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The Washington Commanders' offseason programs officially begin today with rookie minicamp! Ben Standig joins The Kevin Sheehan Show to preview the Commanders' rookie minicamp and what can we expect to come out over the next few days.
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00:00Okay, let's get to some business that you can tidy up for us.
00:05In terms of rookie minicamp and the six players that they drafted,
00:10are they all under contract?
00:13Yeah, the rookies are all – the draft picks all signed today.
00:17So the team announced that they are good to go.
00:20How many players will be there at rookie minicamp,
00:24including obviously undrafted?
00:26And then how many veteran players show up for this?
00:29Do any of the veterans actually show up for it?
00:33Yeah, they haven't unfortunately given us –
00:35unless it's happened while I've been driving out to the park right now.
00:38They haven't given us the list.
00:40So typically it's around 20 to 30.
00:43You know, it just depends.
00:45I mean, obviously they've got six players, draft, nine players, UDFAs,
00:51and then there'll be a draft who are invited to the rookie camp.
00:56And you talk about the vets.
00:57I mean, there's no vets who are like guys who were playing last year
01:00in any real way.
01:01Right.
01:02You know, somebody who was the – I mean, practice squad guys,
01:07like your Ja'Cory Brooks, Jacoby Jones,
01:09like kind of those guys I would assume would be there.
01:11Maybe there's a couple of guys at the back of the roster who got on there
01:15late in the season or barely played.
01:18But it'll be those types of guys.
01:19It won't be anybody that we're going to be really thinking about.
01:23That would be surprising.
01:24I think the one guy I'm curious is Sam Hartman only because you don't need –
01:28they're not playing a game here.
01:30So it's not like you need two guys, two quarterbacks.
01:34And since they have the rookie, I don't know that he'll be there.
01:36But this would be the type of guy where a guy like Hartman would,
01:38in theory, be there.
01:40Did we talk about the fact that ultimately the draft class ended up being pretty low
01:46on the overall relative athletic score rankings in terms of draft classes
01:51for all 32 teams?
01:53I'm forgetting where it was, but it was near the bottom of the league ultimately.
01:57You know, Sonny Stiles was super high, but no one really after him was.
02:02And the overall aggregate average RAS score was bottom two or three in the league.
02:12We talked about that.
02:13Obviously, that's been a big deal for Adam Peters.
02:17You know, some of those later-round picks, I think, really bring the average down.
02:23Right?
02:23Yeah.
02:24I'm pretty sure Antonio Williams was in the top part.
02:27I want to say Joseph's, but maybe not because his 40 time was fairly slow for a pass rusher.
02:34But, yeah, I mean, Goulbin and the quarterback, they kind of brought it down a bit.
02:40So, you know, I think the still general principle and why Sonny Stiles always made sense,
02:47not only because of the need, but because of that athletic ability.
02:52And, you know, so it would have been like if you told me like the first player was somebody
02:56who didn't score high in that, that would be surprising.
02:59And the fact that the overall grade, you know, again, when you're picking in the later rounds,
03:03you're just kind of, can somebody make this roster?
03:06And I assume some of those principles probably got the window.
03:09But, yeah, I mean, it is true that prior to up until I want to say, Goulbin,
03:17that everybody they had drafted, including the first few guys this year,
03:20had all been on the highest level of that RAS score.
03:24But, yeah, a couple of guys at the bottom, I think, brought it down.
03:26Give me a guy.
03:28First of all, before I get to give me a guy, did you find out who got guaranteed money
03:34of the undrafted free agents?
03:37Did anybody get, you know, real money to sign here?
03:40Because that's always an interesting thing to look at because it's, you know,
03:43an expression of their belief in the player because they're probably competing
03:47with other teams to sign that player.
03:50But did anybody get any legitimate guaranteed money of the undrafted free agents?
03:56You know, of the things, I should have looked more into this
04:00because you think you asked me this a couple weeks ago.
04:02I'm not aware of any significant money,
04:04but I also haven't seen anybody reporting anything, right?
04:07So I don't know that anything really happened.
04:11I know there was, like, one player, from what I gather,
04:14could have had more money elsewhere but took less
04:17because he thought the opportunity was better here.
04:19But in general, no, I didn't get the sense that there was anybody
04:22that had, like, some big money.
04:25I guess the one thing I would be kind of curious about is the kicker,
04:28just because that's obviously a position where you can go straight
04:30from being a UDFA to starting and to give out the opportunities.
04:34But as we know, this one, as far as opportunities go,
04:37seems like a pretty good one.
04:39You know, you mentioned Drew Stevens out of Iowa.
04:41I think we've already talked about him.
04:42He's got a big leg and was a bit of a clutch, you know,
04:45performer at Iowa over four years.
04:48But do you have a sense of a player they're really excited about
04:52among their undrafted free agents?
04:58I don't know.
04:58We'll get – I mean, obviously, we'll talk to Quinn today,
05:00so maybe we'll get a better feel for that.
05:04You know, I always try to look at this, like,
05:07are there guys that you think can, you know, can make the team
05:10or be somebody interesting for the practice squad?
05:12You know, I know a guy like Chris Hilton Jr.
05:15has gotten a lot of attention, partly because of the Jaden Daniels.
05:18Right, receiver at LSU.
05:19Yep.
05:20Right, LSU.
05:21But, like, in looking him up, like, in LSU's 2021 recruiting class,
05:26he was the number one receiver in a class with Malik Nabors
05:30and Brian Thomas.
05:31So there is clearly something here to mine.
05:34The athleticism is pretty legit, speed, all that,
05:38but the production was nonexistent over his time at LSU.
05:42And it's not like he didn't have quarterbacks.
05:43Even after Jaden moved on, you know, I know Garrett Nussmeyer fell on the draft,
05:48but his – you know, the first year he was really, really good.
05:50And the production still wasn't there.
05:52So I think there is some questions, like – or I think there is some interest,
05:55like, okay, what is the deal here?
05:57How has a guy this athletically gifted come up that short in college?
06:02So I think, you know, again, I don't – I'm not saying to make the 53,
06:06but in terms of a project, I think he's one that stands out to me.
06:10And there are a couple other guys who have the RAS testing numbers
06:16that look pretty positive.
06:18There's one offensive lineman whose name I'm blanking on at the moment.
06:21I'm not blanking back.
06:22I don't know how to say it.
06:23But –
06:24Oh, the Samoan or the Hawaiian from Utah, right?
06:27Yeah.
06:28The guard.
06:28Yeah, yeah, yeah.
06:31His RAS numbers are pretty good.
06:33So, you know, I think a couple guys like that.
06:34And, you know, again, I think cornerback, offensive line in particular to me
06:39from a depth perspective is where there's some opportunities.
06:42And one other name I'll mention, Fred Davis II.
06:47Cornerback had it for Northwestern.
06:50You know, in terms of just being a technical corner,
06:53he looks pretty good from what I gather.
06:55It's just that he didn't run very fast.
06:57He was like in the 4-6-40 time.
06:59And that dropped him obviously down to where he went undrafted.
07:03But you look at the Washington's cornerback room,
07:06not only do I think that the top four, there's still some questions,
07:09but I have zero idea who number five and six are if they keep that many,
07:12which is typically what they do, they've got a bunch of guys, you know,
07:15from the practice squad.
07:16But there's hardly any guys who would be like, well,
07:20they're definitely going to get in here.
07:21So, you know, I think a guy like that who has a lot of experience,
07:25who can, again, technically sound, but the question will be do they think
07:29he has enough athleticism to get the job done.
07:31I think a guy like that is somebody they'll be keeping an eye on for sure.
07:33In your years, we're talking to Ben Standig, at Ben Standig on X,
07:38Ben writes and covers this team in a Substack column.
07:42It's totally worth the very low subscription fee of a couple of bucks a month.
07:48So I would urge you to do that.
07:50You can link to it on his X account, at Ben Standig.
07:55Is there a player that you can recall from this specific weekend that stood out
08:03for either reason, really, really good and promising, or uh-oh,
08:09they got the wrong guy here?
08:15I'm trying to remember the first time that we talked to Josh Dodson
08:19because I feel like it was the first time that I was around him
08:22that I was like, wait, what?
08:23This guy, I don't think this guy wants to play football that much
08:27relative to the expectations.
08:29And again, I don't remember if that was the very first time,
08:32but it feels like the first time.
08:33I think he was also like, didn't, right?
08:35Didn't he miss some of the early practices?
08:37I think whether it was because of an injury or something.
08:39He was like a bit homesick, I think.
08:41He didn't want to, yeah.
08:42There was a lot going on when he first got here.
08:45He transferred colleges to be closer to home because of being homesick,
08:49which I'm not here to judge.
08:51I'm just saying that's notable.
08:52Right.
08:53You know, especially in this sport.
08:55So that was one that kind of stood out there.
09:01I feel like Bill was getting, like, obviously a seventh-round pick.
09:05You know, I'm thinking too much about that guy.
09:07And yeah, sure, running back is a little bit different
09:09because it's a fantasy football position.
09:11But I remember thinking, like, seeing Bill, like, oh, okay.
09:14This isn't just a rando that they added here late in the draft,
09:19that there's maybe a little bit of juice here.
09:21And obviously that really took off as they went through the OTAs and so on.
09:26And then it became a cult hero after that.
09:30Right.
09:30So I think there's a couple guys that stand out.
09:32You know, there's always the somebody, I guarantee somebody will have an amazing catcher
09:36and we'll all tweet about it and tell you, oh, my God.
09:39Antonio Gandy-Golden, maybe?
09:42Something like that.
09:43I mean, remember, I can remember from minicamp on, him and Jimmy Moreland were going to be,
09:49oh, my God, they stole these players after minicamp.
09:54Absolutely.
09:55You know, I asked Jay Gruden, I think last week when he was on with me,
10:00I said, at a minicamp, was there ever a player that right away you knew one way or the other?
10:07And he immediately said, Terry, said the first time Terry took the field for us at minicamp,
10:14he's like, whoa, okay, we liked him, had no idea he was this polished, that he was this good.
10:22And remember, they pretty much hit him the rest of the way until the season opener at Philadelphia
10:29where he had a big breakout game.
10:31But he said that that was the one.
10:33No other player really stood out positively or negatively.
10:38I know that they really thought that Dwayne Haskins was really, you know,
10:44behind the eight ball in terms of being able to play at a professional level, you know,
10:50from the very jump, that he just was not ready, nowhere near ready.
10:54And they knew it from the beginning.
10:56Well, they knew it before the draft, but Dan drafted him anyway.
10:59But the late Dwayne Haskins early on, everybody that kind of was close to it said,
11:06yeah, this is not going to happen anytime soon.
11:12Yeah, well, I mean, to go back to the Terry point of it all, when he was drafted,
11:16honestly, as I recall, like the big selling point on him, at least as a rookie, was about special teams.
11:21100%.
11:22That this is where he was going to make his mark.
11:25So, okay, young guy, develop, we'll see.
11:27And then, yeah, it was pretty quickly, it was like, oh, wait, there's much more here they see
11:32than what was anticipated.
11:34And then obviously, you know, from the jump, he was their best receiver.
11:38You know, since he's been on the team, he's basically been their best receiver the whole time.
11:43So, yeah, no, that's a good one.
11:45You know, quarterbacks are always tricky, as we know, just because the nature of the position,
11:49you know, people want to see a guy come out there and be great day one,
11:54because that makes you feel a lot better.
11:55And obviously, also, it's like, oh, okay, the learning curve won't be too strong here.
11:59And, yeah, you know, of course, Dwayne did have that learning curve, like he said,
12:04and, you know, something he had to deal with during his time here.
12:07But, yeah, and obviously, for Jay, that was a tough place to be because he needed to win
12:12and he didn't need to have a project at that point.
12:15You know, I'm just thinking about last year's class.
12:18I remember Sean Springs coming on pretty early after minicamp and OTAs,
12:22maybe before training camp, saying, Trey Amos is an NFL corner.
12:25And it was obvious because he was out there for one of those first few days.
12:29And he said, I know what an NFL corner looks like, and Trey Amos is an NFL corner.
12:35So that was one guy from, I guess, last year's draft that made a pretty big early impression.
12:43But, you know what, correct me if I'm wrong, Emmanuel Forbes, other than his size,
12:48made a decent impression early on, didn't he?
12:51Or am I remembering that incorrectly?
12:55No, no, absolutely.
12:56And that's why, you know, we always say you've got to temper expectations
12:59based on what we're watching and practices with, you know, like no pads or no tackling
13:03and all these things because, yeah, I mean, and also, like, you know, for example,
13:07like if today, you know, we say that one of the players in the secondary
13:12was making a lot of plays, well, who's quarterbacking?
13:15It's not Jaden Daniels, it's not Marcus Mariota.
13:18It's a guy who was picked in the seventh round.
13:19So it's all, and the receivers are not guys who are NFL proven
13:23or maybe not even make a roster, Anthony Williams aside.
13:27So, yeah, all that's true.
13:31But, you know, to me, it's hard to define what you see,
13:36but, you know, sort of when you know it, you know it, you know, it's an attitude.
13:41It's a confidence.
13:42It's the way they carry themselves, the way they look out there.
13:45I remember, like, looking again to go back to Bill last year,
13:48and when I saw him, I remember, like, he was, like, sort of standing with his back
13:52towards wherever I was.
13:53And I was like, dude, this guy is much bigger than I thought.
13:57I mean, I'm not saying it was Earl Campbell or John Regis,
13:59but just like, you know, yeah, he had some good build to him.
14:02And I know Anthony Lennon, talking to him later on during the offseason,
14:07said something similar, that watching him on tape was one thing,
14:09seeing him in person was another.
14:11So those are the types of things as well that I think can matter.
14:13And, again, you can't also get caught up in the other way
14:15where you see a six-foot receiver, like last year, like your Corey Brooks,
14:19like everybody thought, okay, here's the guy.
14:21We'll see.
14:22You know, who knows.
14:23But, you know, just because of the look doesn't mean the player is going to be good to go.
14:28So, again, the undrafted guys, here's the key thing to remember.
14:31They were undrafted.
14:32It doesn't mean teams don't make mistakes, but at the first blush,
14:35nobody thought to themselves, we need to spend a pick on this guy.
14:38That has to be factored into this, even if we find out later that they were all wrong.
14:44Yeah.
14:45You know, you take me back to Ja'Cory Brooks last year.
14:48Like, these are the kinds of things that I think right now we don't know.
14:52I think sometimes people on the beat like you learn some of this stuff.
14:56You're usually not afraid to sling it out there.
14:59But, like, a player that nobody's thinking about, and by the way, typically, you know,
15:07young players don't start to make their mark until year two, year three.
15:12I mean, it's not, you know, especially guys that are drafted after the first round
15:16and undrafted free agents.
15:18And I just think about a guy like Jacoby Jones or Ja'Cory Brooks, either one of them.
15:22And there was, like, you know, the look was there.
15:26Like, they looked like NFL receivers.
15:28And for all we know, you know, a guy like David Blau is like, look,
15:33we've got a Terry McClorn on our roster that we're not going to talk about.
15:38We'll unleash when the regular season starts.
15:40I mean, I doubt that's true, but it's not impossible,
15:45because there are a lot of young players that just didn't get as many opportunities
15:52last year, even though they did give a lot of players that weren't on the roster
15:56before the year started opportunities last year out of necessity.
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