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Grant & Danny react to day one of rookie minicamp, which offered insight from Dan Quinn on what happens defensively and more on Sonny Styles.
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00:00All right, I want to get into rookie minicamp because Dan Quinn spoke with the media today,
00:04and I want to get into some of what Dan Quinn had to say about the commander's rookie class
00:10and the fits of some of these players that are taking to the field for the first time.
00:16This is the first glimpse that this coaching staff's going to get of these players doing
00:20what they're asking them to do in their schemes, and that's very, very different than watching
00:24them in college and trying to project and see how things are going to work out.
00:28I got to say, first time getting to see Sonny Stiles in a uniform, audibly, you were like,
00:33dude, settle down over there.
00:35I had to, yeah, I locked the door and turned off all the lights.
00:39There was a level of excitement, yeah.
00:40Sonny Stiles looks good.
00:42His arms are so much bigger than I thought.
00:44He has gigantic biceps.
00:46You think of him as this very long, kind of slender, freakish, lengthy dude, and he is
00:53some of those things.
00:54But he's actually much more physically imposing and just bigger than I thought he was going
00:59to be.
01:00He's a little bit yoked.
01:01Yeah.
01:01I mean, again, but he's not, it's not that puffy yoked.
01:04He's not the HP Blades build, you know what I mean?
01:06Like the little fire hydrant kind of guy.
01:07He is tall.
01:09And as you said, like just a lengthy looking elite athlete.
01:14Like look, he looks every inch of six, four, you know, but there's some muscle up in there.
01:18He'll deal with some blockers.
01:19He'll come downhill and hit a little bit.
01:20But this is what Dan Quinn had to say about easing Sonny Stiles into the linebacking
01:25position as he got ready to watch practice number one for the rookies.
01:30Yeah.
01:31I think the first part of it, man, like let's get the fundamentals down.
01:34The two inside linebacker spots have similarities, but there's also some nuances.
01:40During the course of the spring and training camp, we'll work him and some other guys at
01:44both of the spots.
01:46There's a lot that he can do and like all the players, we're going to try to do the
01:51best we can to put him in the spot to really allow them to do their thing, you know, at
01:55full speed and at a high level.
01:56A lot of times that takes all the way in through camp as well.
02:00So there's no limits on what I think he can become, but I'm going to let the whole process,
02:06you know, really play all the way through because there's a lot to go over.
02:10So it's not groundbreaking or any kind of massive development in my opinion, but Dan
02:16Quinn did acknowledge that defensively there will be two inside linebacking spots.
02:20Remember, this is a new scheme.
02:21We don't really know how it's going to look, what they're going to run, what base is, but
02:24that is indicative of very likely the 34 defense that a lot of us are anticipating.
02:29I guess you could also have two linebackers and have an extra safety or something like
02:33they've done over the last couple of years too.
02:35But that was informative to hear him talking about two off-ball linebackers and styles getting
02:41work at both of those positions.
02:43That absolutely was.
02:44Now, as you said, part of it is hand tipping.
02:47The other part is, okay, well, you think back to the last couple of schemes, it's still
02:51your normal, I say normal, put that in quotes.
02:53There's some versatility there, but it's four down linemen, four guys with their hand in
02:55the dirt or maybe three with Luvu standing up and acting as an edge, two linemen, and then
03:00a safety kind of in and around the box.
03:01So it could still be that, but it's also, I lean more towards your thing.
03:07That was revealing, I thought, where there's two spots that are very similar, but there
03:12are enough subtle differences between the two that you kind of have to learn everything
03:15to get what you want out of this defense, which is, if this guy's going, you've got
03:20to cover that.
03:20If this guy is covering that, you've got to go.
03:22Whatever it is, they need to be able to work a little symbiosis, a little symmetry there,
03:27and then get constructive.
03:28I think we also have the benefit of just seeing what Minnesota's run, what this looks
03:32like, and I know that this isn't going to be 100% the Flores defense, nor will the Blau
03:37offense be to a T exactly the Ben Johnson offense.
03:41I'm aware of the information.
03:43These guys are going to have some type of marriage between the schemes that those guys
03:47run and some of the other things that they like from their times, in Jones' case, coaching
03:51at the collegiate, the high school, the CFL, the NFL levels.
03:55And for David Blau, both as a player and as a coach, he was in other places, too.
03:59So you're going to add and subtract some things schematically.
04:02It's going to take on your image.
04:04I get that.
04:05But you still, until we see it, I think have to assume it could look a little bit like
04:10their lead mentors in the offenses that, very frankly, they were hired to run here.
04:15David Blau was hired because Washington wants to run something like what Ben Johnson does.
04:20The Durante Jones hire was based on the fact that they wanted Flores, who stayed in the
04:25state and Minnesota, and they couldn't get Flores, and they said, what's the next best
04:28thing?
04:28And the next best thing is his right-hand man in sous chef, Durante Jones.
04:31And so that's where we are.
04:32But I also think that it was pretty clear they were going to run more edges, linebackers,
04:37whatever you want to call it, you know, standing up as pass rushers in like a 34-looking
04:41front after their offseason.
04:43Where with Armstrong coming off injury, coming back, you spent money on Adafi Owe, you brought
04:47in Caleb on chase on, you drafted Joshua Josephs in the fifth round.
04:52Uh, they added another couple of defensive ends, more traditional, like run stuffer types
04:57like Dietrich Wise back on a one-year deal, Charles Amenehu from Kansas City.
05:02But if you look at it, Danny, there's a lot of edges.
05:05It would make a little less sense if it was a traditional, like, four, three with what
05:10they did.
05:11It feels like chase on Owe.
05:14Those guys are standing up, pinning their ears back.
05:16Yep.
05:16You can use Leo Chennault and Sonny Stiles in that way.
05:18But that brings me to my next point about what Dan Quinn said.
05:22Maybe I'm overthinking it, and maybe I care too much or want to hear more than he's willing
05:26to offer.
05:26That's probably what this is.
05:28I was actually really surprised he just talked about him playing the two linebacker spots.
05:32And maybe the question was about at rookie minicamp, because there's no reason to ask
05:36him to do too much.
05:36We're just going to get him used to off ball, like green dot and next to green dot, like
05:40those two spots.
05:41But if he was talking about his role in the defense for the season, the questions weren't
05:46mic'd up, so I don't really know what the question was.
05:50But I think he can play some edge and should.
05:53I think he can play some nickel and should.
05:56I think he could play some safety and should.
05:58Like, that's part of his superpowers.
06:00And if it doesn't all happen in September, October, November in year one, totally fine with
06:05that.
06:05But as we go here, if he doesn't evolve into that role, I'll be a little surprised.
06:10And that does take away from the ceiling of what he can be, because I believe he's a
06:14positionless freak who everyone's seeking.
06:18Normally, it's the safety.
06:19It's the Eman worries or the Hamilton's.
06:21Yeah.
06:22Kyle Hamilton's a good example of that in Baltimore.
06:24This just is a bigger bodied linebacker version of it.
06:26Yeah.
06:27I think it's intuitive also, because it makes the value of the pick a little bit less.
06:32Doesn't mean it's a failure.
06:33It doesn't mean it's a bust.
06:33It's not something that you're going to scream in the streets about.
06:36But the reason you do that there is, I've seen middle linebackers, plenty of middle
06:41linebackers went in this draft.
06:43This ain't that.
06:44This is that plus.
06:45So the school of thought could be twofold.
06:47One, from day one, first instant, you go, all right, buddy, I need you to go to the edge
06:51room, the middle linebacker room, the safety room, and go to every meeting and cram it all
06:57in one day.
06:57Or let's learn.
06:59I think this is what they're doing.
07:00Let's learn this one position, this anchor spot, which will help you learn what everyone
07:04else is doing at all times, getting guys lined up, the why, we're calling certain things
07:09at certain times, be able to deal with that part of it.
07:12That's probably the most complicated part, to be honest with you.
07:14Dan Quinn spoke about, and we'll hear this, but they're going to do something where they
07:18cut out the feed so that you don't hear the call.
07:20What are you going to do?
07:21The play clock's running, the offense is lining up.
07:23How are you going to handle it?
07:24Those sorts of things that happen in an NFL game.
07:26Do that stuff first.
07:27Then we'll go, okay, on this next play, just go be an athlete.
07:31On that play, go be an athlete.
07:32That's one thing I really like, too, about Dan Quinn, as an aside, is I do think guys
07:37get really prepared in how thorough they coach things up when you're talking about in practices.
07:42Oh, our headsets are out.
07:44You call the play.
07:44That type of stuff.
07:46They also do way more situational football than previous regimes here that I saw did.
07:51I don't know if that's a changing sign of the times in the league.
07:55I know at one point last year, maybe it was a couple of years ago, actually, I texted Kirk
08:00Cousins, and I was asking him about this, and I'm like, hey, how much of this do you
08:03guys do?
08:04And he's like, the really good teams do that a lot.
08:06He's like, but it's still not something that every team does a ton, and he thinks it's
08:09kind of underused in terms of the situational elements of just practicing football situation.
08:16Third and seven.
08:16What are we doing?
08:17Third and nine.
08:18How do we get on and off the field for this field goal?
08:19I think Dan Quinn's always done a really, really good job of that since he's been here.
08:23This was Quinn today when asked about Antonio Williams and how he's going to slide into
08:28his role in this offense.
08:30Man, what a fit, I would say, first off, with Antonio, because this is a player that can
08:34play multiple spots at receiver.
08:37He's got experience outside.
08:38He's got experience playing inside in the slot.
08:41That type of versatility, John, that goes a big way.
08:44And seeing through the last few years, you know, the film from him at Clemson at both spots,
08:50demonstrated route running ability.
08:51We're really pumped to have him.
08:53They got to be right here.
08:54But the further we get away from the draft, where the day after the reaction was, it's
09:00a little surprising they didn't take someone who's going to play outside.
09:03It's pretty obvious.
09:04Not only do they think Antonio Williams will play outside, in addition to in the slot, where
09:09he ran 77% of his routes at Clemson last year, and a lot of teams viewed him as a
09:13slot
09:13only.
09:15But maybe that's what separated him.
09:17A lot of the other guys that you and I spent a lot of time talking about, Ted Hurst is
09:21just
09:21the first name that comes to mind, but there are plenty of others.
09:24They're not multiple or versatile enough to do everything, to play all three roles in
09:30the offense.
09:30And I think that is something, whether they're right or wrong, the football is going to determine
09:34that.
09:35And the football is coming.
09:35But that is something that they used as a separator for Antonio Williams.
09:40I think you said it very well.
09:41They have to be right about this.
09:42I mean, you could say that by any draft pick or whatever, but just it felt like there was
09:46more weight on this one, given what they've done at the position or haven't done over
09:49the last several seasons.
09:50Remember, their plan year one didn't include Noah Brown.
09:53That just happened.
09:54Maybe you could give him credit for knowing or thinking he was going to be cut, but the
09:58idea that he turned into a bona fide No. 2 receiver that caught the Hail Mary, you can't
10:02count on that when you're forming the roster here in the springtime, and that fell into
10:05their lap.
10:06Year two, I didn't think the plan was particularly good.
10:08The guys they drafted weren't ready or were never going to be ready or whatever.
10:11So here, this is kind of the, all right, you're still sort of, you acknowledge your
10:15week at the position.
10:16You want 30 million bucks for Pierce and he didn't sign.
10:19He went after Dobbs.
10:19He didn't sign.
10:21You kind of got to nail this one here because you've clearly been searching for it.
10:24You tried here this year to do it, and they think a guy that didn't really do
10:28this at Clemson is going to do it up here.
10:30And that's one of those, okay, you're kind of taking a bit of a
10:32risk.
10:33When you do that, you chose him over other guys that were available at that spot.
10:36You need to be right on that.
10:38Katron Allen, the running back from Penn State, the all-time leading rusher for the
10:42Nittany Lions, who was drafted in the late rounds by Washington.
10:46Despite an incredible college career, he's bigger.
10:49He's kind of the version of Chris Rodriguez from last year's offense that you
10:53expect to thump between the tackles.
10:56Has good vision, but he's never going to win a foot race.
10:59Didn't run a 40.
11:00Still waiting on his 40 time.
11:01He didn't run one leading up to the draft for good reason.
11:04You can tell Dan Quinn's a big fan of the player.
11:06I like a lot about his game, Nicky.
11:08First off, I think as a running back, there's some things that you really look for.
11:13First one is vision.
11:15You know, in the blocking scheme, sometimes the hole is so small, you know, to know that's
11:19the spot, that's the aiming point.
11:21Can I make a cut?
11:22Can I see a defender that's, you know, further on my backside to go?
11:26And that type of knowledge, that type of vision is a big deal.
11:31He's got demonstrated power, you know, in the backfield.
11:34So there's a lot that I like.
11:36I'm really excited to get started with him.
11:39Allen's going to have a chance to get carries if he has the type of camp and preseason that
11:43they want him to.
11:44You could slot him right into the Rodriguez role.
11:47My hope is that Bill separates himself more.
11:50So he gets another, let's just call it 25 to 50 carries.
11:54And now you got yourself basically an RB1 who goes for a thousand, eleven hundred, something
11:59like that.
12:00And then maybe a little less used than Rodriguez.
12:04But in that role, you've got Catron Allen as a rookie.
12:07I like that better because I want to try to hit doubles and home runs.
12:10And Bill can do that.
12:11And Allen's going to do less of that.
12:13But I do like this pick.
12:14And I do think in this offense, if they run it as much as I think they're going to,
12:18you want a David Montgomery to Bill's, I'm not going to call him Jameer Gibbs, but speedier,
12:24more effective, extra base hit propensity.
12:27It's thunder and kind of heat lightning during the summer.
12:29Not the strikes, but the stuff that goes up in the sky that you go, what was that?
12:32Thunder and a strobe light.
12:35Yeah, there you go.
12:35It's not lightning, but thunder and neon.
12:37Right.
12:39In the sixth round, by all means, that's totally fine.
12:43By the way, just as a quick side, isn't it amazing he's Penn State's all-time leading
12:46rusher with who they've had there with Barkley and Kajana Carter and a million guys in between?
12:50It helped, I think, that he was there as long as he was, too.
12:53Sure, but there's a little bit of that.
12:54Get a chance to go from get-go, though.
12:56You didn't have to beat anybody out, which is pretty remarkable.
12:58But back to the player.
13:00Again, I'm not an NFL coach.
13:01I'm not qualified to be.
13:02I'm not qualified to do much of anything.
13:04But you could tell this is the thing that they like.
13:07And they are just so enamored with the idea of this power back, this bruiser.
13:10Now, to me, what's exciting is when Dan Quinn said, pass pro.
13:14He said, you know, some of the nuances to step up there.
13:16That tells me they can do some things on first down.
13:19Whereas in years past, under Ron and even at times in this offense, it's, all right,
13:23certain running back is on the field.
13:24That means running play because we don't trust him to be in pass pro.
13:28And we're not going to throw at him either because we don't trust him on that.
13:30But anyway, good luck to all the rest of the players at this major obvious tell.
13:34If you can, you know, give me a little play action on first down, he can hold up and pass
13:37pro.
13:38That's more exciting to me.
13:39He had 80 more attempts than any back in Penn State history, playing in four seasons and
13:44playing a lot in all four seasons.
13:46Ran for 860, 900, 1100, and 1300 over four years, which isn't to take away from him.
13:53But that's how you get to be the all-time leading rusher at a program like Penn State, where
13:58they have had some superstars come through there.
14:01You think about Saquon Barkley and what he's become in the NFL as the leader, but there
14:06are some other really, really good backs in Penn State's history.
14:10Next, we'll get you a life update from the Grant and Danny radio program that you won't
14:15want to miss.
14:16This is the fan.
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