00:00We just gave either our first or second commander's schedule predictions
00:06prior to the actual schedule coming out in May.
00:09We will revamp it and do another edition of it post-schedule release.
00:14I don't know how I could be any more optimistic than that.
00:16I mean, that's as optimistic as I could be.
00:1811 and 6 is as optimistic as I can be.
00:23I don't see how I could veer.
00:25I could see myself maybe getting swayed the other way.
00:28I don't see how I could be more optimistic.
00:30Yeah, I would agree.
00:31I mean, I got him 8 and 9, but I could see him with two more wins.
00:36I have him of 11 wins, and I have him losing twice to Philly,
00:40splitting with Dallas, but then sweeping the Giants.
00:44Maybe that's optimistic with Harbaugh and company.
00:47I know Vinny says he's taking the Giants both times against us.
00:51Well, of course.
00:52He always does.
00:53He always does.
00:55By the way, that's going to be a big week for Washington sports.
01:00May 10th, that's the NBA lottery.
01:03May 10th, right.
01:05And then the NFL schedule looks like it will be released either May 13th or 14th.
01:10Big stretch there for us.
01:11Here's a question for you.
01:13Okay.
01:14Do you like this roster right now, relatively, kind of picturing in your mind how they're
01:20going to put it together?
01:21Yeah.
01:22Or do you like the 2024 roster?
01:25The one that went 12-5, 14-5 overall because they won the two playoff game.
01:30Which I actually think this roster is going to be better.
01:34The roster had Eckler and Ertz, healthy.
01:38Yeah.
01:38Yeah.
01:39McLaurin healthy.
01:41Mm-hmm.
01:41Not dealing with contracts.
01:43I think the receiving core is about the same.
01:45I think the running back room is about the same.
01:47I think the offensive line.
01:49Like, offense is relatively the same.
01:52You know, you've changed some parts.
01:53You've moved around some chairs.
01:56I mean, Tunsell wasn't there.
01:57You might make an argument that this offensive line is better because you've got Tunsell.
02:01But I'll say all the whole, I would agree.
02:03I think the receivers might be a little bit better this go around.
02:07But we'll see.
02:07I think the receiving core still needs another piece.
02:11I don't know who that is.
02:12In a perfect world.
02:12In a perfect world.
02:13But just compare it to 2024.
02:15But defensively, the 2024 roster.
02:19I don't know.
02:20I mean, Bobby Wagner.
02:21I know everybody likes to trash Bobby Wagner now.
02:24But Bobby Wagner was a big part of the defense.
02:26He'd give you 180 tackles without.
02:29And them having success leading that team last year.
02:32I think we have a better pass rush.
02:33I think we have the fastest linebackers.
02:35I think I might like this iteration better.
02:37Just because the defense has been completely reworked.
02:40And they're younger.
02:40They're more athletic.
02:41They're faster.
02:42I think this is a better roster than 2024.
02:46I think it might be.
02:49Yeah.
02:50Not by a lot.
02:50But I think I prefer it slightly.
02:52Jay has to stay healthy.
02:53He can't go down.
02:54He can't, you know, can't miss 10 games.
02:57Right.
02:58It all hinges on that.
02:59If he stays healthy, I think he's got better pieces to work with.
03:03Certainly a better defense.
03:04So I don't think that 11 wins is outrageous.
03:09Especially, especially when we got the Titans, the Cardinals, the Falcons.
03:14The Falcons.
03:15So the defense, two seasons ago, you had Dante Fowler.
03:21Who was a good piece.
03:22Bobby Wagner.
03:23Dante Fowler gave you double-digit sacks.
03:25He did, but they were kind of, they were almost, I mean, so did our guy last year.
03:30Von Miller?
03:31So did Von Miller.
03:32I think he gave it, was it nine and a half?
03:33Something like that.
03:34Very similar.
03:34Very similar production.
03:36Kind of inconsequential.
03:38Yeah, but I mean, double-digit sacks is nothing to, like, turn your nose off at.
03:42It looks good on paper.
03:43I would say it's comparable.
03:44Now they're trending more towards young, and it kind of depends on how these guys pan out
03:49that they're drafting.
03:52I'm assuming Williams will be a solid contributor.
03:55Williams is going to catch 35, 40 balls.
03:57But remember.
03:58Maybe that's outrageous.
03:59This has nothing to do with the roster, but the schedule was a lot easier in 2024.
04:04They played a lot of bad teams, and they squeaked in a bunch of them.
04:07They had a lot of good breaks that went their way, too, in 2024.
04:10I think this schedule destroys that schedule.
04:13I think you could sell me on this roster being slightly better.
04:18Because if we go back to the offense, I might like this running back room slightly better
04:23than I did the one led by Brian Robinson.
04:26Yeah, I like this RB room better.
04:28Now, they had Eckler, and Eckler, when he was healthy playing in games, was dynamic.
04:35Yeah, but he wasn't one you could even rely on, really.
04:38Right, he had two concussions that season.
04:40Yeah.
04:41Right.
04:43I think it's a better roster.
04:46I think definitely, significantly better defensively.
04:48It's hard to know whether, like, Chig is going to be better than with Zach Ertz.
04:52I mean, Zach Ertz delivered for them.
04:54That year.
04:55He's definitely going to be a better yak guy than Zach Ertz.
04:58I know, but on the whole, I mean.
05:00What Ertz catched, 65 balls that year?
05:03Look, he was very productive.
05:04He was a great safety outlet for Jaden Daniels, and he's going to be missed.
05:10But I love the youth and the more explosive element that Chig is going to bring.
05:16He had seven touchdowns and 66 catches.
05:19So I would say it's comparable.
05:21Look, the roster, with Jaden Daniels playing the way he did, made it to the NFC Championship game.
05:26So, if you have a comparable roster, and maybe the defense gets better, if Sonny Stiles is the real deal,
05:33and flying all over the field, and Chanel flying all over the field, led by a new defensive coordinator.
05:38I think they just have, I think it's a significantly better defense.
05:41Not necessarily, is Owe going to give you as many sacks as Dante Fowler did?
05:46I know that Dante Fowler gets disrespectful, but as Cakes said, he put up numbers here.
05:49Always getting paid, like he should give you, like his floor should be nine and a half or ten sacks.
05:56Like he's getting paid like a guy who should give you like 16 or 18.
05:59I would agree with that.
06:00If I remember correctly, Fowler seemed to front load a lot of them, and then kind of the back end
06:04of the season,
06:05not nearly as much production.
06:07May have been the case.
06:08But remember, Frankie Louvo had a big year, too.
06:12I think he's going to have a comeback season this year.
06:16By the way, he gets relative athletic score shamed by his new linebacker mates.
06:23By Stiles and Chanel.
06:24He has doo-doo relative athletic score numbers compared to Chanel and Southern Stiles.
06:29I would say the defense as a whole is definitely better, because I think Stiles is going to be a
06:32stud.
06:33I mean, who was their best young player that year?
06:36In 24?
06:37In 24.
06:38I mean, I guess it's Louvoo, because they brought him over.
06:41Louvoo was very impactful.
06:42But I think that the offense is slightly better.
06:48Two seasons ago, their defense was ranked 13th overall, just in terms of total yardage.
06:53It's a kill for that.
06:54To be 13th?
06:55Are they going to go from dead last to better than 13th?
07:00No, no, no, no, no, no.
07:01I think they land 15 to 18.
07:03I don't know.
07:03I can't explain that.
07:04This is the best case scenario for them.
07:05That may be just, I don't know.
07:07By the way, do you see your guy Frankie Louvoo in the neighborhood recently?
07:10Haven't seen him in a while.
07:11Haven't seen him in a while.
07:12Nothing?
07:13I haven't, no.
07:14But I haven't really looked.
07:15Maybe he's back in his off-season home, wherever that is.
07:17Well, he's got young kids, so I assume they're in school.
07:19But I just haven't seen him.
07:21Where were we pre-season?
07:24I don't know if I can figure this out.
07:26Where was the schedule?
07:27Because it always changes.
07:29But going into 2024, what was the perception of the schedule's strength?
07:34I can't remember the schedule from two seasons ago.
07:37I mean, think about it.
07:38They played a bad giant team.
07:40They played a bad Arizona team.
07:42A horrible Cleveland team.
07:43A horrible Carolina team at the time.
07:46He's talking about in 24?
07:47In 24.
07:48A bad Chicago team who ended up losing, what, eight straight after the Hail Mary?
07:52Mm-hmm.
07:53Something like that.
07:54Oh, yeah.
07:54Yeah, they went completely in the tag.
07:56A horrible Tennessee team.
07:57A horrible New Orleans team that they almost lost to.
08:01And, you know, Dallas, who I believe Dak was out.
08:06Wasn't Dak out for both of those games?
08:08Yes, they faced a lot of backup quarterbacks.
08:09According to CBS Sports, their pre-season schedule strength that season,
08:13where they made it to the NFC Championship game, was 16th.
08:16Yeah, I see middle of the pack.
08:17All right, so what is it this year?
08:19As Jason said, the biggest factor is they went on that string of games
08:22where they were facing favorable matches.
08:25Yeah, yeah, they worked out with the quarterbacks, et cetera.
08:27Mm-hmm.
08:28And you never know.
08:28And that can happen this year.
08:30Like, you face the Eagles, and you don't face Jalen Hurts.
08:32Yeah.
08:32You face the backup.
08:34You go against the Giants and Jackson Darts not out there.
08:38Mm-hmm.
08:38You're going to have a huge advantage.
08:40It looks like this one is kind of middle of the pack also.
08:4415 range, something like that.
08:46I mean, you don't like playing the defending champions
08:48in Seattle.
08:49They're just chalking up his loss.
08:51Fair?
08:52I mean, they're playing.
08:53Seattle is here, right?
08:53It's here.
08:54It's here.
08:54Yeah.
08:55They're playing the, I mean, they're playing NFC West,
08:57and then three of those teams were in the playoffs.
08:59So, if all things, see, Jason thinks it was markedly easier.
09:03Maybe it played out markedly easier because of the quarterback situation,
09:06et cetera.
09:06But I think on the whole, it's kind of considered moderate in 2024
09:12and a moderate schedule in 2026.
09:16I think the roster's better.
09:17So, we just, you know, just got to perform.
09:20If you have faith in Adam Peters, and a year ago, everybody did,
09:24Sonny Stiles hits, delivers, all these free agents deliver,
09:28and then the defense makes a huge jump.
09:31Hmm.
09:31Look, part of the reason, too, that they were 13th,
09:33and we know, we always hear that term, complementary football,
09:36is the offense was better.
09:37Right.
09:37So, an offense being better, being on the field more.
09:40But were they in points?
09:41That's always more important to me than yards.
09:43I honestly think points, points scored and points given up is more important.
09:47Hold on a second.
09:48In 2024, where were they in points?
09:50Yeah.
09:50Is that what you're asking?
09:51Yeah.
09:51Are you talking about allowed?
09:54Defensively.
09:54Because I know offensively, they were like 29 or something.
09:5728 and a half.
09:58They were right around that number, yeah.
09:59Yeah.
10:0028 and a half, 29.
10:01And then they dropped all the way down to like 21 or something last year,
10:03I think.
10:04I think they dropped off like eight or nine points.
10:06All right, points per game in 2024, the Eagles were number one in the league.
10:13They only gave up 17.8 points per game.
10:16The Commanders gave up 23 points per game.
10:19So, the bottom half.
10:20No.
10:21Well, right about bottom half.
10:2413th.
10:25And points, too.
10:27So, points and yards, 13th.
10:28I mean, if I'm counting right.
10:29That'll be hard to.
10:31Three.
10:31If they can get up to there.
10:33Sometimes J.B. counts the wrong column.
10:35I don't know if he can be trusted.
10:3713th.
10:37Okay.
10:38Let's double check.
10:39All right.
10:40All right.
10:40When we come back, we are going to be joined by Pete Prisco from CBSSports.com.
10:45He came out with his post-draft NFL power rankings.
10:48He's got the Commanders very low.
10:50Very low.
10:51You know what?
10:51That's what we're doing next week.
10:53Power rankings.
10:54Power rankings.
10:55We're going to power rank.
10:56We're going to power rank the league.
10:57Okay.
10:58We're going to see where the skins fall.
11:00Because he's got them like 26, 27.
11:02Yeah, yeah.
11:02Disrespectful.
11:03I was a little surprised it was that far down.
11:05That's disrespectful.
11:06All right.
11:06So we'll talk to Pete Prisco next here on The Fan.
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