- 4 months ago
The Washington Commanders' defense will never be the same after taking Sonny Styles 7th overall in the 2026 NFL Draft! Ben Standig from The Last Man Standig Podcast and Substack joins The Kevin Sheehan Show to give his reaction and analysis on the Commanders drafting Sonny Styles, how he fits on the new defensive scheme under Daronte Jones.
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00:00Ben Standig's with us today.
00:02He'll be with us on Monday as well.
00:06Pulling some double and triple duty this week for us.
00:09He's our Washington insider.
00:12He writes a column covering this team for himself on Substack.
00:17I would urge all of you to subscribe to it.
00:20It's totally worth it.
00:21You can follow Ben on X at Ben Standig
00:23and listen to his podcast as well called Last Man Standig.
00:28So before we get to your reaction
00:31and the reaction of Adam Peters last night,
00:34which I played a lot of on the show today,
00:36let's just kind of go through last night.
00:39What do you think that they, now that it's over,
00:42do you have a sense of what they were really hoping for
00:47before it began at 8 o'clock?
00:50Like what the best case scenario for them was?
00:55I mean, I think honestly it may have been
00:58what played out.
01:00You know, obviously, you know, as we know,
01:02you do the mock drafts a hundred times
01:04and if you're projecting what might happen in front of them,
01:06you have to sort of, you know, work around that.
01:09Who's on the board, who's not.
01:10But it always felt to me from the jump that
01:13Sonny Stiles just epitomized what it was
01:15that they were trying to do.
01:16I mean, I asked Adam Peters, I don't know if you played this,
01:18but like last night I said, you know,
01:21if your stated goal was to get younger and faster
01:25this offseason, I don't know that you could have.
01:27Okay, yeah, yeah.
01:28I don't know that you could.
01:29I mean, again, not to ding Bobby Wagner
01:32because obviously, you know, he did a really good job here
01:34and great career and all that,
01:36but like where he was at this point
01:37to go from that, a guy who was, you know,
01:40has all the instincts, but it's, you know,
01:44father times taking a toll a little bit to this,
01:48a guy who, you know, he's a, you know, what,
01:506'5", 244, and runs a faster 40 time
01:53than a lot of starting receivers in the league.
01:56It is the definition of going from getting younger or faster.
02:00So, you know, I don't,
02:02the only offensive player this whole time
02:04that this, to me, at seven,
02:05I thought would work would be Jeremiah Love,
02:08and that's just purely, you know,
02:09obviously he could use an explosive playmaker
02:11and all that, but, you know,
02:13it seemed like he was going to be gone
02:15one way or the other before they got to them.
02:17Stiles, to me, was a bit of the wild card,
02:19and obviously it worked out.
02:21So, I honestly think it was probably
02:23the way it worked out for them.
02:24I'm just curious if Stiles had gone
02:26to just, say, Tennessee at four
02:28or even the Giants at five,
02:29and it sounds like, according to some of the reporting,
02:32I guess the Giants had backed off Stiles
02:34for some reason at five,
02:36and Reese ended up being there for them anyway.
02:39But if Stiles had been gone,
02:42who do you think they would have taken?
02:44Let's just say, let's swap out Stiles and Tate,
02:48or Stiles for Tate at four.
02:50Who do you think they would have taken?
02:54Yeah, it's a great question.
02:56You know, I understand the Carnell-Tate match
03:00because, you know, the top knee here is a wide receiver,
03:04and he looks like a, you know,
03:05pretty much a plug-and-play guy.
03:06He just doesn't have some of that athletic explosion
03:10that you may be looking for at that position.
03:12Obviously, for the Tennessee,
03:13they decided they needed to do something.
03:15They don't have a Terry McLaurin, right?
03:17So they had to at least get on the board
03:18with a guy, you know, essentially,
03:20whereas Washington at least already has that.
03:23But, you know, that would make sense.
03:26I mean, you know,
03:27the man toward the lane was a guy that I've had them,
03:30assuming that Stiles was off the board,
03:32I had him there.
03:34The Caleb Downs part of it is just the fascinating one.
03:36I mean, Caleb Downs and Sonny Stiles,
03:38they're like the, you know,
03:39the opposite guys in the sense that one guy
03:42is just, you know, incredibly athletic,
03:44and the other guy has, you know,
03:46he's a prodigy when it comes to seeing the game.
03:49You know, so to me,
03:50I would have liked to have thought
03:51it would be Caleb Downs,
03:52but he just didn't fit the athletic profile
03:55that we've seen from Adam Peters so far
03:57in the two years he's been running the draft.
03:59So it's hard for me to sit here and go
04:01that it would be Downs
04:02because that would be opposite of what he's been doing.
04:05But, boy, to me,
04:07that would have just been a hard one to pass on.
04:09At that stage, based on the way you laid it out.
04:12Did Kansas City jump in front of Washington
04:15trading with Cleveland
04:16because they feared that Washington
04:18was going to take Mansoor Delane,
04:20or was that just a head fake by Peters
04:22to make sure that Dallas didn't trade up
04:24and take Stiles?
04:29Yeah, I mean, I think that, you know,
04:32I saw the Chief GM, Brett Beach,
04:34did his draft press conference last night.
04:39said that, you know,
04:40when they were doing all their homework
04:41and analytics and things like that,
04:43they thought that the Saints at eight
04:44might take cornerback
04:47because, you know,
04:48they had lost a couple corners
04:49in free agency the last couple of years.
04:52I didn't get that impression.
04:53I kind of got the impression
04:54that they were going to go with.
04:57Lattimore, yeah.
04:58Yeah.
04:59You know, that they had,
05:02that where they went,
05:04you know, receiver,
05:05it was, to me,
05:06it was either receiver
05:07or Reuben Bain for them.
05:08I didn't really think corner.
05:10So, but Washington, obviously,
05:12you know,
05:14it's unfair to probably say
05:15that Washington was linked to Delane
05:17because, you know,
05:17just because people are doing
05:18mock drafts like myself
05:19and putting them there.
05:20But at the same point,
05:21it did make a lot of sense
05:23when you look at, again,
05:24the athletic profile,
05:26what Peters has done,
05:28the need,
05:28the premium position,
05:29all those things.
05:31So, I don't,
05:32look, Cleveland was a willing partner
05:33and they wanted to trade down
05:35because for their needs
05:36of getting an offensive lineman
05:37later would work.
05:38But at the same time,
05:39it doesn't seem like
05:41it's completely coincidental
05:42that that's the spot
05:43that jumped into
05:44right before Washington,
05:46whether Washington
05:47would have gone with Delane or not.
05:50talking to Ben Standig
05:52real quickly
05:52because Max brought it up
05:54and a couple of callers
05:55have brought it up.
05:56Just this idea
05:58that maybe bringing Wagner back
05:59would be great
06:00to have him as a mentor.
06:02I don't see that.
06:03Do you?
06:04Nah, it's insane.
06:06Yeah, that doesn't make sense to me.
06:08Forget Washington,
06:09forget Washington's perspective.
06:11If Bobby Wagner
06:12is going to keep playing,
06:14it's, he wants to break
06:15the tackle record.
06:17And this is not like
06:18the NBA
06:18where you can come in
06:19off the bench.
06:21Bobby Wagner
06:22played every snap, right?
06:23That guy is going to play
06:25pretty much every snap.
06:26So no, there's no mentoring here.
06:28He wants to play.
06:30And even from, you know,
06:31also like if you're going to have
06:31to be a backup linebacker,
06:33you've got to play
06:33like special teams.
06:34That's not where Wagner
06:35is at this point in his career.
06:36So, no.
06:37Yeah, he's looking to,
06:39if he's going to play
06:39one more year,
06:40he's looking for a place
06:41where he can play
06:43and be on the field
06:43every snap.
06:44And by the way,
06:45hopefully play for a team
06:47that is a contender.
06:48And why hasn't he signed
06:50with a team like that?
06:50Because you've got to wait
06:51until after the draft
06:52when you're 35 years old
06:53and you're looking for that,
06:54you know,
06:55inside straight spot.
06:58And hopefully for him,
06:59it comes.
07:00Yeah, I'm with you.
07:02That seemed,
07:04I didn't know if it was coming
07:05from some sort of reporting.
07:07Max just said,
07:07you know,
07:08it'd be great to bring him back.
07:09You know,
07:09before the Stiles pick,
07:11I think it would have been great
07:12to bring him back.
07:13He was good for them last year,
07:15except he doesn't fit
07:17what you asked Peters about,
07:19which is just how younger
07:20and just how much faster
07:22they've gotten.
07:23This has been,
07:25you know,
07:25I talked about this
07:25at the beginning of the show,
07:27Ben,
07:27and we've talked about this before,
07:28but, you know,
07:29sometimes you wonder
07:30at the end of a season,
07:32do they see it
07:33the same way you do?
07:34Or are you seeing it
07:35the right way?
07:35Right.
07:36Everybody saw it the same way.
07:38The defense was atrocious
07:42and had to be the priority
07:44and they had to add,
07:45you know,
07:46no less than five starters
07:47and seven or eight contributors.
07:50And it's exactly what they've done.
07:54Yeah,
07:54no,
07:54definitely that,
07:55but also,
07:55you know,
07:56at a very base level.
07:57I mean,
07:57again,
07:57sometimes we all get caught up
07:59in like the schemes
08:00and the certain positions.
08:01You know,
08:02Jimmy Johnson said it years ago
08:04when he was building up
08:06the Cowboys during,
08:07you know,
08:07their Super Bowl era.
08:09And we focus all out on,
08:10of course,
08:10the Aikman,
08:11the Emmitt Smith
08:11and the Michael Irvin of it all.
08:13But it was a Jimmy Johnson line.
08:15Yeah,
08:16yeah,
08:16it was a Jimmy Johnson line
08:17that really set the tone
08:18and it is speed kills.
08:19And that was his roster
08:20building philosophy.
08:21And sometimes it is just,
08:23you know,
08:24you know,
08:24athleticism is not everything.
08:26You actually have to
08:26know how to play the game.
08:28But at a base level,
08:29if you have guys who can,
08:30you know,
08:31move quickly,
08:32then at least,
08:33even if they're making
08:33some mistakes,
08:34they get there quicker.
08:35They're making more
08:37opportunities to make
08:38bigger plays.
08:39So,
08:39yeah,
08:40I mean,
08:40they have done that
08:41obviously all over the place.
08:42Owe,
08:43a big guy who runs,
08:45who ran in the 4-3s
08:46at his combine.
08:47Now you get Stiles,
08:49Leo Chennault,
08:50you know,
08:51I mean,
08:51Leo Chennault,
08:51we all talked about,
08:52like,
08:53in the Raz score,
08:54he was like the number
08:55three or four linebacker
08:57since like 1987
08:59in their database.
09:00I think he's now
09:01the second on that list
09:02in Washington
09:03because I think
09:03Stiles is ahead of him.
09:05So their linebacker room
09:07has exceedingly
09:09gotten much
09:10more athletic
09:11and this is what
09:12they needed to do.
09:13So to your point of view,
09:14do they see it the same?
09:15We do.
09:15I think in this case,
09:16the answer is yes,
09:17that they recognize
09:18we can't keep going
09:19with older guys.
09:21It's not just the age,
09:22it's again,
09:22the movement,
09:23the ability
09:24and they had to get faster.
09:26You know,
09:27I've talked about this today
09:29and I know I've talked
09:30about it with you.
09:31Like,
09:31I love Stiles.
09:32I really do.
09:33I think the Indy Combine
09:36insanity athleticism
09:37doesn't necessarily show up
09:39at that level
09:40on the field,
09:40but you know what,
09:41with Chenault,
09:42it does.
09:43Like,
09:44when you just brought up
09:45Chenault again
09:46and his RAS score,
09:48Chenault's a bit of a blur
09:49at times
09:50with his speed.
09:51I think it shows up
09:52even more than Stiles'
09:53does on the field.
09:55Part of it could just be
09:56the way Stiles moves.
09:57You know,
09:58he's not a short strider
09:59necessarily
10:01and he's got
10:02great athleticism
10:04and speed
10:04and he can cover
10:05sideline to sideline,
10:07but those expecting
10:09like Sean Taylor blur
10:10on the field,
10:12that's not necessarily
10:13what Stiles was.
10:16His intellect
10:17is a big part
10:18of what made him
10:19such a great player
10:21and I'm excited
10:21to see him.
10:22All right,
10:23what was I going to
10:24also say about that?
10:25Oh, by the way,
10:26just,
10:26yeah,
10:27just to your point
10:28about Stiles
10:28and the speed,
10:29I don't know
10:29if this is necessarily
10:31a huge factor,
10:32but, you know,
10:32he is a converted safety.
10:33This is not his
10:34natural position.
10:35He's still,
10:36to some degree,
10:37learning,
10:38has to see the field
10:40from,
10:40yeah,
10:41and I think that
10:42affects the speed
10:43and, you know,
10:44like to your point
10:44about the athleticism,
10:45like when I was talking
10:46to people,
10:46I think I mentioned
10:47this the other day,
10:48talking to people
10:48around the league
10:49about Stiles
10:50going into this,
10:52towards the end
10:52I was getting
10:53a little bit of pushback,
10:54not that it was like,
10:55oh, don't think
10:55this guy's a disaster,
10:56but more just like
10:57that the combine numbers
10:59sort of maybe
11:01overhyped the play
11:02a little bit
11:03and that there's
11:04a little more consistency
11:05he needs to develop
11:06and a little more impact
11:06he needs to make
11:07at the point of attack,
11:08things like that,
11:09but again,
11:10he's only scratching
11:11the surface of it,
11:12not trying to sound
11:13like the team,
11:14but that's just the reality.
11:15He's only,
11:16you know,
11:16where I like Chenault,
11:17yeah.
11:18Yeah, no,
11:19I mean,
11:20I think you did tell me that
11:23and that's kind of
11:24what I've been saying
11:24about him is it's like,
11:26you know,
11:27when he tested
11:28the way he tested
11:29at Indy,
11:30I think that anybody
11:31that watched him play
11:32a lot of games this year,
11:34that that level
11:35of insane athleticism
11:37was a bit of a surprise.
11:39That's why,
11:40you know,
11:41that stuff is worth,
11:43it's a piece of information,
11:44it's not everything
11:45the film tells the tale,
11:47but his smarts,
11:49his,
11:49you know,
11:50being able to cover,
11:51you know,
11:52in zone,
11:53you know,
11:55completely take something
11:56away in the middle
11:57of the field
11:57and then be out
11:58on the flat,
11:59you know,
11:59making a tackle
12:00for,
12:01you know,
12:01a one yard gain,
12:03that's where
12:04you're going to see it
12:04in sideline to sideline.
12:06He is long
12:07and definitely
12:08athletic,
12:09but it's not the,
12:10like,
12:11Chanal,
12:11when you watch
12:12just him at Kansas City,
12:14there's a bit
12:15of that incredible,
12:17you know,
12:17burst of speed
12:21that is more,
12:23I think,
12:24apparent.
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