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The Washington Commanders are a much better team on paper compared to last year's roster, but a big hole that needs to be addressed is the wide receiver 2 position. With some of the available options at the position and projecting the release of Brandon Aiyuk before the season begins, Kevin Sheehan breaks down whether he would want Stefon Diggs or Brandon Aiyuk on the Commanders for the 2026 season.
Transcript
00:00Stefan Diggs found not guilty on both counts yesterday.
00:04He is now available, and I would imagine that he will get signed.
00:08It's possible that the NFL could, from a personal conduct policy,
00:13do something in terms of the form of a suspension.
00:17We'll see.
00:18That would certainly factor into it.
00:19But let's just assume right now for the purposes of this conversation
00:23that you have to choose between Stefan Diggs or Brandon Ayuk
00:29for 2026, that one of those two is going to be suiting up
00:33for our team in 2026 on a one-year deal.
00:38There's no long-term commitment.
00:40It's a one-year deal.
00:42Let's also assume that Brandon Ayuk comes with some level of risk,
00:48but that if they went out and signed him, you'd have to, I think,
00:54deduct that Adam Peters and even Jaden Daniels and others
00:58have a good sense that he is healthy physically and mentally.
01:03So which would you choose?
01:06I'm really interested in the idea of Diggs being a part of the team
01:10with Terry on one side, Diggs on the other,
01:14Diggs being used in so many different ways,
01:16along with, you know, the rookie Antonio Williams
01:20and anything else that sort of emerges from the rest of the group.
01:23I just think Diggs helps teams win.
01:26I think that he is certainly a longer-term issue for a locker room
01:31and a culture.
01:32I'm not suggesting that that would not be a risk,
01:35but I'm talking about one season, talking about this upcoming season.
01:39And on game day and even in practice,
01:42no one's ever questioned his work ethic or his game day preparation
01:47or his game day competitiveness.
01:51But I'd take Iyuk.
01:54And I'd take Iyuk because, quite honestly,
01:57Iyuk at his best in 2023 is a better receiver than Stefan Diggs.
02:02I mean, Diggs was very good in 23, and Diggs was pretty good last year.
02:07But Diggs is older and isn't as good as what I think the upside of Iyuk is.
02:13Now, again, I'm assuming that if they signed Iyuk,
02:18he's not crazy and he's physically fit and motivated to play at a high level
02:24and happy to be here.
02:26Apparently, this is where he wants to be.
02:28Because Brandon Iyuk in 2023, and I understand it's 2026,
02:33I understand there's a lot of water under that bridge in the last three years.
02:38But his potential ceiling is higher not only in the short term,
02:45but definitely in the long term.
02:48So my choice would be Brandon Iyuk.
02:51But if Iyuk is nuts and they don't want any part of him,
02:56I would definitely consider Stefan Diggs.
03:01Iyuk's my choice.
03:02301-230-0980.
03:05301-230-0980.
03:08You have to choose one, Diggs or Iyuk.
03:12One of those two is going to be on the roster on a short-term, one-year deal.
03:15Tell me which of the two you'd prefer to have.
03:18Anthony, go ahead.
03:19I'm going with Brandon Iyuk as well.
03:23However, I do think it's more likely that Stefan Diggs
03:28will be the guy that's on our roster in 2026.
03:31More likely.
03:32Yeah.
03:32I think he's more like, just because, again, we're at the mercy of the San Francisco 49ers.
03:38And they're not going to do us any favors in releasing Brandon Iyuk early.
03:42So if I'm the commanders, I'm probably going to end up leaning Stefan Diggs
03:46because we'll be able to bring him in OTAs, minicamp, training camp.
03:50We don't know when we're going to get Brandon Iyuk.
03:52I do love the higher upside of having an Iyuk here,
03:56but I just think what's more likely, Stefan Diggs being here.
04:00I mean, that is something to consider because the Iyuk possibility,
04:05now you're weighing in on a separate question, which is more likely.
04:08Okay.
04:09And you think that Diggs is more likely even though you'd prefer Iyuk.
04:13I think it's interesting because I actually still think Iyuk is more likely
04:18because I wonder whether or not they would actually take a chance on Diggs
04:24at 33 years old, given, you know, what he can be, which is a handful
04:30in a locker room that they've perfected from their standpoint
04:33in terms of what they've looked for culturally.
04:35Now, maybe that's the reason they won't add Iyuk either.
04:39Um, but I still think Iyuk is more likely because I think they know the player,
04:46but to your point, if they have to wait until the end of the summer,
04:51like after camp is over, after pre-season's over,
04:54and that's when San Francisco finally gets rid of him,
04:58they may not want to wait.
04:59They may have a cutoff date in mind for Iyuk.
05:03And maybe if we get to, I mean, the thing here is now Diggs becomes more in play
05:08for a lot of teams and his preference might not be Washington,
05:12even though this is his hometown.
05:14Whereas with, whereas with Brandon Iyuk, even if there is competition,
05:19this appears to be, we think his preference.
05:24Um, yeah, which is more likely I'm not asking,
05:28but it's an interesting thing to consider.
05:30Uh, but the question is, if I told you today,
05:34one of those two is going to be on the roster,
05:37who would you prefer it to be?
05:41301-230-0980.
05:44For me, it's Iyuk.
05:45For Anthony, it's Iyuk.
05:47Let's go to Ross in Tampa.
05:49Ross, go ahead.
05:51Hey, old Kevin, what's good in the hood?
05:53What's up?
05:56What I got, um, real quick.
05:58Well, it's crazy, Ben.
06:00In 2024, they both tore their ACLs three weeks apart.
06:04Diggs tore his ACL on a non-contact in week eight.
06:07Brandon Iyuk on a contact week five.
06:10Diggs comes back, and he actually performs very well,
06:12goes to the Super Bowl.
06:14And, oh, yeah, that girl, she was a hot mess on the stand.
06:16Once she opened her mouth, she lost all credibility.
06:18So that's enough on itself to want to bring in Diggs.
06:22But I actually went to college with a receiver
06:25who shared the locker room with Brandon Iyuk
06:27and played for, well, was signed by John Lynch.
06:29Do you remember Willie Snead, the fourth?
06:32Yeah, he played with the Saints, yeah.
06:34Yeah, him.
06:36He told me, he wasn't going to tell me too much about Iyuk,
06:39but he basically told me what they call John Lynch
06:41when he feels some type of way.
06:44They call him 47 Red.
06:45And I kind of remember the incident with the linebacker
06:47with the 49ers where, like, he didn't want to go back in the game
06:50because he had got replaced by Dre Greenlaw.
06:52They didn't cut him.
06:53They didn't let him sit there.
06:54So I'm thinking it's a better option.
06:57Sorry, the reference 47 Red, just the Lynch number, jersey number.
07:04Yeah, and I guess when he's angry, his face is red.
07:06Yeah, 47 Red.
07:07I actually thought that you were making a reference,
07:10perhaps, to our current president.
07:12And I wanted to just make sure that those that thought
07:14maybe that's what you were doing,
07:16that it was about John Lynch's jersey number.
07:19But go ahead.
07:20Okay, cool.
07:21Yeah, yeah, yeah.
07:21Yeah, so basically, long story short,
07:24if we just don't wait for Brandon Ayuk,
07:26we don't see them beautiful uniforms actually being put to use on the field
07:29while he's still on the books with the 49ers.
07:32I would rather just get the guy who's available.
07:34It's not like you're asking us who we want to sign to a long-term contract.
07:37We're talking one year.
07:38It's one year.
07:39Yeah, and I say Jaden Daniels is going to vibe with Diggs better than any other receiver
07:45he's played with.
07:46I know the age is a factor, but I would just go at this point,
07:50because I don't even know what Brandon Ayuk even wants to play.
07:53You know, his upside is there.
07:55Shoot, my upside would be, I'm a great radio host.
07:57I'm a mail carrier.
07:58You know what I'm saying?
07:58Upside is all over the place.
08:00So, that's where I'm at.
08:02I'm with Diggs.
08:02And I'll leave you with this, Kevin.
08:04I wish you partial luck this Sunday in the lottery.
08:06Like I told Denton, man, I'm hoping no ping-pongs bounce in favor of Indiana,
08:10because we're going to need some more ammo when we come back fully healthy next season.
08:15Thanks, Russ, for the call, as always.
08:19One in for Stefan Diggs.
08:22By the way, we're putting up our Waldorf Honda Twitter poll of the day.
08:29You can vote on it by going to the Team 980 and voting on it.
08:37And that Waldorf poll of the day is driven by Waldorf Honda.
08:40It all starts with a click.
08:43Waldorfhonda.com.
08:45Avin, Avin, go ahead.
08:47You have to pick one.
08:49One of these two ends up on the team.
08:51One-year deal.
08:53Diggs or Ayuk, who are you picking?
08:56Hey, Kevin.
08:57So I'm going Diggs just because he's such a reliable, sure thing.
09:01And I'm thinking short-term, if I want Jaden Daniels to have a big year next year,
09:06if I want to make the playoffs next year, the division feels winnable.
09:11You go with Stefan Diggs.
09:13Other than his ACL injury in 2024, he's reliably been somebody who starts every game
09:18and gets you 1,000 yards.
09:20Last season, he had 85 catches on 102 targets.
09:24He catches everything.
09:25He's fearless over the middle.
09:27He knows how to get open.
09:28Like, there's little risk associated with him.
09:31And he would just fit in so well with our ecosystem and Jaden Daniels.
09:35There's none of the Ayuk risk that comes with it.
09:39And, you know, you just don't know when you're going to get Ayuk,
09:42how long it's going to take for him to get into football shape,
09:44if he's going to get as much of a factor this year.
09:48The only reason to me you take Ayuk is because of the long-term stuff.
09:51And, you know, Diggs is pretty much 32.
09:54This is his 32 season because he turns 33 at the end of November.
09:59So I just view it as, like, if you're trying to win now,
10:03if you really want next year to be a big year,
10:05which I think it would be if we got Diggs for Jaden Daniels,
10:08then I'm just going with Diggs just because he's such a sure thing.
10:13Yeah, I mean, I think there is a sure thing, you know, to Diggs.
10:18The issue is what is that sure thing?
10:20It's not what it was two or three years ago.
10:22He was a very good receiver last year.
10:24They actually had incredible operation rates as an offensive unit.
10:30Their wide receivers did during the regular season.
10:33They did.
10:34They faced much tougher competition, obviously, in the postseason
10:37with the defensive teams that they faced, you know, the Chargers and the Texans
10:42and then the Broncos and the Seahawks.
10:45But during the year, their receivers as a group per DVOA
10:50had the biggest separation in terms of, you know,
10:55easy windows to throw in of any team in the league.
10:59And Diggs has always been a separator.
11:01I don't know where he ranked among the receivers in that category,
11:04but I would imagine it was close to the top.
11:07Thanks, Savine.
11:08Appreciate it.
11:09Yeah, go ahead.
11:10What did you want to say?
11:12All right.
11:13JYD, Diggs or Iyuk?
11:15You got to pick one.
11:17Well, you know, Kevin, you know I'm a greedy guy,
11:20but I would like to have both.
11:21But since you said I can only have one, give me Diggs.
11:25And I say that simply because Diggs will bring –
11:29yeah, people say he's a handful, but, hey, this guy on Sunday, he's a dog.
11:37He is that.
11:38He is that on Sunday.
11:40There is – that's the part of Diggs for a season that feels like it's an
11:45important season, I think for all of us, not just for the people out there.
11:48We got to see something resembling what we saw in 2024.
11:54And in his third season, in Jaden's third season,
11:57he kind of deserves a bit more in terms of weapons.
12:02And Diggs, I think, for one season would be a weapon,
12:05and he is an absolute dog on game days.
12:09And that's what I love about him.
12:12And he also brings experience, a lot of experience.
12:18Sure.
12:18Big game experience, too.
12:20Yeah.
12:21And he's just – right, he's just coming off of a Super Bowl, you know,
12:29whatever.
12:30And, you know, and you need that.
12:32I think he can, you know, maybe help some of these other guys, you know,
12:37to know what – I know Terry knows how to prepare,
12:41but you always can learn more.
12:45And I think – and like I said, we need – look,
12:48we need that type of attitude in the locker room or whatever.
12:51And I feel like – I feel like this.
12:53If you can't control your own locker room or whatever,
12:58then maybe you don't need to be the coach.
13:00Maybe you don't need to be the general manager.
13:03Right.
13:04You know, last year, I'm just looking – I'm looking back.
13:06JYD, thanks for the call, always.
13:08I'm looking back last year just to see the stories that were written about the
13:13Patriots contemplating digs and then when they did sign digs.
13:16And it's the same conversation we're having right now.
13:19There was hesitance about signing digs, but they wanted to give Drake May
13:25in his first full year of starting as many weapons as possible, you know.
13:29And really, they didn't have a true number one on that roster.
13:34Washington does, you know.
13:37They had, you know, they had DeMario Douglas.
13:40They had, obviously, Hunter Henry as a tight end.
13:44They had Mack Hollins, who actually played pretty well
13:47and had a couple of clutch catches in the postseason.
13:50They had Boutte as a receiver.
13:53They didn't have, like, a true, you know, high-level one.
13:58So they were in a slightly different situation.
14:01And digs became their number one, and he was their leading pass catcher
14:05last year, had 85 receptions.
14:07Nobody else had more than 60, and that was Hunter Henry.
14:10So he got targeted more by Drake May than anybody else.
14:15And, look, I mean, digs still got at 31 last year for the majority of the season,
14:22still got tremendous separation, was still pretty good after the catch.
14:26Now, his route running was a bit more shallow last year than it was
14:33during the earlier years of his career.
14:36It makes sense.
14:37But he was big for them last year.
14:40He was big for that young quarterback last year.
14:44And, again, we're only talking about one year.
14:46For me, though, it would be Iyuk.
14:48Because if we're talking about the idea that they are getting a guy that's
14:55physically and mentally healthy, Iyuk's best in 2023 was much better
15:01than digs' best in 2025.
15:03Doesn't mean you're going to get that from Iyuk.
15:05But there's also a chance with Iyuk of a future beyond one year.
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