- 20 hours ago
Jay Gruden joins The Sports Junkies to break down the latest Washington Commanders news.
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00:00It's Jay Gruden, former commander's head coach.
00:03What's up, coach?
00:04What's up?
00:05How are you guys doing?
00:06It's an honor to be on such a legendary show, such as the Junkies.
00:10Look at that.
00:11What's going on down in Florida?
00:12Is that where you are right now, down in Florida?
00:14Yeah, Atlanta Beach, Florida.
00:16Just playing a lot of golf and hitting the beach bars a little bit, having a good time.
00:19Sounds like a rough life.
00:21Sounds like a rough life.
00:23Somebody's got to do it.
00:24Do you miss being part of a war room?
00:27You know, that was one of my favorite parts of coaching was the, you know, trying to go through all
00:33the players and draft and interviews and watching the film and the senior bowls and all that stuff.
00:38That was, I thought the most important part of my job was to get the right players in there, and
00:43the draft was a major part of that, along with free agency.
00:45But, yeah, I love the war room.
00:46I love the draft.
00:47During your tenure, not what was the best pick, like the guy who became the best player, but what was
00:53your best find, like kind of steal that you got?
00:56That you, you know, player maybe that you loved?
00:59Some scout told you about him.
01:00You took a chance on him and just really worked out.
01:03Oh, man.
01:04We had a couple that were pretty good.
01:05You know, Matt Ioannidis is a pretty good one from Temple.
01:07We got him in the fifth round.
01:08He had a good career.
01:09It was shortened because of his back.
01:10He had a good contract at Carolina when he left here.
01:13He was a fifth-round guy from Temple who not many people knew about.
01:17We liked him a lot.
01:18We liked Chase Rulier.
01:19We got the sixth round from Wyoming, who's starting center for us.
01:22His career was shortened a little bit by injury as well.
01:23But when you get guys in the fifth and sixth and seventh round, they can come in and have an
01:27impact on your football team.
01:28It's very important.
01:29So, you know, hopefully that Washington hit with that Gublin guy from Michigan State in the later round as a
01:35center because he'll compete with the center there.
01:37Those guys are important guys to get on your team as far as depth, special teams, and eventual starters.
01:42Coach, how often does the head coach kind of disagree with maybe the GM or, you know, head of football
01:51ops, whatever the title is, in terms of, like, that top pick?
01:54When it's a first-round pick, especially in the top ten, or most of the time, are you always on
02:00the same page?
02:01No, you disagree a lot.
02:02And I think you're never going to be – when you have two varying different opinions, you know, and nobody
02:08thinks the same for sure.
02:09And as a head coach, you have different opinions or thoughts on a position of need or players who can
02:15have an impact on your football team.
02:18It differs from your GM, you know, totally.
02:20And then sometimes the owner has an opinion too, right?
02:22Yeah, sometimes the owner comes in off his yacht and makes a pick.
02:25You just never know what's going to happen in the war room.
02:27But nobody – you know, the most important thing is to take all the information the scouts give you, the
02:32GMs give you, the assistant coaches give you.
02:34You put it all together, and you try to make a pick.
02:37And when a pick is made, whether you disagree or not, he's on your team, and you've got to try
02:41to develop him the best way you can.
02:42Coach, does your bias creep in as, like, an offensive-based guy?
02:47Like, are you always, like, kind of pushing for an offensive play?
02:50Even if your defense is lacking and you know you need to add to that side, do you always want
02:54to push for the offensive guy?
02:55How does that work in the draft room?
02:57I actually was the opposite.
02:59I always pushed for defense.
03:00I always wanted to have a great defense.
03:01You know, we won the Super Bowl at Tampa Bay with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and we had probably one
03:07of the best defenses in the history of the league.
03:09And it made it a lot easier for the offense.
03:11We didn't have to, you know, feel like we had to score every position.
03:14He's got the ball back for us, turnovers, put us in great position to score.
03:18And I felt like with my offensive background, I thought I could score, you know, a lot easier than getting
03:24stops.
03:24You know, it's very frustrating to be a coach on the sidelines and watch teams run the ball right down
03:28your throat and your offensive stand on the sideline looking at you.
03:31Hey, when are we going to get the ball back?
03:33And you're down 21 to 7 in the first quarter.
03:35You know, so you've got to get stops.
03:36And I think what Washington did this year with Sonny Stiles, I think, was a great step in that direction
03:40to get more stops on defense.
03:42All right, so we were talking about receivers' height.
03:47How important is that?
03:49You know, we were kind of going through our mental Rolodex thinking, you know, when you had the offense really
03:53humming with guys like Pierre Garcon,
03:55I can't really think of anybody that was overly tall.
03:57And Santana Moss and, you know, some of these guys.
04:00How big of a factor is height for a wide receiver?
04:05Well, it helps, especially in the red zone.
04:07You know, you want your physical big receivers to catch the slant and the underneath balls.
04:11You've got to have some height.
04:12You've got to have some size and physicality about you.
04:14But, you know, you can be like it to Sean Jackson.
04:16Just run a 4-2-40 run by everybody.
04:18That's not a bad style to have either.
04:19So, you know, the combination of size and strength and speed is important.
04:23A wide receiver.
04:24But, you know, sometimes it's hard to find a 6'3", 220-pound receiver that can jump out of the
04:28gym.
04:29You know, sometimes you have to deal with the 5'10 guy that can run fast.
04:31But you have to have traits that you really can develop and use properly at the receiver position.
04:37Whether it's a big guy working the inside or a little guy working the top of the coverage.
04:41So, it just varies.
04:43Receivers vary.
04:43There's a lot of them.
04:44A lot of great ones at different sizes and heights and weights and speed.
04:47So, when you look at Washington's receiver room now with McLaurin.
04:53I'm just going to go through the depth chart based on our lads.
04:56So, you've got McLaurin, Burks, McCaffrey.
04:58They went out and got De'Ami.
05:00Still have Jalen Lane, obviously.
05:02Draft Antonio Williams.
05:04And they signed Van Jefferson.
05:05Okay.
05:06So, out of those, how would you grade that room with those seven guys right now?
05:12Probably not very high.
05:14I think, obviously, Terry's a great player.
05:16And I think Antonio Williams has some ability in the slot.
05:19And I think that was a good pickup by them.
05:21Other than that, you know, De'Ami's a good veteran guy.
05:24Van Jefferson's a good veteran guy.
05:26But they're not really scaring anybody on defense at all.
05:30And Burks, you know, he's kind of revamped his career.
05:34He didn't really start out very good at Tennessee.
05:35But he had a pretty good year last year.
05:37He's a good red zone target, physical type guy.
05:39And Luke really hasn't done anything.
05:41And Jalen is kind of a question mark still.
05:43So, somebody's got to emerge, you know, to go along with Terry on the outside and two receiver sets.
05:49Who that's going to be, I don't know.
05:50But when you go three receiver sets, I do like the addition of Antonio Williams on the inside because he
05:54was really, really effective at Clemson.
05:58Do you see a reason why, I always focus on this guy, why Ben Sinnott hasn't popped more at this
06:04point through his NFL career?
06:06And it can't be great that the team went out and spent money on Chigga Conkwood to bring him in
06:10from Tennessee to be another pass-catching tight end option for Jaden Daniels.
06:15Yeah, I think there's got to be some disappointment with the Ben.
06:18Obviously, they've had plenty of looks at him in training camps and OTAs the last two years in practice.
06:25So, something's missing there.
06:26I don't know what it is.
06:27But something's glaringly missing because he's had every opportunity to crack the lineup.
06:32You know, Zach Ertz was a veteran guy.
06:34Obviously, he was there as a veteran to come in but hopefully develop Ben.
06:38And that hasn't happened.
06:39I don't know if it's his inability to block consistently at the point of attack or his inability to separate
06:44on the second level.
06:45So, I think he's a pretty good tight end.
06:47But I don't know if he's really good at anything.
06:48I don't know if he's a really exceptional blocker in line or an exceptional receiver.
06:52So, they went out and got a pretty good receiving tight end at Chig.
06:55And they got John Bates as the blocker.
06:57And I think Ben's just kind of like a move tight end that can maybe cut off the backside and
07:01do some different things.
07:01But I don't think he's the guy they really thought he was going to be.
07:04Talking to Coach Jay Gruden, when you look at the rest of the division, what jumps out at you?
07:10And how quick do you think the Giants turned this thing around with Harbaugh in charge?
07:14Yeah, I don't know about how – you know, I don't know.
07:16I think they've done some good things defensively.
07:18They definitely had to address defensive problems.
07:20And they got to get Malik Nabors back.
07:22That's going to be a big piece of their puzzle.
07:25So, they have a good running game.
07:26You know, Jackson Dart's got to stay on the field as well.
07:28He plays with a reckless abandon that really is dangerous for that franchise.
07:32He's got to hone it in a little bit.
07:34But he's still a young quarterback.
07:35I still think Dallas and Philadelphia are the teams to beat.
07:38I think the Giants are going to be still at the bottom of the division with what the Giants did
07:43in the draft.
07:44Getting Caleb Downs, I think – or the Cowboys, what they did in the draft.
07:48And getting Dak back and the receiving core that they have.
07:51They're going to be a tough team to beat if they can fix their defense.
07:53So, where would you slot just based on the roster right now?
07:57We have no idea how good or bad some of these guys are going to be.
08:00But where would you slot Washington's roster in the division?
08:05Probably third behind Philly and Dallas.
08:08Yeah, Philly and Dallas.
08:10Yeah.
08:10And they're up and coming.
08:11I think, you know, the running game, you know, they've got to get fixed.
08:14You know, Rashad White and, you know, they've got Jerome Ford, which is pretty good.
08:18They drafted this kid from Penn State.
08:19I don't know if he's going to be a huge addition or not.
08:21But I just worry about the explosiveness of the Washington offense,
08:24where the big plays are going to come from other than Terry.
08:27You know, they can put a guy over the top of Terry.
08:29You need to find somebody else who can make some plays with the ball in their hands.
08:33And that's my biggest concern with them.
08:35And defensively, I think they did a great job getting, obviously,
08:37Sonny Stiles in the middle of defense.
08:39He's a guy that can play all three downs, which is very rare at linebackers.
08:43A lot of times you have the big A and B gap linebacker who can't really run
08:46or the cover linebacker who's not a very good physical player.
08:48But he can do both, which is huge for them.
08:50You know, they've got the internal defense with Settle.
08:53Payne and Ken Lawler are pretty good.
08:54They've got some pass rushers they added.
08:56Secondary, I'm a little concerned about.
08:57Hopefully, Trey can make major steps in the corner.
09:01You know, Will Harris and Sanis Drill are good players.
09:03So, you know, defensively is where they've got to make the big leap.
09:07And offensively, they've got to find another guy to make big plays to help out Terry.
09:12How different do you think the offense looks with David Blau?
09:14I mean, nobody's seen him run an offense as an offense coordinator.
09:19But we expect, I guess, to see Jaden under center more, right?
09:23Yeah, I think so.
09:24I think so.
09:25You know, I believe that David will have him under center a little bit more.
09:28He gets the play action and the bootlegs.
09:29And hopefully, that'll help with the big play ability, too.
09:32But they have to be able to run the ball.
09:34If you're going to be under center, you've got to be able to run the ball,
09:36which that opens up the big play.
09:38The three-level shot throws, the bootlegs, get Jaden on the perimeter
09:41and make some plays with his legs.
09:43So, yeah, I think that'll be a welcome addition to the offense,
09:46get them under center because, you know, that'll open up some of the shot plays.
09:49Coach, how risky is it to have two first-year coordinators on your coaching staff?
09:56Well, I think Dan Quinn will have a lot of say on defense.
09:59You know, I don't know if Durante Jones will have a huge impact
10:04on what they're doing differently on defense
10:06because I think Dan Quinn will, fingerprint, will still be on that defense,
10:10which he's a very good defensive coordinator.
10:11Coach Quinn, that's how he got his job coaching defense.
10:14David, I don't know anything about him, really.
10:16You know, we'll see how he does.
10:18Hopefully, he has a lot of help internally with some assistant coaches there
10:21that can help him in different phases of the game,
10:23whether it's the running game, the red zone, short yardage, goal line, all that stuff.
10:28I don't think he can do it all himself, but I think as a staff,
10:31they can all come in and help a smooth transition for David.
10:34That's going to be key, how he does, how he utilizes Jayden Daniels
10:37and how they protect Jayden.
10:38They've got to make sure they have a good protection plan, number one,
10:40because a lot of times there were some free runners last year,
10:43the last couple of years that I wasn't a fan of.
10:45They've got to make sure they get the protection set down.
10:47Joined by Jay Gruden, former Commanders and Skins head coach.
10:50Would you be shocked if they added any of these wideouts
10:53that are still floating around in free agency to the mix?
10:56Tyreek Hill, Jawan Jennings, Diggs, or Keenan Allen?
11:02No, I wouldn't be shocked at all.
11:04You know, I think that Peters has a pretty good idea what Jawan Jennings is.
11:08He's a physical guy.
11:09You know, if you want to run the ball, this guy will block safeties,
11:12he'll block linebackers, he'll block defensive ends,
11:13and he's been a pretty good receiver as well.
11:16Tyreek Hill, obviously, coming off the injury, he's got some issues,
11:19but I would definitely check out all four of those guys that you named
11:23and try to get another addition to the receiver room.
11:25And, you know, just because I just, you know, Luke McCaffrey, Burks,
11:28and Lane, I think they've kind of, I don't know, De'Ami Brown.
11:33You've got to get another guy, I think, that really helped out Terry.
11:37Now, the counterargument, I've mentioned this before,
11:39is two years ago when the offense was humming,
11:43the receiving core was pretty similar.
11:45You had De'Ami, of course.
11:46You had Zaccheaus.
11:48You had Noah Brown.
11:49So it was kind of Terry and a bunch of roll guys.
11:51And you had McCaffrey.
11:54Yeah, I was actually, I wish they would have kept De'Ami.
11:57I thought he had a pretty good year.
11:58You know, he had a drop against Detroit in a playoff game
12:00or a fumble or something like that.
12:01But for the most part, he had a pretty good year.
12:03And I think he might be the guy that emerges as the guy next to Terry pretty much.
12:08I think Burks will probably get some looks.
12:10But we'll see how this Antonio Williams,
12:12I think Antonio's really relegated to slot.
12:14That's what he is.
12:15And then Jalen is kind of like, he's,
12:17I'm not sure if they know if he's an outside guy or an inside guy.
12:19He's a punt returner, but so is Antonio.
12:21So is Luke.
12:23So Jalen, Antonio, and Luke are all very similar.
12:25I think one of those three have to emerge as a true inside receiver of the three.
12:31And then Burks and De'Ami Brown have to emerge as the outside guy to go along with Terry.
12:35And Van Jefferson.
12:37Coach, if you were still there in Ashburn,
12:40was Sonny Stiles a no-brainer at seven?
12:42Or would you have been okay with a Caleb Downs?
12:46Or maybe even the receiver, Jordan Tyson, who went right after Sonny from ASU.
12:50Were you, was Sonny the guy for you?
12:53Yeah, I think it was between, for them, it had to be between Sonny and Caleb.
12:57Caleb is very versatile in what he can do in the back end, which they desperately need as well.
13:01But Sonny, like I said before, he's got, he's an ex-safety.
13:05He's got the rare ability to play the inside zone runs, the power runs.
13:08And he can also play the outside, toss runs, and cover tight ends, and cover running backs.
13:13And he can rush a passer.
13:15His versatility, he runs a 4-4-6, he's got a 43-inch vertical.
13:18I mean, this guy is a freak.
13:20And the problem is, if you don't take Sonny Stiles, if you take Caleb Downs and you need a linebacker,
13:25not many linebackers are made like Sonny Stiles.
13:28So he had to take Sonny Stiles.
13:30I think you can find a safety that can do some different things.
13:33They've got Nick Cross, free agent from Indiana, Indianapolis.
13:36And Reeves can do some things, Will Harris.
13:38So they have some guys that can play safety, but they don't have anybody that can do what
13:41Sonny Stiles can do at linebacker, especially since, obviously, what's his name?
13:46Is it going to retire, probably?
13:47Bobby, Bobby, Bobby Wagner.
13:49Yeah, Bobby Wagner, yeah.
13:49I mean, you're talking about, you know, Jordan Brooks had 189 tackles last year.
13:53And he's going to have that type of impact for Washington, Sonny Will.
13:56Wow.
13:57Hey, going around the league with a few things, are you convinced that Fernando Mendoza is going
14:04to be a hit?
14:05And then I'm wondering about your old pal, Sean McVay, and them drafting Ty Simpson at
14:1013.
14:11What'd you make of that?
14:13Yeah, I'm not, you know, I think Fernando's got a long way to go for be a dropback quarterback
14:17in the NFL.
14:17I think it'll take some time.
14:19Yeah, it'll take some time.
14:20And he's a young kid.
14:21He's a big kid, but he's got arm talent.
14:24But to play the style of NFL football, he's going to have to play.
14:26It's going to take some time to learn the protection plans and all that stuff.
14:30So, and then, you know, Sean taking the quarterback, you know, a lot of times coaches don't want
14:35to take backup quarterbacks.
14:36They don't want to take, you know, they have Matthew Stafford.
14:39I know they got to prepare for the future, but at 13, I think that was probably a little
14:43high, even though I think he's got a good future in front of them.
14:46But I know Sean probably would rather had a, another receiver or alignment or somebody
14:51to protect Stafford or maybe get after the quarterback there.
14:53But, you know, he's a good project.
14:56I've never seen a coach have a press conference the next day to defend his demeanor.
15:01Right.
15:01It was really interesting.
15:03Can the coach, can the coach ever win that battle over the GM?
15:08Not if the GM has say, I think the contracts are written that the GM has total say in the
15:12draft.
15:13And the coach probably has total say in a 53 man roster.
15:16So that's kind of the way it was when we had Scott McLuhan.
15:18And then obviously when Scott left, Bruce kind of had that say in the draft.
15:21And, you know, I obviously had a lot of input and Sean will have a lot of input, but when
15:26it's all said and done, if there's a difference of opinion, the GM typically gets to say.
15:30Right.
15:31So, I mean, I'm not saying this is what happened, but if Dan Quinn really wanted Caleb
15:35Downs, but Peters wanted Sonny Stiles, Peters is winning that.
15:39Peters wins.
15:40Yep.
15:40Nine times out of a hundred.
15:42Right.
15:42Right.
15:42Right.
15:43Hey, what if the owner comes in?
15:45Yeah.
15:46The owner wins.
15:47The owner wins.
15:48Always writes the checks.
15:50Always wins.
15:51Hey, coach, real quick, before we let you go, what, what is your thought on the league
15:55possibly going to 18?
15:56Well, it's eventually going to happen.
15:5718 games.
15:59I'm not a fan of it.
16:00Having two bi-weeks, all these games overseas, Thursday, Monday, Tuesday, Friday games.
16:04I think it's becoming a joke.
16:05It's hard on these players and coaches to prepare.
16:07It's hard to keep players healthy for 16 games.
16:09Now it's 17 games.
16:10You look at all the injuries around the league, you know, they're going to have to make the
16:14rosters bigger.
16:14Uh, I'm not a fan of it.
16:16I think 16 games is the way to go, but obviously they're going to go to 18 and, um, it's
16:21all
16:22about the money.
16:22It's all about the Benjamins.
16:24Yeah.
16:26All right, coach.
16:26Always love having you on this coach.
16:28Enjoy your day.
16:29Enjoy your day.
16:30Thanks for having me on anytime, man.
16:32Thanks.
16:32Yep.
16:32Coming up next post draft.
16:36What's your biggest area of concern with the Washington commanders?
16:40Is there a position like cornerback that you're sweating?
16:431-800-636-1067.
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