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Who is most important for the Commanders' turnaround? Is it a coach? Or another player?
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00:00I think it goes without saying that Jaden Daniels is the most important person in the
00:04commander's building as it pertains to their success this year, and it's a cop-out generally
00:09to go with the quarterback.
00:10It's just too important a position.
00:12They're involved on every single play, and when you got a guy the quality of Daniels,
00:15who was the number two overall pick, played at a level that was close to that of an MVP
00:19a couple of years ago, I think it just stands to reason that you could always start with
00:24the quarterback in that conversation, but I wanted to actually broaden the scope a
00:28little bit to other people, players, coaches, front office, execs, whoever, who are sneaky
00:35really, really important to the well-being of this team in 2026, and my logic on this,
00:42Danny, is the guy that I actually think most be the important person in the building other
00:47than Daniels is someone that you probably wouldn't rank anywhere near the top of the
00:52list if you ask someone to just put a collection of names together.
00:55It's David Blau.
00:56Now, I actually think that if one person, I only get one, and I get to say they are
01:03a slam dunk, have a huge year, end of the season, we all think they're a superstar, and
01:09we love them, and they're the next great person at whatever they do in the league, who is it
01:14best for Washington if that explanation fits someone at the end of the year?
01:21Other than Daniels, I think the answer is David Blau, both because of the direct correlation
01:26of what that would mean probably for Jaden Daniels, but also the offense where you have
01:30worries about the wide receiver position.
01:33Not anymore.
01:34This guy can scheme them open like he's Ben Johnson and Kyle Shanahan.
01:37You have worries about Antonio Williams or Luke McCaffrey or Jalen Lane.
01:41He elevates them all just like Daniels would.
01:43I think Blau is sneaky, and maybe it shouldn't be sneaky, but I think he is, in an underrated
01:48way, super important to make this entire thing work this season.
01:53I agree with that.
01:54He is critical.
01:55And another part of this equation for me, I think I harp on this kind of stuff, I think
02:01more than you do, you're much better at kind of turning the page.
02:03The process that led to him was inadequate.
02:06Now, again, I like him.
02:06I'm glad he's here.
02:07They didn't care.
02:08They were like, we got a guy.
02:09We're not talking to anybody else.
02:10You better be right.
02:11That guy better be a wunderkind.
02:13That guy better be a superstar, and it better be now.
02:15I don't have time to wait.
02:16You guys maybe think you do, but I don't have time to wait.
02:19So if you don't want a bona fide expert that's kicked ass across this league, and you go neophyte
02:25approaching without any experience anywhere near that level to be in charge of the most important
02:30thing going on, which is that quarterback, you best be right.
02:33I'll take a different tact.
02:35The offense was not good last year.
02:37I'm not telling you it was.
02:38There's no question about that.
02:39That's obvious.
02:40That's intuitive.
02:41No Terry McLaurin.
02:42Jaden Daniels, not himself.
02:43Injured a bunch of times.
02:44Undertalented in a lot of spots.
02:45Yada, yada, yada.
02:46They were still fine.
02:49Middle of the pack.
02:51Defense, all-time bad.
02:52Only 10 turnovers.
02:54A few more than the record setting for futility jets.
02:58Third worst in yards per play.
03:00I think fourth or fifth worst in points a lot.
03:01A disaster.
03:02Terrible.
03:03Embarrassing.
03:03All the resources were committed this offseason to that side of the football.
03:07I think the plan is you don't have Jaden Daniels do Jaden Daniels stuff anymore.
03:11You make him caretaker Craig, run the ball, check it down.
03:14I think the defense has to be really, really good.
03:17Way better than they've been over the past.
03:20Who's in charge of that?
03:21Durante Jones.
03:21I think if this team's going to win games, it's going to be more, you know, 20 to 17 than
03:28it was 30 to 29, as it was a couple seasons ago when they went to the NCAA title game.
03:32But the way that they've done this offseason, where, again, 90% of their salary cap allocations came to defensive
03:37players, and Chicka Conk was kind of the lone rep on the offense with $18 spent on a couple pass
03:43catching running backs that are readily available.
03:45They went big on defense.
03:46The guy in charge of that needs to be saviors probably too far, but taking the way worse group and
03:53making them passable, acceptable, and even, dare I say, good?
03:55Give me Durante Jones.
03:56Durante Jones is a great answer, too.
03:58He would be on my short list.
04:00It's the exact same way of thinking.
04:03You know, as Blau, you're just going to the other side of the operation.
04:06And I just think because you've got Jaden Daniels on offense.
04:08That would tip the scales, I think.
04:10It's that much more important that you got Blau right.
04:13But your answer in Durante Jones, your description was based on helping Daniels, right?
04:18So that makes sense.
04:19They were, this Washington defense in 2025, dead last at allowing yards per game, 384.3, which is the old
04:27metric for defensive rank, essentially.
04:30Which would be 32nd in football.
04:32But in yards per play, they were 30th at 6.02.
04:36In rushing yards per play, they were 27th.
04:38In passing yards per play, they were 31.
04:40So you don't need the offense to make as big a stride as you need the defense to make.
04:47Blau can just kind of keep everything together, and you can be about what you were last year with more
04:53health and still improve and be good enough on that side of the ball.
04:56The defense, to your point, is where you've got to make some major improvements.
05:01The status quo was unacceptable.
05:04And that's why 10 of the 13 free agents that they signed that are likely to contribute are on the
05:11defensive side of the ball.
05:12It's why you took the defensive all-world stalwart at number 7 at the top of the draft, right?
05:17I get it.
05:18Durante Jones, really, really good answer.
05:20From a player standpoint, who would you roll with on this?
05:23Because a guy jumped out at me right when I started thinking about it, and I was like, oh, that's
05:28got to be the answer.
05:29But I wonder where you would go.
05:30McLaurin is my answer.
05:31Yes.
05:31So I know that both sides of my mouth here, I just went on about the defense, but I saw
05:35what it looked like when he's not on the field.
05:37Well, at some point, I'm sure during training camp or whatever, we're going to do the topic that we always
05:42do, which is like the ranking the players who are irreplaceable.
05:46And right now at this moment, a world without Terry McLaurin looks pretty bleak in terms of pass catch.
05:52I saw it.
05:52I don't want to go back.
05:53You have to have him on the field.
05:55And there is some pressure, not just that he plays, but that he is the Terry McLaurin who got the
06:01$30 million a year deal that got the extension from this group, too.
06:05Him just running around and getting cardio is nice because he'll take some attention.
06:09He'll bracket some coverage.
06:10He'll put some safeties over on his side of the field based on his track record and his resume.
06:14But you need him going out and catching seven balls for 123 yards and a touchdown.
06:18Now, you need some of those elite-level sideline toe-tap plays, the end zone routes and the red zone
06:26that he makes the catch and keeps his feet inbounds like he did to beat the Bengals on the dime
06:30from Daniels.
06:31You need that kind of Terry McLaurin production again.
06:35To me, the thing that I've harped on all offseason, and they tried and they weren't successful.
06:40I don't blame them for not being successful at it because it's slim pickings.
06:43But I saw what it looked like when they were playing bad defenses that were bad at the time, came
06:49into the game against Washington performing poorly.
06:52That's yards per play.
06:54That's big plays.
06:55That's giving up points, etc.
06:56Think of Dallas.
06:57Think of a number of places.
06:58And they couldn't muster anything on offense because no one was threatened by any of their players.
07:04To me, it's nice to have speed at running back.
07:07If there's eight guys in the box, that doesn't matter anymore.
07:10Nobody was going downfield and no one could go downfield.
07:13Terry McLaurin can't.
07:14It's not what I would have him do all the time, but he's now their most capable downfield threat.
07:18That's not just 50-yard bombs.
07:20That's 20 yards and working back to the quarterback.
07:23That's deeper square ends and the entire route trick contested catches.
07:26The ability to chunk yards they lacked for months at a time without McLaurin.
07:31I do not ever want to see that again.
07:33I don't want to go back to a place where every millimeter is schemed up and a holy war just
07:41to move the ball at all,
07:42which is what it felt like for a huge chunk of last season because they were so devoid of impactful
07:47skill guys.
07:48Zach Ertz, nice player, but that's not explosive.
07:50They had no explosion.
07:52He's their most explosive player on offense right now, and it's dire straits if he's not out there.
07:58I have a hard time picking another player on offense as the answer to this question.
08:05I don't think anyone on the O-line works.
08:08Tunsell wouldn't work?
08:09I don't think so.
08:10Tunsell's awesome and really, really good, and you need him healthy because if he's not healthy, then you've got to
08:15go down the depth chart.
08:16But Brandon Coleman was the starting left tackle when they made the NFC Championship game.
08:20He's kind of waiting in the wings, and I don't think that would be a huge deal.
08:23It would be a big drop-off.
08:24Don't get me wrong.
08:25You'd rather him stay healthy.
08:26Guard, it's either going to be Paul or Coleman.
08:29Center Allegretti, if he's bad and the center position is bad, the commanders told you this offseason they think it's
08:34the least important position on the offensive line.
08:36So that shouldn't make or break your season.
08:39I think there's a conversation to be had on Josh Connerly at some point, which is to say as high
08:44as I am on him long-term and as much as I think he could be awesome, he's got to
08:48be a lot better this year.
08:49Jay Gruden, as an example, when I talk to him, is still in the, are we sure?
08:53Yeah, I don't get it.
08:54Mode with him.
08:55There are people around football that feel that way.
08:59But there's nobody on the O-line that I would say a case could be made as the most important
09:05player on the team.
09:06I think Terry is that answer.
09:08Maybe Antonio Williams, honestly.
09:10The difference between Antonio Williams being outstanding and catching 60 balls as a rookie and then being able to say,
09:16I told you so.
09:17That's a good one.
09:18And David Blau being able to draw things up and kind of build things around him in the image of
09:21the player that he thought he was drafting versus him having that Luke McCaffrey, Jalen Lane first season where you're
09:26like scratching your head going.
09:28You're pointing, you're doing the Leo meme.
09:30Like, that's him, right?
09:31That's the guy on the field.
09:32This is the guy we thought, yeah.
09:33There's a big, big difference in what this offense could look like.
09:35That might be the second answer because of the position group.
09:38Again, I just, I don't care much for who they have at the receiver spot other than McLaurin.
09:43So this then becomes just an indictment against how we feel about receiver if both of the guys were picking
09:48our wideout.
09:48Yes, but if they're right about Williams and he's not, quote-unquote, just a slot guy and he's in there
09:54on two receiver sets and is capable and good.
09:56Making plays after the catch.
09:57Yeah.
09:58Going for 100 yards in September in a game.
10:00Then their solve and their fix, their plan for a couple years wasn't good.
10:04Then this one was good.
10:05That opens a lot of things up.
10:07That changes a lot of options for this offense.
10:09They're way more versatile now.
10:10Aconquo is probably high on the list.
10:12It's higher than any running back.
10:13I think it's a big deal if Bill breaks out and goes for 1,100 yards or something.
10:18But with Rashad White, drafting Catron Allen, having Jeremy McNichols, I don't know if Ford makes the roster or not,
10:24but he's been around kicking it in the AFC North.
10:26I just think the importance of that position, you can figure that out.
10:31Flipping to the defensive side of the ball, there are some names, I think, that stand out.
10:34The question, if you're just joining us here on Grant and Danny is,
10:39other than Jaden Daniels, who would you say is the most important person in the building for the commanders this
10:46season?
10:47If you could fast forward and know that one guy had a 10 out of 10 performance review campaign where
10:57you now know,
10:58I got the best in the league at this.
11:00Who is it?
11:00I went with David Blau.
11:02Danny went Durante Jones.
11:03We're now dabbling into the player side of things, and we both think McLaurin could be the answer.
11:07You can call us, 800-636-1067.
11:10Let us know what you think.
11:12So looking at the defense, it might just be OA, and I know that's cheap and easy, because he wasn't
11:17cheap.
11:18It took a lot of money to sign him, but we have a guy that can win one-on-one.
11:23If that happens, it makes scheming and everything else easier.
11:27In other words, you don't have to overcommit a whole bunch of resources and complications.
11:30And I know that's part of what Durante Jones presumably is going to do, is to mix and match potions.
11:34And you know how that town hall defense where seven guys are standing around, we don't know who's coming or
11:38going.
11:38But at the end of the day, there is a moment where the pass rusher must beat the pass blocker.
11:45That's been lacking here for a while.
11:46I have OA way lower just because of the number of guys they have at the position now.
11:51Like if Adafi OA's not getting home as often as you'd like, which is possible, hopefully Doran Armstrong is playing
11:56like he did last year.
11:57Maybe you're getting a lot out of Caleb on chase on, because you're only going to have maybe three of
12:01those guys on the field at once.
12:03But you've got, down the board, you can move Luvu to that position.
12:06You can have Leo Shadal off the edge.
12:08I know Logan's been talking a lot about the possibility of Sonny Stiles as a pass rusher, you know, off
12:13the edge in that Van Ginkle role, possibly.
12:15Charles Amenehu and Dietrich Wise, more run stuffers.
12:18But they suddenly have a lot at that spot.
12:20You paid away a lot of money.
12:22And that's kind of my point, yeah, is the idea that the high ceiling happens, it frees everyone else up.
12:26I think I would go Stiles because there's nobody else with his skill set.
12:30To me, I'm looking at it from the standpoint of what am I if this guy's awesome versus if he's
12:37not?
12:37So start with Adafio, I just kind of went through it.
12:40If he's not, there's still a pretty good chance I'm okay.
12:43If Sonny Stiles doesn't deliver the goods, there's nobody else like him.
12:49Like, I think their plan for him is he's going to play on the edge, he's going to play in
12:54the nickel.
12:55I'm not saying all the time, but he'll play some in the nickel and run with tight ends or backs
12:59or whatever.
13:00He'll play the green dot Mike linebacker.
13:02He's going to line up at safety from time to time.
13:04Like, this is positionless freak football.
13:07Kyle Hamilton, Eamon Worry, it's a different position, but that kind of roving element.
13:13And there's no one else on the team that can do some of that stuff.
13:15Like, if you're talking about the Van Ginkle, I'm in the slot and turning and running with someone, kind of
13:21defender,
13:21but I'm also going up the ladder to bat a ball on the edge and rushing the quarterback and getting
13:25seven sacks or whatever.
13:27Like, that weird skill set.
13:29But I think that's what they're envisioning for Sonny Stiles.
13:31There's nobody else that could do that.
13:33Leo Chennault can do some of it.
13:34I think he'll be able to give you a little bit of that.
13:37But it's the equivalent of, like, running a radio station.
13:42Who can't you operate without?
13:45What?
13:46Like, Vic Ferreira.
13:47You know what I'm saying?
13:48Yeah.
13:48He produces every Nats game.
13:50Like, if someone has a problem, they're calling him, and he's got some weird password to some login,
13:54and he's fixing something.
13:55And, like, Slick Fix not around for a week?
13:57People are screwed.
13:58People are screwed.
13:59And that's, to me, that's the Sonny Stiles.
14:01Like, he can do a little of everything.
14:02He's producing Charlie and Dave.
14:04Sonny Stiles is.
14:05Sonny Stiles is.
14:05He does that.
14:06The Stiles of all things.
14:08He also hates all the good pitchers the Nats have.
14:10Every time a pitcher throws over 95 plays for the Nationals, Vic hates that guy.
14:15So that means Sonny Stiles, not a fan of velocity.
14:18No, he doesn't enjoy it.
14:20Let me go down this road.
14:21The mirror image of receiver, where I'm going, this is a bad position group.
14:25What is that on defense?
14:27Corner.
14:27Right?
14:28There's not a lot of trust there.
14:29Yeah, I was going to work my way there, too.
14:30What if I go either sandwich to Amos, pick your fighter there, where if they're good,
14:38my God, it solves so much.
14:40Right?
14:40And I know the importance is still faded down a little bit maybe in this scheme,
14:44but still, you've got to have a corner.
14:45You can't just put up a mannequin out there.
14:47You need a warm body.
14:48But if those guys are good at the corner spot, then this thing we look at is a weakness,
14:53and it's fine, or even plus, where you have invested elsewhere,
14:56a.k.a. the pass rush, that defensive front, that front seven,
14:58that all of a sudden opens up a lot of possibilities for a defense to be okay.
15:02Well, Trey Amos, I think he's in a very similar bucket to what I just tried to describe
15:08with Josh Connerly, which is showed a lot of promise.
15:13In the case of Amos, I thought he was pretty good.
15:16Connerly, I think it was like the way he moves, the athleticism, the way he operates,
15:21the fact that he's actually pretty good in the run game, like with angles and positioning
15:25his body and some of that stuff.
15:27You can dream on him becoming a great right tackle.
15:29But he's got to make another leap.
15:32We just count our chickens when we see someone has a little bit of potential, even if they're
15:37not great.
15:37If they look the part, I'm so guilty of this.
15:39I do this all the time.
15:40The example I'll give you is Sandra Still.
15:43I thought Sandra Still was awesome in his rookie year.
15:45He had a louder, better, more impactful rookie season than Amos did.
15:49He had a louder, better, more impactful rookie season than Connerly did.
15:52And so I just put him in Sharpie, star, no problems, let's keep it moving.
15:56Guess what?
15:57Year two, he takes a step back.
15:58We're banking on the step forward.
16:01What if he's the same this year?
16:02If Connerly is the exact same this year, at the end of year two, we're having a very different
16:06dialogue about him.
16:07He is a fringe average.
16:09Last year, he was probably a little bit below average, like right tackle.
16:12That's very different than 10-year answer, we're paying a bunch of money to be our star
16:17right tackle in this town.
16:18Yeah?
16:18Same thing at corner.
16:21What if Trey Amos, who just played a little bit and got hurt, and everyone's just assuming
16:25now he's a corner one?
16:27There's just a lot of eggs in that basket.
16:29At some point, we just decided along the way, like, Trey Amos, Sharpie, he's the guy.
16:34I think we're arriving a little soon at that destination.
16:37I really like Trey Amos, like everybody else does.
16:39Yeah, we've done that before.
16:40But it happens, I think, everywhere, and especially here, where we just go, well, you just bank
16:45in the growth three or two.
16:50It doesn't always work that way.
16:51And Moore's asked of him.
16:52Now, I think that this scheme, Moore's asked of him, meaning his role, he's going to the
16:55one position, he's going to cover CeeDee Lamb and, you know, A.J. Brown or, you know,
16:59whoever else, Malik Neighbors or whatever, but this scheme's going to help him a lot.
17:04And that's where I feel pretty confident, because you ask very little of the corners
17:08when you're getting after the quarterback like they're going to, and that's where I
17:11feel like it's going to work.
17:12But in last year's defense, if he just became the number one based on his rookie season,
17:18the conversations we're having are not satisfactory to me.
17:22Agreed.
17:22There's way more poking and prodding that needs to be done here on Amos and probably
17:26on Sanders still.
17:27Yeah, it's rookie deal.
17:29Or as a rookie, hey, we showed some things, that's a check mark.
17:32It's not, oh my God, this guy can't play.
17:33But now you actually have to play.
17:35But you get what I'm saying on the young guys?
17:37I totally do.
17:37Like, I feel like...
17:39We do this all the time in all sports, as fans.
17:41We go, what you got?
17:42And you start listing guys that you have.
17:44Are we sure he's a dude?
17:45Yes.
17:46Like, I saw some nice things like you did, but are you sure?
17:48And I am culprit number one.
17:51Yeah.
17:51I mean, I'm doing this currently with Josh Connerly.
17:53If someone were to say to me, State of the Union on the O-line, I would file Connerly
17:57into they've got their long-term right tackle.
18:00But that's a little bit aggressive based on what happened last year.
18:03And it's also some assuming from me.
18:06Josh Connerly's got to show some real growth.
18:08He's got to be a lot better this year than he was last year.
18:11And I think we're expecting that.
18:12But it's not just clockwork.
18:14It's like Tommy John recovery now, or coming back from an ACL.
18:18You just assume, fast forward 12 months, call the pitcher, and he's telling you he's rehabbing
18:22in Rochester, and he'll be at the big leagues in a week.
18:25Sometimes your arm barks and you get shut down after seven months.
18:29Weird things happen.
18:30Right.
18:30But Amos and Connerly are both in that category for me of, we've just decided, you don't have
18:38to worry at all about this corner position or this tackle position because you've got
18:41these guys.
18:42They've got to show a little more.
18:44All right.
18:44Let's get to the phones on this next.
18:46800-636-1067 is how you can join us.
18:50Take Daniels out of the equation because it's too easy and it's a cop-out.
18:53Now, most important person in the building for the Commanders to get back to the playoffs
18:59next year is who?
19:00I'm going Blau.
19:01Danny's going Jones.
19:02We've got the coordinators covered.
19:04G&D on the fan.
19:05G&D on the fan.
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