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***OFFICIAL*** Washington Commanders Thread (2 Viewers)

I think it's possible, maybe even likely, that they'd have gotten Sinnott at their original pick in the 3rd. Maybe not, but only 1 other TE was drafted on day 2, so worst case scenario they could've taken Ja'Tavion Sanders with pick 100 (he went at 101). I'd much much MUCH rather have Cooper DeJean + Ja'Tavion Sanders instead of Mike Sainristil and Ben Sinnott. It's not even close. I stand by calling this a terrible trade that sent an absolute baller CB to a divisional rival.
Can agree that DeJean is further along in his development than Sainristil. DeJean's football IQ is impressive, versatile. Accordingly, brings A+ leadership in every aspect, tackles, which even in the NFL is often $h!++y. Excellent ball skills, with the ability to track & elevate. But to be honest, from what I've read & with the bit of tape I've watched, I'm seeing a safety. A lengthy gait for a CB, making plays that are there to make. According to commanderswire.usatoday, Dan Quinn is going to run a lot of press coverage. So, a small part of this could be a matter of fit.

I'm placing a lot of weight into the fact that this was plan B, I've read that Ben Sinnott bumped his draft stock at the combine. He wasn't a top-30 visit but the team did have a top-30 with Ja' Tavion Sanders, Jared Wiley & Erick All. Primarily other receiving threats and so it would seem that they had Sinnott as the better option by a considerable margin & brought in the others to convince them otherwise. But perhaps with the clarity of who was the best remaining option was the concern over assuming no other team came to the same & obvious conclusion?

Peters & Co. didn't meet with any OL more so than Brandon Coleman. When Plan A failed it would seem likely he became a lock @67. So, as you say, it may well have been about whether Sinnott would still be there @78. Obviously, they decided to trade out of what was primarily a DB run to ensure they got Sinnott.

"He has fantastic interception production, but his movements are more linear than fluid, and he doesn’t have the easy change of direction needed in man coverage on the next level. His best football is played with his eyes forward, using his instincts to challenge quarterbacks and his big downhill burst to smack whatever needs smacking. ... Instinctive zone defender ready to feast on quarterbacks with poor eye discipline." - NFL Draft Tracker

"... lined up all over the field ... always seems to find a way to make a big play regardless of his position. .. well-built frame, but it lacks easy fluidity, which will challenge him when trying to stay with quicker receivers in short-area situations. ... his versatility is a defensive coordinators dream. That said, his current skill set might be best used on the back end of the defense, where he's able to flow downhill & play to his strengths..." - Athlon Sports

"Recruited as a safety... Converted from SS ['21] to primarily CB ['22]... Rocked-up with mass that slightly limits his ability to flip his hips & run with elite athletes or drop & transition from his back-pedal. Jumpy on misdirection & double moves & shows some straight-line tendencies." - Lindy's

"... Showcases great initial burst when triggering on plays and veering to match WRs. ... Boasts impressive long-track recovery and gap-closing speed, hawking in front of balls. ... His ability in zone defense and effectiveness in space suggest he'll make an immediate impact in the NFL. At 6’1”, 209 pounds, he's ideal for zone and off-man schemes, boasting strong space management and quick reactions. Though not the most fluid due to his size, DeJean's athletic and disciplined play in press-man scenarios stands out. ... May ultimately wind up being viewed as a safety rather than a corner..." https://www.nfldraftbuzz.com/Player/Cooper-DeJean-DB-Iowa


Cooper DeJean highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoZthAYyb8I

Mike Sainristil:
"... tough with the athleticism and upside to keep getting better as a nickel corner. Sainristil is a former receiver who plays with surprising field awareness and attention to detail as a zone defender. He has the twitch and footwork to stay connected with routes in man coverage but needs more experience ." - NFL Draft Tracker
 
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It's not going to happen as a result of a single draft, imo, outliers like Houston's turnaround aside.
Great news! We only have to wait until September. Given the ocean of newness, their opponents aren't going to know what to do! lol Jayden Daniels, rather lean frame, takes off & runs & doesn't always go down. Worse, he runs very upright & the likelihood of him being Brady-babied is, well, zero of course! Hopefully, lesson one is knowing when the journey is over & getting on the ground. Paramount that he understands they need him to get back up in one piece & return to the huddle.

From a historical standpoint, QBs have come in all shapes & sizes & the rate of failure, equal. But Daniels is of a certain classification, the sort who have never had any sustained success, not really, not comparatively. But, I love teams that add & this team definitely has, I'm all in. Daniels, McLauren, Robinson, Dotson & that DEF/ST. The Bears, same thing.
 
DC's RFK Stadium demolition approved, passes environmental review

RFK Stadium hasn’t been used for an event in five years, and it’s been falling apart longer than that. In December 2022, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser held a ceremonial removal of the final stadium seat. At the time, the mayor said the stadium would be torn down by the end of 2023. But — although asbestos abatement was completed, and seats and artifacts were removed — actual demolition stalled while the National Park Service (NPS) conducted an assessment of the demolition's potential effects on the environment.

That assessment is now complete, and in a statement, the NPS announced that it recommends approval of the demolition. “In addition to the permit, the NPS and the District will sign an agreement that confirms the District’s continued use and demolition of the property will follow the 1957 District of Columbia Stadium Act’s requirements,” the NPS' release said in part. While D.C. owns the stadium, the NPS owns the land on which it sits.
 
The federal government has given permission to knock down RFK Stadium.
I mean, that's where a new stadium should be. Freaking RalJon is a joke and NoVA is not viable.
With basically a brand new team and a ton of optimism for the first time in many years, there's going to be a big push to build the new stadium there. FedEx Field is awful and hard to get into and out of, kind of like that description of some baseball player: "He's a lousy fielder, but he can't hit." But DC won't tear it down unless the lease is extended another 99 years, which takes Congress to do. The House already approved the extension; the Senate hasn't.

Josh Harris and Muriel Bowser will be wildly popular if they pull off building a new stadium there. I mean, imagine that ---- a professional football team in DC again.
 
More about Johnny Newton, who I think we'll be glad we drafted.

JP Finlay
@JPFinlayNBCS
13h

Talking w @JWerner247 about Commanders 2nd rd pick Johnny Newton: "He reminds me of a guy like Ed Oliver...I've covered the Big Ten for about 10 years, I dont remember a more dominant, productive defensive linemen....You're getting a heck of a football player."

JP Finlay
@JPFinlayNBCS
13h

More from @JWerner247 - Johnny Newton played last 6 games with Jones fracture in his foot - had 5 sacks and almost 20 pressures in those games. "It did not slow him down and I saw him at Pro Day and he did not seem impacted at all...He barely came off the field in that time."
 
The federal government has given permission to knock down RFK Stadium.
I mean, that's where a new stadium should be. Freaking RalJon is a joke and NoVA is not viable.
With basically a brand new team and a ton of optimism for the first time in many years, there's going to be a big push to build the new stadium there. FedEx Field is awful and hard to get into and out of, kind of like that description of some baseball player: "He's a lousy fielder, but he can't hit." But DC won't tear it down unless the lease is extended another 99 years, which takes Congress to do. The House already approved the extension; the Senate hasn't.

Josh Harris and Muriel Bowser will be wildly popular if they pull off building a new stadium there. I mean, imagine that ---- a professional football team in DC again.
Agreed. My guess is that a few Senators' campaigns will see a pretty big jump in donations in their next elections.

I went to a game at FedEx back in the '90s vs the Cardinals (Boomer was QBing the Cards!) - when it was new - and had to park like a mile away and the stadium was already a dump. It was a hellish ride in and a hellish ride out. I left there saying "never again".

The RFK site makes too much sense. Traffic's going to be a mess no matter where in the area a stadium is built, but it's less awful there plus you have it right on a Metro stop.
 
This season's opponents:

Home: Cowboys, Eagles, Giants, Falcons, Panthers, Browns, Steelers, Titans, Bears

Away: Cowboys, Eagles, Giants, Ravens, Saints, Buccaneers, Bengals, Cardinals

That's not a tough schedule but they're going to need improved coaching, an improved lineup, and improved play to do more than "marginally better than last year".
 
This season's opponents:

Home: Cowboys, Eagles, Giants, Falcons, Panthers, Browns, Steelers, Titans, Bears

Away: Cowboys, Eagles, Giants, Ravens, Saints, Buccaneers, Bengals, Cardinals

That's not a tough schedule but they're going to need improved coaching, an improved lineup, and improved play to do more than "marginally better than last year".
Seems like that's the friendliest schedule we've had in years....I mean anything can happen, plenty of worst to first stories but overall looks much kinder than recent seasons.
 
This season's opponents:

Home: Cowboys, Eagles, Giants, Falcons, Panthers, Browns, Steelers, Titans, Bears

Away: Cowboys, Eagles, Giants, Ravens, Saints, Buccaneers, Bengals, Cardinals

That's not a tough schedule but they're going to need improved coaching, an improved lineup, and improved play to do more than "marginally better than last year".
Seems like that's the friendliest schedule we've had in years....I mean anything can happen, plenty of worst to first stories but overall looks much kinder than recent seasons.
I don't know - I think that schedule may be tougher than some may imagine.

Every team in the AFCN is at least as talented as Washington. The NFCE is what it is. Bears, Cards, Falcons, & Bucs aren't demonstratively worse on paper. Wins are gonna be tough.

That said, I do believe Washington's coaching (&, by extension, their play) will be improved. If Daniels plays well, I think they could win 7-8-9 games, which would (IMO) be a marked improvement. Just steadying the ship will be an improvement and - as others have said here - it'll take a couple of years to get the roster right.

Relax and enjoy some stability. God knows, you guys haven't had that in forever.
 
8-9 (doubling last Season's pathetic 4-win tally), should be a reasonable goal for 2024. I think the schedule allows for that.

I think it's entirely possible to go 3-3 in the Division, in some way, shape or form.

Finding more than 5 wins in the remaining 11 games is very challenging in relation to my view on where the Team is now, and what it might be capable of achieving in this transitional Season.
 
The Commanders have made a few changes to their roster ahead of this weekend’s rookie minicamp.

The team announced that they have cut linebacker Brandon Bouyer-Randle, cornerback D’Angelo Mandell, and defensive end Joshua Pryor from their 90-man roster. Pryor is the only member of the trio who has appeared in a regular season game for the team. He had one tackle in seven appearances last season.
https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/rumor-mill/news/commanders-cut-three-players

This really is like building an expansion team. The roster is still going to change so many times before the regular season.
 
OK, I never paid any attention to him until right before the draft, during the draft, and afterwards. But I like what I hear from Jayden Daniels. When he was asked after being drafted by Washington what he thought the first things to do were, he said "get to know my teammates and their families."

Today there's this, him being asked about starting right away.

"Daniels addressed that question during an appearance on the All Facts No Brakes podcast with Keyshawn Johnson. Johnson asked Daniels if he expects to be the team’s starter in Week One and the rookie answered that he’s “confident in my abilities” while saying the decision was not for him to make. Johnson pressed Daniels for more of an answer about whether he thinks the team plans to bring him along slowly.

“From what I heard, they said whenever I’m ready, I’m ready,” Daniels said. “So whenever I feel like I’m ready, I’m ready. . . . They didn’t tell me, ‘Oh, you’ve got to start Week One.’ They just said, ‘Whenever you’re ready, you’re ready. Whenever you feel ready, we feel you’re ready, we’re gonna throw you out there.’” "
 

Mike Florio LOVES causing trouble for the Commanders. Seriously, he's like a crazy ex-girlfriend. That said, while this sounds like a very friendly, no-harm wager, I'd prefer it if Daniels came out and say they will just make it a "bragging rights bet" (whether true or not) just to get Florio off the topic. Otherwise, he'll be writing about it every week over the entire season.
 
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One more Rivera relic is gone.

Per Nicki Jhabvala of the Washington Post, Washington will not renew the contract of senior director of player personnel, Eric Stokes. Stokes joined the team in 2020 as director of pro personnel, following head coach Ron Rivera from the Panthers. Stokes was Carolina’s director of college scouting from 2016-2019.
 
Things from rookie minicamp.

Adam Schefter
@AdamSchefter
Today’s highlight of the day: Commanders undrafted free agent WR Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint, who attended St. Thomas Aquinas High School before playing at Georgia.

----------------------------
Difference in release between Jayden Daniels and Drake Maye. I know that proves nothing about how their careers will go, but it shows part of where they are starting from right now as rookies.

-----------------------------
The Washington Commanders will have to wait to see how Jer’Zhan Newton fits into their defense.
The NFL draft’s 36th pick, who goes by “Johnny,” will soon have surgery on his left foot to correct the same issue he just recovered from in his right foot, Coach Dan Quinn said Saturday before the second day of rookie minicamp.
 
Colt Brennan died 3 years ago today.

Terry Brennan told ESPN that his son died early Tuesday morning at a hospital in Newport Beach, California. The day before, paramedics were called to a hotel room where Colt Brennan had been with other people. Terry Brennan said his son had ingested something laced with fentanyl and never regained consciousness.

Only hours earlier, Colt Brennan had tried to enter a detox program at an area hospital, but he was turned away because there were no beds available.
 
Things from rookie minicamp.

Adam Schefter
@AdamSchefter
Today’s highlight of the day: Commanders undrafted free agent WR Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint, who attended St. Thomas Aquinas High School before playing at Georgia.

----------------------------
Difference in release between Jayden Daniels and Drake Maye. I know that proves nothing about how their careers will go, but it shows part of where they are starting from right now as rookies.

-----------------------------
The Washington Commanders will have to wait to see how Jer’Zhan Newton fits into their defense.
The NFL draft’s 36th pick, who goes by “Johnny,” will soon have surgery on his left foot to correct the same issue he just recovered from in his right foot, Coach Dan Quinn said Saturday before the second day of rookie minicamp.
I don't know if that video is an even comparison but Maye is throwing rainbows and Daniels is throwing lasers. Might've been a different type of drill though?

I'm still concerned with Daniels ability to not shatter into a million pieces but that was some nice throwing.


Honestly, pre-draft, I liked Maye's ability to face pressure (which we know will be coming with this barely improved line) over Daniels typical run-away-instead-of-going-through-progressions. But Maye looks like a complete donkey in that video so maybe I was overly rating that one aspect.
 
Things from rookie minicamp.

Adam Schefter
@AdamSchefter
Today’s highlight of the day: Commanders undrafted free agent WR Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint, who attended St. Thomas Aquinas High School before playing at Georgia.

----------------------------
Difference in release between Jayden Daniels and Drake Maye. I know that proves nothing about how their careers will go, but it shows part of where they are starting from right now as rookies.

-----------------------------
The Washington Commanders will have to wait to see how Jer’Zhan Newton fits into their defense.
The NFL draft’s 36th pick, who goes by “Johnny,” will soon have surgery on his left foot to correct the same issue he just recovered from in his right foot, Coach Dan Quinn said Saturday before the second day of rookie minicamp.
I don't know if that video is an even comparison but Maye is throwing rainbows and Daniels is throwing lasers. Might've been a different type of drill though?

I'm still concerned with Daniels ability to not shatter into a million pieces but that was some nice throwing.


Honestly, pre-draft, I liked Maye's ability to face pressure (which we know will be coming with this barely improved line) over Daniels typical run-away-instead-of-going-through-progressions. But Maye looks like a complete donkey in that video so maybe I was overly rating that one aspect.
It's hard to know what was expected of them in those drills so you're right, it's hard to compare. I do like how quickly Daniels dropped back and threw lasers. No downside there.

We're not going to know how they each work out for a couple years at least. But I'm happy with what I hear about Daniels from the coaches and players, and I like the way he and Tress Way worked out him taking over #5.
 
Honestly, pre-draft, I liked Maye's ability to face pressure (which we know will be coming with this barely improved line) over Daniels typical run-away-instead-of-going-through-progressions. But Maye looks like a complete donkey in that video so maybe I was overly rating that one aspect.
Apparently Maye had a lot to work on according to his head coach.

 
I know its early but so far Daniels seems a lot more mature than RG3 ever was as a rookie. He seems very grounded and dedicated to learning the playbook. Seems like he's getting along very well with his coaches and teammates. I also agree his release looks really good in that video. I think we finally have our long term answer at QB. :pickle:
RG3 brought a bunch of issues with him, but Dan Snyder was his biggest problem. He coddled Griffin and undermined any attempt by others to bring him in line (including - and especially - the HC).

Fed Ex Field didn't do him any favors, either.

That guy should've been a superstar in that town and he/Snyder/others blew it.
 
I know its early but so far Daniels seems a lot more mature than RG3 ever was as a rookie. He seems very grounded and dedicated to learning the playbook. Seems like he's getting along very well with his coaches and teammates. I also agree his release looks really good in that video. I think we finally have our long term answer at QB. :pickle:
RG3 brought a bunch of issues with him, but Dan Snyder was his biggest problem. He coddled Griffin and undermined any attempt by others to bring him in line (including - and especially - the HC).

Fed Ex Field didn't do him any favors, either.

That guy should've been a superstar in that town and he/Snyder/others blew it.

The bolded concerns me with all our players. It was re-grassed in 2021 but recent history shows it is still among the worst 4 fields in the NFL for injuries. Is ownership gonna keep letting players blow out knees or do something here?
 

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