.

They were trying to spend a couple of dollars, but the one thing I love about these contracts

David is that they are team and player friendly.

They're team friendly because of the length, right?

They're shorter, a lot of one year deals.

And frankly, a lot of conversations in my time in locker room was some guys are like, man,

one year deals are better.

There were a lot of guys who would just do one year deals because they would get their

money.

They knew they had a season and then they could just go on their way.

But the fact about these guys being able to exceed the expectations, I'm sure the conversation

was like, look, we've seen you ball out on tape already, but you get the bet on yourself

a little bit, right?

You're expecting yourself to go out there and ball.

And they want to earn those next contracts.

And the fact that like a Leo Chinals on a three year deal, he'll be 28 when he's up for

the new contract.

And if he's balling, we'll be more than happy to have that conversation with paying him,

especially if Daphay is doing this thing too.

And you are on that brink of reaching a Super Bowl.

So these contracts make a lot of sense.

I like how you got hungry guys, you got folks that have something to prove, you know,

you find guys that want to come home.

You obviously have a type of player, a skill set that you're looking for with the athleticism.

I love seeing that across the board.

They check that box like they went out and addressed what needed to be addressed fully.

I saw comment come through saying corner and when receiver, some of the only holes that

are left, they filled a lot of holes and they made everybody faster.

They got positions faster and they can get even faster in this draft to Melissa.

I think that there's some interesting ways that the draft could play out where they could

still add more speed and just continue to make additions to this roster that could be impactful.

I think these additions, these guys are in that like perfect situation, right, as a player.

They're of that age where they have some experience and they've experienced success.

I think that's really important too.

They know they haven't been on teams that have never gone to the Super Bowl or have never

gone to the playoffs.

These are guys that have experienced what it's like to play on a successful team and what

it takes.

And then they're in that age range, right, like kind of like mid late 20s where they

have experienced, but they still got probably some really good years ahead of them.

So I really enjoyed that part of it.

I know the receiver part is one that I've been kind of keeping my eye on too because I'm

like, hi, like what are we doing here?

But perhaps that is something that the draft will take care of.

And in terms of the secondary, I think that obviously there have been some additions

there as well.

But I think that they're also kind of looking to the future as well.

They signed a bunch of guys to reserve future contracts as well.

So I think yes, we are focused on the moment, like these next two to three years.

But then also like not completely like putting all of our eggs in one basket for the future.

But still kind of keeping it in the back of your mind, depending on what happens with

some of these guys who are in that perfect age range, perfect experience range, Nick.

You know, I'm looking to Renelle and the YouTube comments kind of listen to other spots,

like a thumper running back, I'd receive her too, which we know is still going to be

something that's going to be part of the conversation.

Something we're going to get to in this show as well, center, corner state, like there's

still more levels of pieces that they need on this team.

The one thing that needs to really be kept in mind here that this team is not going

to rebuild this thing all at once, like it's not going to get to a point where you're

going to build a total roster where you're looking at them as a super bowl contender in

a year.

I mean, listen, yes, did they win 12 games a couple of years ago and get to an NSE championship

again.

It was a great ride, but we know that those were inflated numbers and it was a team that

wasn't really prepared to be built as a contender, long term with the roster that they had

then.

Yes, 2024 to 2025 was not the same roster.

There were different pieces that this team had last year, but what was exposed the most

with the level of the lack of depth and the age that was there and when guys get older,

we all know things hurt recovery.

It's not as good as it's bad and I was literally just getting acupuncture on my hip yesterday

because, you know, I'm not 25 anymore and things hurt a little bit more, but like when

you look at what they have done to at least address this off season so far, it's very clear

that, you know, obviously the contracts like we talked about, they can exceed those expectations

some of these guys and chicken conco, too.

I think it's going to be, I mean, it's just the perfect fit for this offense and somebody

that brings a dynamic that they were just lacking at the tight end position last year.

But you also have to keep in mind, David.

I know I certainly am when I look at this roster and say, this is not a completely done

package here, even with the draft still down the road, it's going to be something where

as the season goes on in 2026, we're looking at their roster going, they might need another

linebacker, they might still need another edge rusher, they might need somebody else in

the offensive line like center, they may not have this thing figured out yet, because there

are questions about what happened at center and the way that that went on this off season

with Tyler Beatash.

So there are a lot of things to keep in mind where this team is improved.

This team is a dressed need that they need to address, but that doesn't mean we're

looking at another 12 win team.

I'm not going to sit here and play the game of how many games are going to win right

now and win totals and schedule.

I hate that.

I hate playing the whole win loss, win loss with the schedule and that comes out because

it's dumb and we don't know what those teams look.

I mean, it's ridiculous.

But what I do know is, is this team is better than where they were last year.

They have addressed those needs, but it doesn't mean David that we're looking at a team

that's 12 wins in a super bowl contender right away.

It's just not going to happen yet.

Yeah, I mean, I think there's no reason to set expectations at this point in time.

And we're the other right.

I think there's a difference between liking what a team is doing, seeing the vision and

agreeing with the vision or even disagreeing with the vision, right?

And that's kind of where I think we are with the Washington commanders.

It's one reason and I tell my listeners all the time, like the Everdaers that come through

have heard me say, like, I don't do grades and the reason I don't do grades is because

they're worthless.

They're absolutely worthless.

And we talk about, I don't want to get too deep about this because it's not necessary.

But we will touch on it like when you when you hand in an assignment to a teacher,

there is a rubric, right?

There is a grading scale.

There is, did you meet these criteria and that gives you your A, B, C, D or whatever it

is?

The football is not like that.

The NFL is different.

You can't just say like this guy, like Chico Concoa looks like he fits.

I'm going to give it an A. Why am I giving him an A?

Because I love chicken.

And I put chicken to top of my list is one of the freebies commission go get.

So I'm going to give it an A.

That doesn't mean the chicken.

You were on the bandwagon for him.

I'll give you credit.

You were on the bandwagon for Chico Concoa way before like everybody else do it.

You were you were begging this team to sign him.

Right.

But that doesn't mean he's going to be an all pro.

It doesn't mean he's going to lead the league and you know, receptions for a tie.

And it doesn't mean he's going to work at all.

Like by, you know, we can do it in a training camp.

And it was like, chicken's got to go like, I don't know, I don't know what's going on

here.

But he's got to get at it.

Right.

So I give it an A right now.

You know, kudos to me.

Like that's really all we're doing is just sharing how much we agree with or disagree

with moves.

But you know, to that end, however, what really is encouraging for me from, you know, just

from a personal standpoint is, you know, obviously they hire these two guys.

They've never been coordinators before.

They've never been play college in the NFL level before Doront say he was not.

He was a play called LSU.

So we can get a little bit of a vibe from him there.

And then we talked to him and we kind of hear, you know, some of the things of what they

want to try to do.

And we just try to kind of formulate this idea in our minds of what is the Dorontay

Jones defense going to look like?

What is the day of about often it's going to look like.

And so a lot of the players that, you know, identified and locked on commanders as for

agent targets were based off of those really assumptions, right?

They're not driven by fact.

They're assumptions more than there anything else.

So to see so many of those names match what the commanders did or at least tried to do

as far as go bring in free agents.

It's encouraging because it just makes you believe that you know what's going on because

Anthony, I live across the other conference to a team that was competing for a Super Bowl.

And I look at my friends and Broncos media and they're also in there going like, what

do you do it?

What is Sean Peyton doing now granted the move that they just made is getting a pretty

decent reception.

But up until last night, everybody in Colorado, everybody in Denver, everybody on the Broncos

beat is like what is going on with this team?

So as a media member, as someone who covers this team or has been involved in the sport

at all, I think I feel like if you're, if what you think is happening doesn't match what

you're seeing in action, that is where you get anxiety and that's where you get a little

bit of stress.

But it seems like this team won.

They're clearing the path they want to take and the moves they're making fit that path.

That's very well put.

Very well put.

It is a trajectory thing for me, you know, like when the season was lost last year and

everybody's like, what are you looking for?

How can these guys improve?

I'm like, I'm looking to see how the orange field performance goes.

Like who's showing up, who's setting themselves apart to say that they want to be around

or somebody that you can build with.

And then there's folks who are going to separate themselves otherwise.

So when they're growing this team, it made a lot of sense to see them filling all the

gaps that were, that were plentiful when they came into the off season.

That was something that's promising, right?

I got a trust that they know what they're doing.

If I take my car to the shop, I can sit there and look at the engine and not all I want

and it can give them one of the, hmm, yeah, yeah, I don't know damn thing about no radiator.

I don't know nothing about no radiator, man, I ain't getting up on that car.

Man, let me go and take it over here to the pro.

So they're up there scouting these guys.

They've seen all the tape.

They do it.

They're bypassing.

They're not going on dates.

They're not doing that stuff with wives.

They're focusing on scouting these guys.

They know what the hell they're looking for, right?

And then all the boxes seem to be checked.

I'm trusting this process.

And then frankly, we should trust it as hands on as you try to be for years, right?

You got to understand now you can sit back and sip your shard and they on the yacht, Melissa.

AP's at the helm.

They know what the hell they're doing.

They have to play the police.

Yeah, well, you invited us on the yacht.

I didn't say it was her.

Wait, I just said, you could sip your champagne on the yacht.

You ain't say who it was.

I just visualized Melissa having the vibe just kicked back with the hat on the shades,

sip and her, sip and her shard and they and enjoying life.

That's how it is right now.

They know what the hell they're doing.

They're scouting good players or getting them on team friendly deals.

You're going to get hungry, guys.

We just got to wait for the all-field performance.

And I do think you're going to get some improvement.

But I mean, hey, the schedule's going to be tough.

We'll see how things shake out.

But they're moving things in the right direction for me.

And I'm enjoying the fact that I can relax a little bit and just chill and let them cook, Melissa.

Yeah, there's a lot of things that I had AP's are listening.

Call me if you need a yacht friend, you know, call all of us.

Actually, not just me.

I'm not going to be talking about all of them.

You see the tag right there at Melissa Wack.

All of us call us.

No, I do agree with you on that.

There obviously has been a little less anxiety, I think,

perhaps amongst the fan base from what I've been judging from as well.

Just because, again, I know in the beginning,

everyone was kind of freaking out being like,

oh my god, like the players haven't done anything.

Like what are we doing?

Like AP, DQ, hello.

But now I think that we have seen the behind the scenes

work come to the forefront, at least for the most part.

I think that there is a little less anxiety.

And again, David, you were mentioning the two new corners.

I am really excited for this, honestly,

because it's been a while since I personally have covered a team

where there are so many unknowns,

but like an excited unknown.

Like I mean, like not really anxiety,

but like, ooh, like what are they going to do?

Like I mean, and as for the players in terms of, you know,

who's going to separate themselves and all that too,

I think we'll learn very quickly early on at OTA's at minicamp,

at training camp, obviously.

Like who those guys want to be?

Who's going to show up early?

Who's going to be there after everyone else has left the field?

Who's going to be putting in those extra reps, you know,

after, after practice?

Like we'll learn very quickly, like who those effort guys are.

And I think that that honestly does make the difference

at the end of the day, because, you know,

that's what you want to see.

That's the example that you want to take as a,

if you want to be a leader of your position group,

a leader of your side of the ball.

I think that those attributes, again,

intangibles are extremely important, Nick.

It's, you know, listen, this time of year,

there's still a ton of questions around any team.

I don't think there's any doubt about that.

There's again, like we can sit here and speculate

in what this roster looks like, but I've been there for years,

whether it's in media or a fan of this team,

thinking that next year is going to be great,

because of all of these random additions this team has made.

And that happens around the NFL.

That's part of being a fan.

I mean, I remember trying to justify,

I was a young lad then, and I learned my lesson.

A trunk candidate would have been great

in Steve Spurrier's offense.

If you remember that name, you know,

I thought that was going to be something.

And I remember that, and it doesn't, you know,

so there are plenty of expectations

that you're placed on players long before the season

actually starts.

But the one thing we do know is,

is that this was still a team that you could tell

understood the assignment in this off season.

And it didn't all happen right away.

It wasn't all aggressive and it wasn't just spend, spend, spend.

It was spending smartly just because you had the cap space.

Doesn't mean that you need to spend that money automatically.

You need to do it smartly and put yourself in a position

where you're not tied down to hopefully bad contracts

down the road.

And I think we can at least feel relatively comfortable

about where this team is now.

Now, there were some losses that now might be a little bit

more glaring, seeing how the dust is settled in free agency

where we are now.

What those losses are, how important and impactful

they're going to be and what that might also

mean for the draft next.

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All right, so we got Anthony Armstrong, Melissa Kim,

David Harrison and Nick Ashu here.

And yes, the commanders had quite a few additions

in free agency is the dust to settle now though.

There are at least a couple of names

that aren't going to be on this roster.

Couple to me that are impactful.

And it's for different ways.

One was a little more expected than the other.

And obviously one is near and dear to probably everybody's

hard on this show.

We all love Chris Rodriguez and of course,

he's in Jacksonville now.

And listen, they went and added Jerome Ford.

They've added other pieces in Rashad White to the backfield.

And who knows what they're going to do in the draft.

And I get like in the end, it kind of felt inevitable

because Chris Rodriguez was a guy

that wasn't getting the consistent carries.

We begged, we begged, but apparently they just nobody

was listening when it came to that.

But the bigger thing for me is the Tyler B. Otter's

situation at center.

And now for somebody that gets released and then immediately

signs a three or $30 million contract,

that's not a guarantee that he's going

to have a successful career with the chargers.

But it does make you wonder like what was the reason

for releasing him when there was interest in him so quickly

other than, okay, were they going after a very high price

center that was on the market that then got too expensive

for them?

Is it more of a belief in Nick Allegretti moving to center?

And that becomes the possibility here.

We don't necessarily know what the plan specifically is

or what plan A, B and C is David.

But what I do know is centers massively important.

And that's the connection between the offensive line

and the quarterback.

And I think it gets overlooked sometimes.

And we've looked at this offensive line

and heading into this off season.

There was a lot of, I think they've

maybe figured out generally what this offense should look like.

Offensive line should look like.

What the depth chart for that should be.

But now there's at least right now a gaping hole

in a question market.

What this team does at center?

Yeah, I think what it really kind of blows down to like

to make it a little bit simplistic is reach block.

Like Tyler Beodish wasn't a great reach blocker

from the center position that her husband.

And that's something that a Ben Johnson type of offense

really needs from the middle of that offensive line

and it's something that I think David Blow's offense

is going to need as well and be the ability to get

to that second level, especially is incredibly important

on top of that.

I think what Tyler Beodish, the thing about Tyler is

super intelligent player, very confident in what he does

and what he sees and all the checks that he makes

and all that kind of stuff.

But like he wasn't an overly powerful center, right?

He wasn't just going to like pancake dudes

on every single snap and he wasn't overly athletic.

He was, he was, he was a guy that you call versatile.

He can move a little bit.

He can also work in a phone booth a little bit

or you call him a tweeter because he doesn't do

everything great.

It really just depends on how well you like

what you see on whether he's a tweeter

or he's versatile, right?

That's all those two words kind of interchange with each other.

I think the watchmen are looking for a guy

that can do one of those two things greats

and do the other thing well enough to live.

And I think they're looking for the ability

to get out and move and do all those types of things.

What's interesting about that position specifically, Anthony,

is there's been, you know, this, this, this,

I'm gonna say this, this spread,

but there's been some conjecture right about

Brandon Coleman.

Could he be in line to potentially compete

to that center job based off of something

that Dan Quinn said near the end of the season?

And that there's one clip where he mentions, you know,

Brandon was getting some snaps.

There at the end of season in practice.

And it's not the only time

Brandon Coleman's ever gotten snaps.

I've seen Brandon Coleman get snaps,

you know, in other practices before that.

But it was just the first time DQ really kind of pointed it out

because he didn't really even harp on it.

It really was just kind of like,

oh yeah, Brandon was also getting some snaps

the other day and looked really good at it.

Like, you know what I mean?

It really wasn't like a honed-in comments.

But there's another comment that goes out

and it's interesting because the second comment

that people share a lot of times about that,

I actually was like, I don't remember DQ saying this.

So I went up and I looked up the press guy,

found the press conference clip in the video from it

and I went back and I found that question.

I'm like, oh, let me hear the question.

Let me hear the answer.

It's my question.

It's my question.

It has DQ and he starts talking about Brandon.

I'm like, I don't remember this.

Like I do not remember this.

But like that's how smart fans are today.

Like fans found it.

You know, again, it's not the main one they found,

but it's like the second one they found.

And they're like, look, here's what DQ said.

I'm like, you know what, he's got a point.

But here's the thing that the thing that ties it together.

And I don't want to like light a match

under this Brandon Coleman, the center thing.

But there is some validity to the idea, I would say.

I don't want to say there's validity to the,

like it's happening as a report.

But there's validity to the idea because

at the same time, Brandon Coleman is getting some snaps,

right, quote unquote, at practice as a center

is the same time that we hear David Blow talk about

after they shut down Jay and Daniels.

They started working on some of this under center stuff

because they knew he wasn't playing.

So he's not going to play in the current system,

shotgun heavy.

Let's start working on some of this under center concept stuff.

Let's start working on some of the foot movement.

Let's start working on some of these,

you know, three step drops instead of a five,

five instead of a seven.

Let's start working on this stuff.

So if Brandon Coleman is someone

who's also getting opportunities to work on some of this stuff

with David Blow with Jay and Daniels under center,

that's not enough for me to say, like boom,

they just fell in love with Brandon Coleman

in those, you know, handful of practices

and said, you're the center of the future.

But does it give them the confidence

to let Tyler go do what he needs to do as a free agent?

Maybe target Tyler, Linda, Bob, maybe go after, you know,

other, the bill center, Conor McGovern

didn't end up hitting for agency,

but maybe he was on the board as well.

Plus you have the draft where there's a pretty good

solid nucleus of interior office and line talent

right around that 71st overall pick window right now.

So I think all of those things,

I don't think any of them were the thing,

but I think all of them.

Nick Allegrede's experience and confidence.

Brandon Coleman's perhaps earned confidence

in those practices, the free agent market,

but also the draft board and how it's going to look around 70.

I think all those things combined Anthony

led to them making the decision.

So while we don't necessarily see the slam dunk

answer at center right now,

like we've kind of been talking about,

AP's got a plan and we just got to wait

for that plan to come into focus.

You know, when you talk about Coleman,

that really perked my ears out because, you know,

obviously he was a big draft pick a couple years ago.

And then they were like, well, is he a center?

Is he a guard?

Is he a tackle?

What is, you know, where is he at?

And I guess never center.

Now he's going to get a chance.

So he must have the athleticism to get it.

He must have the athleticism.

I got my live audience coming in,

trying to tell him to stop the movie.

Let him on, let him on.

Nah, man, they don't want to watch Shrek too, I guess.

So they say, can you stop out of them?

Nonetheless, Coleman has athleticism.

I like that they're trying to find ways

to get their young guy on the field.

And frankly, David, there's nothing wrong.

There's nothing wrong with letting the kid,

letting the kid get out there and work at all summer.

Honestly, right?

I give you have enough confidence

and allegated to start and to handle it,

then you can experiment with Coleman.

You can, you can, you know, see if he's able

to handle the reach blocks.

I'm going to be interested if he can handle

the dagum conversation and the information

that comes with the center position.

That's the biggest part, right?

Because they're the quarterback of the offensive line.

Sometimes if it's a really good center,

they're the quarterback for the quarterback.

They will tell the quarterback what to do.

And they'll be like, no, no, no.

We're not going to go over here.

We're going to go be blocked at this person.

And that just communicates all the way down across the line.

So thinking about having tonsil out there,

cosme, Connerly, maybe Coleman in the middle.

That's exciting for me, Melissa.

So yeah, there's options.

I love that they're thinking optional, optionality.

Yeah, no, I love that too.

Again, thinking outside of just like those first five stars

PS, if you have not seen it, Lermy Tonsil's clips

of his press conference or zoom when he resigned his contract

this past week, I think Nikki from the athletic

has posted a couple of people have a high entertainment factor.

He's like so funny, just as an aside.

But also aside from the online too,

I mean, you think about some of the other losses

that they've had throughout the season.

I try to look up a list to be like, hey, way, obviously,

the obvious ones, like we just said, Tyler,

Marshon, Latamore, Chris Rodriguez, a couple,

and Jonathan Allen, I think that was such a long time ago.

Like, you know, I mean, that was like forever and a day ago.

Like, literally feels like forever ago.

Obviously, Jacob Martin, another one,

another guy on the defense, left and free agencies

on the Titans now.

This one, I wasn't really efficient.

I don't know if this is like officially short.

This is just again, list from a quick Google search.

But Austin Echler, he's like, not with us anymore, right?

Yeah, no, he's not on the roster.

I don't, I don't know.

Yeah, because I know that he had the tonic killies.

I don't want to play.

Yeah, because I, I fell his wife on TikTok.

And so I know they haven't been around and stuff like that.

But I wasn't really sure like what his situation was,

but it just says he's not expected to return

after he tours the killies, which like honestly sucks.

Cause like he was like a really good guy,

I think in the community, like again,

up there in age a little bit, I think when it comes

to running back, you can kind of like obviously see that

in his steps, I think.

But he did a lot of, he came to Howard a bunch of times,

talked to kids about NILs and stuff like that too,

for the football team and everything.

So definitely, I understand why, you know,

I mean, if he's not on the roster anymore,

but still we can give him his flowers.

Jeremy McNickles, big thing to tie a running back room.

Like I mean, outside of, outside of goal,

it seems like it's been a complete overhaul.

So I think there definitely have been some key losses,

but on the flip side, I think that those additions

that we talked about in the previous segment

are upgrades for the most part.

And I will say this though, I will say this though real quick.

So you got time, go ahead, buddy.

You don't have to be quick.

You guys know, I mean, most of you guys know, like, you know,

as far as media player relationships go,

like I'm pretty tight with Chris Rodriguez.

We're not, you know, no, we're all like,

we don't, we don't do cookouts together in the weekends.

We go on each other's birthday parties,

nothing like that.

It's not violating any professional boundaries,

but, you know, C. Rod is the guy

and then I'm probably the tightest within the locker room.

So obviously it was sad for me to see him go,

but at the same time, and these are just, you know,

I'm just gonna share my part of the conversation

because I'm not gonna put Chris's business out there

and anything else anyway, but like,

what I always told Chris is whether or not,

you know, because I'm around this conversation

with him locker room clean out.

And Anthony, you know, like, it sucks to have

that closing moment of what you had high hopes for,

but then you also have to look at the future.

And it's like, there's like dueling emotions there,

because you don't really wanna look to the future

and what if and all this other stuff.

And I knew that he was looking forward

to potentially coming back to Washington,

but also that he also understood that what he needed

to hope to happen was what's best for his career, right?

And at the end of the day, you had to leave it

in the hands of the people that controlled that

and just hope that what's best for his career could happen.

Like you guys mentioned, we wanted to see Chris get,

you know, more burn all through 2025.

And that was in 2024 and that was in 2023.

Like, you know, on lockdown commanders, you know,

I've been pounding the table with Chris Rodriguez

and getting more work for years,

not just because I like the dude,

but because I like him because I saw what I,

what the potential in him, right?

So that's kind of where that whole history started.

I will say this, if you're a Chris Rodriguez Jr fan

and you're not just a commander's fan

who once a player is gone, go to Riddens, you know, whatever,

if you are a Chris Rodriguez Jr fan,

see what the Jaguars are doing right now.

The Jacksville Jaguars are giving that man a lot of love.

He's going back to number 24,

which is something that is important to some players

and it's important to him.

He's going back to 24.

Liam Cohen was his college coach and Kentucky knows him

and what I have had conversations with

is you're getting a better Chris Rodriguez,

a better version of Chris Rodriguez

than you last saw on Kentucky.

And I think Liam's going to be really excited for that.

Liam Cohen's also the office coordinator there.

But if you haven't paid attention,

go look at the amount of social media love

the Jacksville Jaguars are giving to Chris Rodriguez.

Look at the contract they gave Chris Rodriguez.

It's a really good situation for Chris.

So while a lot of us are, you know, sad to see him leave

and that he never really got the burn

that we thought he should in Washington.

I think he's landed in a really good situation for him.

And I'm not telling you, you need a draft that dude

and like the 12th round of your fantasy draft

because he's going to be sitting there

but you might want to draft that dude

and 12th round of your fantasy draft.

Hey, all the stars aligned,

Liam Cohen is going to find a way

to make him successful, right?

He didn't put the money out the form.

All everything aligned, it makes a lot of sense.

I'm happy for buddy.

I'm happy for him down there.

Let me ask you this, David,

because you're obviously there covering the team

and Melissa, you are too.

You're either one of you might have answers

having been in the locker and been around this.

We talked so much about Chris Rodriguez

and the potential that was there.

And I know he's not going to be part of this

and the offense is probably going to be different.

Hopefully, then what it was under Cliff Kingsbury

and we know there was abandoning the run quite a bit

and all those things.

But do either of you have any senses

to why he didn't get more consistent carries

throughout his entire time?

Because there were moments where, I mean, we saw it.

We saw the speed that he added.

We saw the vision seeming to get,

it just seemed like he was continuing to improve

as a running back and it never seemed to click.

Now, yeah, for him, David, I think you bring up a great point.

Like, it's about situation and for him in the end

if his career is going to be better,

they're like, happy for him.

That's great.

If it works in Jacksonville and you're in a spot

where you're appreciated more as a talent,

that's, I mean, every single person deserves that

in whatever industry you're in.

But you look at it and it just felt like such a head scratch

or where everybody saw it.

And I felt like it's one of those progressive commercials

where it's like, we all see it.

We all see it.

Yet nobody's actually acting on it.

I don't know if either one of you have,

and I'm not trying to put words into one of your mouth, right?

Like, I get it, like, maybe speculation, right?

But like, what is it?

Like, what was the reason why we didn't see more of Chris Rodriguez?

Either one of you have a sense of that?

I will start to answer that by asking Anthony a quick question.

And ask away.

And your NFL experience.

We hear coaches all the time talk about,

it's my job to put players in the best position

for them to be successful.

And Anthony, I know you're going to want to go back

to your player roots and that's who you are.

And on the field, you got to make it happen.

And I get that.

How many coaches in your experience,

if you had to put a rough percentage on it,

are actually, how do I figure out how to put this player

in the best position versus, hey, dude,

I put you in the best position.

You need to make that work.

What's the split there?

Ooh, that was a hell of a question.

I didn't think you were going to go that way.

But I think it's, I feel like it's,

ooh, probably 70% on the run, what I call, type thing.

You know, the best that are always ahead of the curve

are getting their guys in the position

to be successful.

But then there's some that are being

from, I think, some organizations like it,

where they're just comfortably consistent.

You know what I mean?

They're not going to, like Atlanta?

I'm sorry, y'all ain't going to win no damn playoff games.

Y'all going to be a good solid six and, six and 11,

eight and eight, eight, nine at best.

Could I just, they'll see it from the way they handled it.

They just, they just taken what they did and cleave it.

So, like some workers, they just kind of handled that way.

But that's a really interesting question.

You said it like that.

Well, I wish I had like an index card

because I write the answer.

Because it's there right now when I asked you the question,

70, 30 is the, is the split that I had in mind.

And so this is why, like, when we have these

press conferences and everything.

And certainly fans have gotten more and more smart about this.

Every coach in their introductory press conference

says it's my job to put the players in the best

success will be, or the position to be the most successful.

What they don't say is that 70% of them, roughly,

they already know the position you need to be in

to be more successful before they even meet you.

Now it's just about you being successful in the position

they put you because I'm right.

You just need to make the math work.

The best leaders, like you said,

I don't care if you're talking about football or anything else,

not to get too deep into it.

But the best leaders in my opinion are able to adapt

to the person all they have at hands, regardless.

You may have an idea.

And we can see from the free agent additions,

because make no mistake about it.

Dorontay Jones and David Blow have just as much input

into who the wash commanders are signing.

And then the who they're going to subsequently draft

as Dan Quinn does or even as Adam Peters

was like, they're part of this process.

So these coaches know what they want to run.

Like Dorontay knows what he wants his vehicle to look like.

David Blow knows what he wants to be able to look like.

Let's go after players that I know fit that vehicle.

Where the magic happens?

If it's going to happen is when David Blow pulls that

vehicle onto the field and that they don't run.

And he's got a turn.

He's got to take this radiator and make it the grill.

He's got to take this grill and make it the trunk.

He's got to take the trunk turn that thing into a wheel

to make this thing work.

Can't he do that 30% of the time?

Yes, 70% of the time?

No, and that's just the fact of just people.

It's not just coaches, it's just people.

So that isn't the way that I'm going to answer

the Chris Rodriguez question.

Is 70% of the time a coach knows what they want?

And if you don't fit the mold of what they want,

they're not going to find a way to use you.

That's facts.

Let me tell you, let me tell you I'm going to jump in.

This is my, my, I've told you before, but my time in Dallas.

I'm running with the twos.

I'm behind days.

And I'm rolling with them all off season.

I mean, I'm in there with Roma, Kyle Orton.

And one day in middle of, one of the middle of the practices,

the head coach at the time, red-headed guy,

looked to the receiver coach.

And within the air shower was like, put Terence in.

And then the receiver coach said, well, what about Anthony?

He said, put Terence in.

And that was the end of it.

I mean, you know, obviously I didn't get cut until later on,

but the opportunities weren't there.

In practice, I'm running with the twos.

I'm out here, you know, I'm the second X receiver.

But when I was in the preseason games,

I was playing with the fourth and the, you know,

the guys off of the street and YouTubers.

So the opportunities weren't the same.

So when you say that sometimes it's a coach,

sometimes it's an unseen force that's above

that's making a decision, you know what I mean?

So like draft picks come in.

Some people force draft picks to be out there

because they want that guy to be successful.

Even if it's not best for the team.

Some coaches are hamps or are handcuffed

where they can't make personal decisions.

So when there's a marriage that everybody kind of sees

the same thing and is allowing, you know,

right, the good players to get on the field

and do what's best for the team, I like those situations,

right?

And sometimes, yeah.

Yep, sorry.

And sometimes look, and you don't know, I know,

but you don't know who necessary the coach is.

Sometimes it's the head coach.

Sometimes it's the coordinator.

Sometimes it is the position coach.

Like different staffs give different people

different levels of power, you know what I mean?

I look at, I look at, there's two guys that come to mind

when I think about this too.

Bryson Chermaine and Mitchell Tinsley are two receivers

that I watched go through camps, go through, you know,

practice quads, go through whatever

with Washington commanders, both dudes have talent.

I'm not going to say here and tell you

that Bryson Chermaine can be Mike Evans, right?

They're similar body styles.

I'm not going to say here and tell you that Mitchell Tinsley

can be, you know, the next terrible corn,

similar body style, similar styles of play.

But what I can't tell you is you see Bryson Chermaine

playing with the Carolina Panthers,

getting some burn, getting some starts, making some plays.

Those are plays that I saw him making training camp

every year that he was here.

Every year that he was in Washington

do can never get on the field.

Why?

I mean, look, it's some of its stylistic

and can you point to a Washington commanders offense

that use a Bryson Chermaine, Mike Evans type of receiver

in the last handful of years?

No, you really can't.

So is it because Bryson Chermaine didn't have talent

or is it because the offensive coordinator

or the receivers coach didn't push hard enough

to get that element operate or inserted into the offense?

I can't tell you what happened in the meetings.

I can't tell you what happened beyond closed doors.

What I can tell you is that Bryson Chermaine

made a lot of plays and practices

and a lot of plays even in preseason

and could never sniff the active roster

for more than a game here or there

but he goes to Carolina.

And I mean, he's not their primary receiver

but when things aren't going well

with some of their other guys,

he's getting out there as their big body guide

because that's part of their offense

as part of their system.

Mitchell Tinsley is a guy that

I'll tell you right now, Mitchell Tinsley

would literally be one of the, you know,

psialistic which would be the perfect Z

to Terra McLaren's X in a David Blaub Ben Johnson-esque system

due to his long enough, he's out wheels enough,

he's out hands enough and he showed it

with Cincinnati Bengals

which is why his stock has gone up a little bit.

He's not a free agent this fall of season.

I'll tell you right now,

Mitchell was a free agent this fall of season

I'd have been pounding the table

for them to bring him back to Washington

to fill or to compete to fill I should say

that Z receiver, that opposite outside receiver,

opposite of Terra McLaren

and run that kind of clear out type of role

that we think that David Blaub

is gonna bring into this offense.

So, you know, these are two guys that I got to cover

and two guys that I got to talk to a little bit

and got to know a little bit.

Bryson Sherman just how happens to be Asian,

whatever, no big deal.

But, you know, it just kind of goes to show

like just because a guy doesn't work for this team

just because a guy doesn't work in this system

doesn't mean they're devoid of talent,

means they haven't found their right fit.

And what's more important for these young men

who have a serious clock on their earning potential

as an NFL player is to find that right fit as soon as possible.

So, even when, you know, we don't like a move

or a guy maybe doesn't like that the team didn't,

you know, offer him a contract or whatever, like,

it's hard, it's easier, something done.

Especially when you're the guy, you know,

relying on feeding his family with this stuff

to just focus on getting to the right situation.

So, secretly, I had hoped that Chris

to make this thing full circle would go back,

would actually only with the Atlanta Falcons

because as much as you're correct, Anthony,

that they're doing a lot of Cleveland Brown type of things,

Chris does fill a certain type of role

that they like to use in that offense.

And he's from Georgia, so I'm like,

I, you know, you need to go home, you need to do this.

But they landed in Jacksonville

and I kind of smacked myself in the face and like, dude,

how did you not see reuniting

with this college offensive coordinator on the Bingo card?

Like, it's just, it's a perfect move.

And again, you look at the contracts

and obviously they definitely wanted them.

Like, there wasn't a huge market for him,

but they rolled it out and the social media campaign

around him has been amazing.

So, yeah, man, it's just, you know,

it's one of those behind closed doors things

that doesn't get a lot of lights,

but it's part of the business.

And so, you know, when fans talk about like,

oh, I can't believe this happened,

or I can't believe this didn't happen.

Like, to this day, people still talk about the worst thing

I've been petrised in, it was let Jeremy

chin out the door, y'all.

And appears to not let Jeremy chin out the door.

Jeremy chin just walked out the door

because he was a free agent.

And he decided he decided to walk into a different door.

It happens because of a lot of things that we, you know,

you don't get to see it.

And even more of that, I mean, Anthony, you know,

it's like, I don't get to see.

There's even more of it.

So, I can tell you, I can spout all this stuff out.

And you're sitting there as a listener

and you're like, man, I'm learning a lot about behind,

but Anthony's saying they're like, yeah,

they have a good job.

That's about 15% of it.

Man, let me tell you about the time I walked

in the player personnel room in the Miami Dolphins facility,

floor to ceiling, dry erase board, full of names, okay?

They got other guys they're looking at.

They're looking at other people.

They already got seven receivers,

but they're already looking at other folks.

I already knew when I showed up,

I had to basically ruin the coach's plans.

Like they had these big plans

and what they were gonna do

and what they envisioned the offense that looked like.

It was my job to mess that up, right?

They thought they had second round receivers

that were gonna be their guys.

It was my job to be Kyle Shanahan, Andre Johnson.

So when you're at the bottom of the roster,

you gotta mess up those folks' plans

and take advantage of the opportunities

where essentially the book is up here somewhere

and says it's so good that they can't ignore you.

You know what I mean?

You just have to ball out.

And they guess, dammit, I gotta put them on the field.

Like I can't keep them away.

So that's the type of mentality you gotta have,

but let me get off this soapbox.

I actually love that quote.

Mess up their plans.

I feel like you could make a t-shirt out of that

or something, but that's a great mindset to have.

Because yeah, I mean, we see it all the time

and your story Anthony is one of many in the NFL

where guys come into an organization,

rise up the depth chart, their role increases

and they make big plays.

I mean, it happens all the time

and a lot of times it's guys that are signed

and right around this time in the off season

that end up accelerating their career trajectory

with the team that they're with.

And maybe it's a Chris Rodriguez ends up

having a massive season in Jacksonville.

There's a chance that this happens.

So you bring in the guest on here.

Do we have any opinions at all though?

I mean, I feel like it sounds like there's a daycare

that's like at your house right now.

So I feel like there might be quite a few things,

but no Shrek apparently.

No one's watching Shrek.

I don't know what they're doing there, man.

I think they're playing this playground

like body, like there's the controller type activity.

So I sneak in training and we're making athletes.

We went to the playground earlier.

I had them running, playing freeze tags.

So we make some machines over here.

This one, she's ready for a nap though.

This one's ready for a nap.

Aren't we all think we're all ready for a nap?

The Commander signed Deami Browne van Jefferson,

but we all know there's still a glaring issue,

a glaring spot on this depth chart at number two receiver.

Whether or not that's Brandon Ayuk is one question.

The other question is whether or not

they should have been in on another receiver.

That just changed teams.

It's Commander Squad.

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All right, so we do have a receiver here

that may have a whole different type of opinion

than everybody else when it comes to perspective here.

But the one thing we know is that the commanders

do obviously need a number to receiver.

That's still up there that's been a conversation,

which now at this point has been every year that Terry McClure

and has been in burgundy and gold.

The commanders have needed another receiver

on the opposite side of him.

Now, Debo Samuels may be supposed to be that guy.

We all know what happened this past year.

He was out of his role and what it was supposed to be.

Whether or not he's back with the team

as a whole other conversation.

But there's two things going on here.

One, Brandon, IUK is a name that consistently shows up,

but not just in the news, not just with the rumors,

but literally as I scroll through the comments here,

I see Brandon, IUK after Brandon, IUK

and questions about Brandon, IUK, and rightfully so.

I mean, he continues to be linked to this team.

We know the history, we know that's all there.

We also know that Jalen Waddle just got traded for,

oh, it's Miami has basically said,

F this season, we're getting rid of everybody

except them on H and apparently at this point.

So the Broncos go and they trade for Jalen Waddle.

There are two ways to look at this here.

Brandon, IUK will be a lot cheaper when it comes to assets

because he's likely going to get released,

probably not going to get traded for.

Even if the commanders were to trade for him,

it ain't going to be the hall that what the dolphins got.

But then there's the other side of things,

like if you really wanted to just solidify a great receiver,

also somebody that's younger than Terry McClorn,

that could kind of take over that role as maybe your number one.

Jalen Waddle could have fit that mold.

It's just a lot of picks would have had have been given up, David.

A lot of these assets that maybe you don't want to get rid of

would have been a part of this to me because I've seen this pose, right?

Should the commanders have gone after Jalen Waddle?

That's the old commanders to me.

That's what Dan Snyder commanders looks like going after somebody

and giving up a ton of picks.

I would not have wanted to see them give up that much for Jalen Waddle,

but it does raise the question is to whether or not,

if it's not Brandon Ayyuk, is there another aggressive way

that this team can address that number two wide receiver spot?

Yeah, I wouldn't be disappointed to learn that Adam Peters

was in on the Jalen Waddle conversation.

I think given what the Broncos gave up to get Jalen Waddle,

like basically AP, which is never going to be able to match that

because one, he doesn't have a fourth round pick.

So the Broncos, if you don't know the trade details,

the dolphins or the Broncos are sending

their first round pick, 30 overall,

their third round pick and their fourth round pick

to the dolphins for Jalen Waddle and a fourth round pick

back from the Miami dolphins.

And you're basically, when you get to the value charts

and all that kind of stuff, you're basically giving Jalen Waddle

a roughly 25th overall pick valuation

to make this deal happen.

And so if you're the Washington commanders,

you're basically going to have to give up.

You're going to have to include number seven in that package

because if you start getting a future draft picks,

like a future number one is worth half the value

of a present number one, a future number two, same thing,

et cetera, et cetera.

So now you're having to give up higher capital

for depreciated value, all those types of things.

Let's get super nerdy about it.

So with the seventh overall pick,

like, so I actually have kind of what if this thing,

not that it could happen anyway,

but what if the Miami dolphins decide to be the Raiders

and say, oh, you know what, we changed our mind.

We don't want to do this anymore.

And then half an hour later,

Ian Rappaport, Brace of the Washington commanders

are trading number seven overall to the Miami dolphins

for a fourth round pick, Jalen Waddle, and Devon H&N.

I wouldn't hate that.

You know what I mean?

I wouldn't hate that.

I'll take that trade in a second.

I think Rashad Waddle, I would hate that.

They were so white.

It would be like, bro, what did I just sign up for?

Like, what's going on out here?

But, you know what I mean?

I wouldn't hate that necessarily

because now like Jalen's, you know,

not to get too deep in the weeds,

but like Jalen's got a 25th overall roughly valuation.

Devon H&N off of like historic trades and everything.

Like that comes in about roughly 25th overall.

So you're basically swapping two first round picks,

two late first round picks,

and a fourth round pick for a top 10 pick

that the math count works on there.

Jalen Waddle and Devon H&NN are both young enough

they can become future parts of your offense, et cetera, et cetera.

But obviously that's not going to happen.

So if it's just one player,

because like the question now is Devon H&N, right?

Do the watch commanders get,

because the Miami dolphins are full crap.

They're absolutely listening to deals for Devon H&N.

It doesn't mean they're going to trade them.

It just means they're absolutely listening to deals for them.

You know, again, number seven is going to have to be involved.

So the dolphins now have 11 and they have 30.

I actually played around just a little bit for fun.

You know, a swap of seven,

you get the watch we send seven to the Miami

for Devon H&N 30 overall and some other pieces.

And then at 30 overall, they drafts for getting his name.

The defense tackle out of Ohio State.

You get the defense tackle out of Ohio State

who is a complete three tech,

but is also completing the shade,

you can play nose.

And then you trade Doron pain for say like a fourth round pick.

You come back in number 71.

You get yourself a receiver or a corner, whatever you want.

And then you come back in the fifth round of fourth round.

You use that dolphins pick to get something else.

Fifth round, you go get Jagger Burton out of Kentucky

who's become one of my favorite players.

The center out of Kentucky,

one of my favorite players on the board this year so far.

So again, a whole lot of nerd spiraling going on.

This is what I do in the morning.

So just imagine being in my head, Anthony.

But I think the overall takeaway here

to get to the actual question that Nick asked,

yes, the commander should have been involved

in talks for Jaylen Waddle.

I think that I would not be surprised

if they were in those talks.

No, they should not have.

And could not have also, by the way,

paid what the Broncos did, right?

Right.

Yeah, I'm glad he didn't get off a seven for that,

for that just one individual player.

Good player though.

It's gonna be a culture shock or a temperature shock.

I should say, he's like hot coach like a contrast.

Man, he's shocked from my name.

An air shock too.

Other air shock.

Come on.

Good.

There's a smokey up there in Colorado.

Man, God, Lee.

Anywho, I just, I know this receiver position.

Yeah, they got to do something in the draft.

There's a lot of names in the draft,

especially late.

If you want to take a chance on somebody,

what's guy's name?

Jeff Caldwell out of Cincinnati.

Big six, five, four, three guy, height and speed.

Take a chance on him.

Skyler Bell out of Yukon.

I like him a little route runner.

He might mess around, be a great Rams receiver.

But nonetheless, I like him.

There's another cat that I had the fella

out of Oklahoma, Dion.

Dion Berks, he ran fast as well.

He's a little smaller guy.

So just depending on the position type,

I do think they got to draft somebody.

Could they trade for anybody right now before this thing?

I don't think so.

Right now it's kind of got a little, got a little tepid.

There's a few names.

I look just going into the 2027 free agency.

You know, they like to get guys on their last year,

their deal.

Somebody that came into mind,

a Jordan Addison is 25.

He's a type of player.

Zay flowers is getting there.

Quentin Johnson, that was a name that I considered last year.

I think it was.

Whenever they were trying to figure out

what to do a receiver, I'm like,

hey, maybe you send something out there,

get him into a new situation, big body, high point guy.

I think he has a lot of receiver work to do to build up,

but he wouldn't have to hold the bag of work over there.

So him and then even a Christian Watts,

not a Green Bay, you know, another speedier, tall or long

receiver could be somebody to try to attract

and maybe make couple of phone calls on.

Yeah, me and me, my friend.

You said like, we don't have to say anything

you have to walk into a dog and give it to him.

I mean, I kind of agree with the general consensus,

like no offense, like for me,

like Jaden Waddle was like not no disrespect,

but I don't know, it would have been the right fit.

We'll just put that as a political,

like, politically correct way of saying it.

I don't know that for what he was worth ended up getting,

I don't think that the commanders would have given him that.

I will just leave it at that, whether he is worth it or not.

I am sure that he will be more than happy

to prove that to us this upcoming season,

but I just do not think it would have been the right fit.

So I am cool with what they're doing right now.

You know, I say that, Hill,

you know what, there would be one person

that I'd go call Sean Payton,

and I would go see, I know they would let him go,

but man, what's that young returner?

What's the return up there in Denver?

He takes the kicks to the house, 14.

Come on, Mems?

Yeah, Mems, I go see what Mems, man.

I like him.

I like him.

I know they ain't going to,

I don't think they'll let him go, but.

And I think that's the context of this, right?

So for the Washington commanders,

like to your point, Melissa,

if you're training for Jaden Waddle,

you're having Jaden Waddle come in

to fit that Z receiver spot, right?

The opposite is Aaron Clawin on the outside,

and historically in a Ben Johnson offense,

that receiver is, he's a clear out.

He's a clear out guy.

He's going to get some targets,

but he's not really a focal point

of the targeting system there.

Like he's just, he's there to take the top off

the defense and certainly if you sleep on them,

you know, if you want to leave him,

it's kind of like the guy at the wide

that you just leave alone at the three point line,

every once in a while he's going to hit a dagger on you.

So, you know, what are you training for?

I think for the Denver Broncos,

like you pair him with Courtland Sutton,

you pair him with Troy Franklin out of the slot.

Like now, you've got a dynamic there

that they really find attractive.

They got a new off coordinator.

Again, this isn't a lot of Tom Broncos,

but Sean Payton is known around the league for his control.

Like he wants to have his hands on the steering wheel.

So for him to give up play calling, like that's big.

That is, I don't think that's getting talked about enough.

And that means that that young coach

who's getting those that opportunity

had some ideas that may, you know,

talk about changing plans, right Anthony?

Like that means that that coach came to Sean Payton

with some ideas and Sean Payton said,

let me, let me rethink the way that I operate a little bit.

And I think bring Jalen Waterland is part of that.

And again, this is Broncos team

that was on the verge of going to the Super Bowl.

And I think if it's not for weather and boat next year,

it hurt that go to the Super Bowl.

And I don't know if they beat the Seahawks,

but I think it's a much better competition

than what we saw in the actual Super Bowl.

So, you know, if you're,

if you're trading a first,

a third or fourth to get a player and a fourth back

that could get you a Super Bowl,

it's a thousand percent worth it.

If you're trading a first or fourth

and a third to get a player and a fourth

who could be your solid number two,

might be your number one of the future

and a team that just won five games.

Nah.

Oh, this is the one thing.

No, go ahead.

No, no, go ahead. What's up?

No, cause like it kind of coincides

like to like our last like a topic of conversation

to like, you know, for Chris Rodriguez,

like what was going on on the hand?

Like for me,

cause like I kind of thought of it

when we just brought up Sean Payton,

like for me, just this is like in football,

but also like in like life too, you know,

the most dangerous phrase in the English language

is this is the way we've all done it, right?

And there's so many coordinators

and so many coaches who are so married

to like what they think, like it should be.

Like I mean, again, he's gone out talking way more,

but Cliff, like I mean, Cliff is one of those guys

where like it's almost like sometimes you let the ego

and like your reputation and like, you know,

your street cred, like get in the way

of like what is good for the team.

I don't think anybody disagrees with that,

but like I think that that is like the thing

that that really hinders teams from being successful.

Like sometimes like the guy that you get

is not gonna be the guy that you thought he was gonna be,

but he might have other strengths

that might fit in somewhere else.

And I think about Odafe Oway in this situation too,

because his rookie year, the defensive coordinator

of the Ravens was Wing Corn Dale.

He was with him for a season.

And Daffy was good that year, you know what I mean?

Like he had a great outstanding rookie season.

The next couple years, we had Mike McDonald,

obviously now head coach of the Seattle Seahawks.

He was the defensive coordinator

with the Ravens for two seasons.

He was, he did well under that system as well,

but Zach Ork came in as you know,

first time defensive coordinator.

He did not, something was not connecting there, right?

He did not have any sacks,

did not have the greatest season, you know.

Up until he got traded the chargers

and was under Jesse Mentor's defense,

who is now the head coach of the Ravens.

It's all kind of like intertwined obviously,

but he was obviously successful underneath that defensive scheme.

So I think that, you know, you got to figure out

what these guys' strengths are,

aside from what you think it's going to be,

and be able to maybe either mesh those together

or adapt to that.

I think that that is what makes

the most successful coordinators and head coaches.

I remember they talk about Jayman Davis, man.

I loved him because he was fast and athletic.

When he was playing downhill and it was clear

what he had to go and do, solid.

But whenever they slowed down the process

and then Ron was like, no, he's going to play Mike

and try to put the green dot on that doesn't, didn't process.

It slows too many things down.

The beautiful thing about the league is that you're just trying

to accentuate the superpowers of these people, right?

Accentuate the superpowers.

The reason why Jameson Williams was at was ballin'

because they put him in motion

and they don't let him line up stationary

against a cornerback.

They put him in a position to, you know,

be able to get that speed going down the field.

They create these natural picks

and they create these gaps in the openings.

Mike McDaniel did a beautiful job with Tua Taga below

and those speedy receivers,

they change where you attack defenses

and they messed up how those zones get related to.

So they're on the top of the curve.

You talk about that 70-30.

Sean Payton was heavily on that 70 side.

He's, you run what I tell you to run

and don't try to change it.

So you mentioned this, for him changing

and letting somebody else call to play,

that's pretty big.

But then bringing in Waddle II,

they got to go back and think about in the playoffs

where basically you had Sutton

and they were able to line up.

They be in New England,

could line up with just Christian Gonzalez

and just shut one side down.

So you got to have a one-two punch.

And I'm sure that AP's paying attention to that

and we'll get somebody else,

Nick will get somebody to be Terry's right hook.

At some point, they'll figure it out.

At some point, it's gonna get down to a point

where you actually have that number two

or it drags out for two more years,

Terry McClore.

It's no longer on the roster.

And it's a whole new receiver core

and a whole new receiver room when it's all on it.

He was like, I look, I don't want it.

I'm just saying it just feels like this has been a discussion

for years when it comes to it.

But there's also maybe the possibility

that Debo Samuel comes back

and he feels that role where it was supposed to be next year.

Oh, I see a face from David.

Oh, is that a baby?

I don't think it's happening.

I mean, it's okay.

It's okay.

And I know, listen, I don't think it is either,

but it's one of these situations

where we know that that's a situation

they still need to address,

but it might just be the draft when it's all said and done

and then finding that number two receiver.

In the draft, and as we know,

you don't have to draft a receiver in the first round,

specifically number seven overall

to necessarily find somebody like Terry McClore

and who can also fill that void.

So we'll see.

The draft is going to obviously be the next big topic

as we move forward on this show,

locked on commanders as well,

which David will have every single day

like and subscribe to.

Obviously the whole channel on YouTube

and give us a follow on all the socials.

We look ahead to the draft

and we stay on Brandon IU Quatch.

It feels like every single day at this point

we'll continue to do that here on Commander Squad.