- 2 days ago
Ben Standig joins the show to discuss Washington's rookie mini camp and preview the upcoming schedule release.
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00:00Hey, what's up, Dave? Doing great. Thanks for having me.
00:03All right. So what is shaking with rookie minicamp?
00:09Yeah, I mean, that part's in the books.
00:14You know, it's always, to me, this is always basically like the equivalent of like freshman orientation at college.
00:20You know, it's not so much the homework and the studying as it is,
00:26is getting used to how the operation runs, learning, you know, where everything is.
00:32And, you know, getting for the team, obviously, getting their first look at these guys.
00:38They've either just drafted or signed as UDFAs, you know, getting their first look at them in the jerseys on
00:43their field
00:43and just kind of going through the basics, getting them ready so they're as up to snuff as possible when
00:49the vets show up.
00:49So what guys, whether draft picks or undrafted free agents, stood out to you at the camp?
00:59I know this is going to be a really boring answer, but...
01:02Well, instead of Sonny Stiles, okay? I'm going to take that off the table.
01:06Make it work a little bit.
01:09Oh, boy. Okay. Now I'm in trouble.
01:12Yeah. You know, I, you know, obviously you're trying to pay attention to some of the draft picks in particular.
01:19You know, again, it's not like a full-blown practice, but like watching Antonio Williams, you know,
01:24do his thing in terms of just, you know, getting off the line of scrimmage, the hands, you know,
01:30where he's catching the ball, you know, a couple times where he could see the burst.
01:34You can see where the traits that made him attractive to a team looking to get more pop at that,
01:40at that spot.
01:41I thought that Catron Allen, again, there's no, there's no pads, no tackling, all that.
01:47But like, from a build perspective, you can see where they could imagine him as like sort of the power
01:53option
01:54in the backfield to go with Ja'Cory Kroski, Merritt, Rashad White.
01:58Right. He's got that build, and that's his reputation of a guy that's hard to bring down,
02:03who's going to be able to give you some of that short yardage power between the tackles style of running.
02:09I think that is a, you know, an interesting element to see how that plays out with the rest of
02:16this group.
02:17And I won't mention, again, the first-round linebacker, but often a parrot around him was the fifth-round edge
02:25defender
02:26in Joshua Joseph, and, you know, the thing that stood out the most about styles, honestly,
02:31is just his height. You know, you could really see him.
02:34And with Joseph watching him and his length was pretty evident as well.
02:40And a guy, you know, he's going to have a pretty simple role in his rookie year.
02:46He'll get the quarterback, and in my view, the second part of that is get ready for 2027
02:53when we're going to need you more, when a lot of these defensive end edge types we have
02:58are overcoming free agents, we need to see you there.
03:01But, you know, again, from a traits perspective, the length, you know,
03:05you can see where they can envision him being a threat off the edge over time.
03:11All right, so why do they do these rookie minicamps?
03:15You said it's like orientation, but they did actually run them out there
03:18in some seven-on-seven drills, and there was some minimal contact going on.
03:23Are the coaches really looking at or for anything from the guys this early?
03:33Yeah, I mean, I think it's, you know, it's getting, like I said,
03:37it's getting used to, you know, the playbook with the systems.
03:42I think those things are important.
03:45I mean, obviously for the rookie camp, it isn't just about the six guys they drafted.
03:50You've got not even beyond the UDFAs.
03:53You've got all these tryout players, and maybe, you know, maybe none of them.
03:58Tryout players?
04:00Like not even UDFAs?
04:03Who are these guys?
04:04Guys off the street?
04:07Mostly there were guys who were also undrafted free agents,
04:10but they weren't signed to a...
04:12Oh, okay.
04:15Unsigned UDFAs.
04:16There are signed UDFAs, and then there are the unsigned guys where they're like,
04:21look, you can come in and run a 40 for us, but we're not paying you a nickel.
04:27Something to that effect.
04:28I mean, they're just guaranteed, you know, they're there for the day,
04:31and just like, you know, guys who come in and try out during the season,
04:35but they're here, they're there for three days, and obviously it's, you know,
04:39when you're running 11 on 11s at times, you need the bodies, right?
04:43So, you know, there's only six draft picks, and then nine guys who are UDFAs,
04:48and you need more to fill it all out.
04:51So, they have that.
04:52You know, they bring in a holder and a long snapper to help the kicker, you know,
04:55all these types of things.
04:57But, you know, sometimes guys do stand out enough to get signed to the 90-player roster
05:04that will expand into OTAs and minicamp and all that.
05:10So, there is that component as well.
05:13But, you know, I mean, like I said, it's, you know,
05:16the vets are already, like, around and in the building.
05:19I mean, this is not the formal part yet where they're allowed to work with the staff on the field.
05:26This is just getting the new guys a heads up, you know, or a leg up, I guess you could
05:29say.
05:30And, you know, what's interesting is, of course, with both sides of the ball having new coordinators,
05:37at least from a schematic perspective, everybody is to some degree starting on the same field, right?
05:44I don't mean the literal football field, but the same, you know, they're all starting at the same point
05:49when it comes to learning this system.
05:52Obviously, Blau may be a little bit different, but in general, that's how it is.
05:55So, yeah, I mean, it is just a lot of getting up to speed and, you know, getting these guys
06:00ready.
06:00And also from the coaches is getting a feel for who they are as people.
06:04You've got to learn how, you know, you can't just teach everybody the exact same way.
06:07You've got to learn how some guys are going to want to, or are cool with getting, you know, yelled
06:12at.
06:12Other guys, maybe it'll be a little more nuanced and go from there.
06:16Yeah, I think it's basically just sometimes coaches want to see how guys react.
06:22I think that's like when they brought all the guys, the 30 people in, and everybody was like mad.
06:29Well, you brought them all in at the same time.
06:30No, you want to see how guys react around other alpha males.
06:34You want to see how they react to stuff.
06:36And then when you bring the veterans in, that's another step of seeing Kenny handle the situation.
06:41And I believe that, you know, you start them off early, you put them out by themselves because all the
06:46rookies feel more comfortable.
06:48There are some rookies that are going to be intimidated by guys like a Sonny style.
06:52Now when you bring the veterans in, the guys that can't even break the huddle and remember to play, you
06:57don't want them around.
06:58You know early on, they gone.
07:01So this camp is like bringing a goldfish home for your tank but keeping it in the bag for an
07:08hour before you cut the bag open.
07:10Let's see if he's ready to go in for a while.
07:13So they're in the tank but they're still in the bag so they don't get harassed too much by the
07:18other fish.
07:18There you go.
07:19Okay.
07:19There you go.
07:19Okay.
07:20Also, I heard that Stiles has settled on number 52 to be his ultimate jersey.
07:26So even though you can't buy one right now, I don't think they've printed them up for mass sale.
07:30If you really wanted a custom one from NFLshop.com in the middle of May, 52 is safe.
07:36Is that correct?
07:38It would appear that way.
07:40You know, I think if he was zero at Ohio State, Mikey Sanders still has that here.
07:47If Sanders still somehow were to, you know, I don't know, decide to switch it for some particular reason, maybe
07:54his bank account gets bigger, who knows, then maybe Stiles would switch.
07:59But he basically was like, look, I didn't really even try to get it from Sanders still.
08:03That's his number.
08:04And then he said that when they were in a linebacker room meeting, and I guess on the wall, there
08:11was, you know, homages to various former linebackers, London Fletcher, LeVar Arrington, and others.
08:17And Stiles said he noticed that they were all, all their jersey numbers started with five.
08:22He's like, let's go that route.
08:23And then 52, you know, you remember Ray Lewis and Patrick Willis, the guys he rooted for or paid attention
08:29to growing up.
08:30So that's kind of where he landed there.
08:32So yeah, I think you're probably safe if you really, really have to go there this route or this early.
08:3752 for Stiles should be safe.
08:38But hey, like I said, nothing's official until they, you know, basically until the start of the season.
08:43I mean, 59 London's was available, LeVar's 56 was available, Ken Harvey rocked 57 back in the day.
08:52None of the 50s are actually retired, retired.
08:55They're just sort of like, I don't know about 55, though.
08:585-5, wasn't it?
08:59Andre Collins and I think, was it Kauffman?
09:02Going way back, it was Chris Hampton.
09:06Yeah, but it was forever ago.
09:08The NFL does allow linebackers to wear zero.
09:11But like you said, Ben, he would have to purchase the rights to that zero from, you know, San Russel.
09:18And I'm not sure that's going to work out because I'll never forget the Portis-Iffiani-Olete debacle.
09:26Where basically Portis comes to the skins from Denver, wants 26.
09:31Ife is wearing it as a DB and agrees to sell it to Portis.
09:37Portis then gets short-armed on the money and is like, I'll get it to you, man.
09:41I'll get it to you.
09:41I'll get it to you.
09:42And Ife takes him to court.
09:45And it was headed to trial in Maryland before Olete finally got all but two grand of his 20 grand
09:52that he was seeking.
09:54He got 18 of the 20.
09:56Hey.
09:57Actually, Portis gave him 20 up front.
09:59It was 40 grand, Ben, for the number.
10:02He gave him 20 up front, said, I'll get you on the back half, stiffed him on the back half.
10:08Olete then got cut.
10:10And Portis was like, well, I'm not going to pay you.
10:12And Iffiani's like, I'll take it to court.
10:14Yeah.
10:16I did not remember that story.
10:18Oh, yeah.
10:19Yeah, these kind of things happen.
10:21You know, it worked out for me.
10:23I was going to Philly.
10:25I showed up for my visit.
10:27The guy had number 30.
10:28When I came back to sign, he was gone.
10:31I didn't have a chance to offer him.
10:33Really?
10:34Interesting.
10:35No, no, no.
10:36He was still there.
10:37They had taken the number and gave him another one.
10:39What was your college number?
10:40One.
10:41Okay.
10:41Couldn't wear it when I came in, though.
10:43And how did you pick 30?
10:45I didn't.
10:46They gave me 30, and I'm like, okay, I'll rock that.
10:48Cool.
10:48Yeah.
10:49How many pieces of jewelry do you own with 30 on them?
10:53Maybe one or two.
10:54Okay, not much.
10:55Yeah.
10:55So no giant diamond and crusty.
10:57No, no.
10:58Whatever I have, my wife and my daughter's bought, I never purchased that.
11:01That's good.
11:02You know, you really...
11:02I have one thing that I wear a lot that I really, really earn.
11:07The Super Bowl ring.
11:08Well, yeah.
11:08Yeah, yeah, yeah.
11:09Right.
11:10But all the stuff I wear, I just, I never, I never purchased it.
11:13You're a man.
11:14You're not a number.
11:15Yeah.
11:15Like, don't get obsessed with a number.
11:17You're a man.
11:17Yeah.
11:17A full-grown man.
11:18Oh, yeah.
11:18With a life and a family and everything else.
11:20All right.
11:21Ben, I guess I got to go down this road.
11:23I saw where you were posting some IUK Instagram posts as we continue to read the tea leaves,
11:30look at the smoke signals.
11:32I've already tapped out in a previous fill-in experience here with JP on the entire IUK thing.
11:39Is there anything actionable in these latest posts?
11:41What do they show?
11:44No, there's nothing actionable.
11:46You can feel free to tune out whatever else I'm going to say here.
11:50I'm listening.
11:51I'm just not participating.
11:52I know fans want to know.
11:55Trust me.
11:56I, with you, I've tried to tap out.
11:58But, like, part of it is, like, there's this dead period.
12:01And, you know, there's nobody else to talk about it.
12:03We're all waiting to see what are they going to do in the ultimate receiver, whether it's him or someone
12:07else.
12:07Well, June 1.
12:08June 1 is an inflection point, Ben.
12:10Yeah, it's a day we can look forward to.
12:12We have to fake it until at least June 1 or a week beyond.
12:15But go ahead.
12:17Yeah, yeah.
12:17No, he, so first off, it showed him sort of standing there, like, head to toe, which is important in
12:25a sense,
12:25because the last time we saw photos of him, it was just sort of his face.
12:29These people took it as, ooh, he looked, yeah, and, you know, not to say I was doing, like, forensics
12:36work,
12:37but I did look back at, like, old pictures of him, but the 49ers, I was like, eh, I think
12:41it's just sort of the shape of his face, but whatever.
12:44Anyway, so this one, you know, he looks, you know, pretty trim.
12:48I don't know if it's football shape, per se, but he looks to be in pretty good shape.
12:51So there was that.
12:52The gist of it, though, was, and I don't know the context, he's standing there with a huge stack of
12:58money in his hand,
13:00like, almost like the fake kind of money, like if somebody's, like, in a movie going to Vegas and being
13:06like,
13:06all right, we're going to go take the house here.
13:09And then it shows he's counting the money, like, on the ground, and then at the end of it,
13:14it's a photo of two fancy watches that I've never owned, and maybe B. Mitch has got some, I don't
13:22know.
13:23But, like, two nice fancy watches that I'm sure cost a pretty penny.
13:27So that was the gist.
13:28I don't know beyond that what the message was, but, you know, at this point,
13:34any time he's, you know, showing himself out in the wild is something.
13:39It's the rare times, Abe, where I would love it if the athlete would show himself working out.
13:45I normally couldn't care less about him.
13:47Normally you hate the Instagram workout warriors because it's all fake and curated,
13:51but for once, we wouldn't mind seeing what Ayuk looks like running around cutting shirtless.
13:57Yeah, or just him doing it, you know, a sign of, because that's the thing,
14:01like, we're all this conversation about, is he going to come here?
14:04What are the 49ers going to do?
14:05So, I mean, from his perspective, I have no idea.
14:09We don't even know for sure what he wants to do.
14:11You know, he's been a silent partner, seemingly, in all of this.
14:15So, you know, that's been the thing with the 49ers.
14:18They're like, hey, we haven't seen him or talked to him in forever.
14:22So, yeah, that would be helpful if it was more than just,
14:25I'm out and about and living my life, which is cool.
14:27Mazel tov, good, do your thing.
14:29But from our perspective, it's like, uh, what?
14:32Yeah, and he is still, what are you doing?
14:34And he is still under contract with the Niners.
14:37See, that's the whole thing.
14:38He's under contract with them.
14:40And, like, I don't care to see the workout stuff.
14:44Because my whole thing, I've seen a lot of people work out on video,
14:47and then they get to camp, and they don't look like they can work out.
14:50Like they've been working out, and they can't play.
14:53If, I just hope that the team has a direct line.
14:58If they decide to make that move, he better come up and get ready to go.
15:02So, no one here, no, he's going to be in shape in two, three weeks,
15:05four weeks, months, none of that.
15:07The other guy who is, in theory now, kind of cleared to come
15:11would be Gaither's big zone, Stefan Diggs.
15:16That trial was a complete show.
15:18I didn't get a chance to talk to you about that.
15:20My daughter watched the whole thing.
15:21I mean, what a fiasco that is.
15:24Do you think they'll be interested in Diggs, Ben?
15:29Well, you know, look, if their goal is to upgrade that number two spot
15:34across from Terry McLaurin with somebody who they feel confident,
15:39at least from a football perspective, can play,
15:41I mean, this should be a relative no-brainer.
15:44He fits the bill.
15:44Yes, he does.
15:45Yeah, I mean, Diggs has had nothing but 1,000-yard seasons.
15:49I think going back to 2018, when he's played at least 10 games in a season,
15:54he was just on the New England Patriots this last year,
15:58helping Drake May get to win the AFC title, all those things.
16:02That said, you mentioned the off-the-field stuff.
16:06The trial aside, he seems to wear out his welcome wherever he goes.
16:11The fact that the Patriots, I don't know if they really tried to keep him or not,
16:15but they obviously went out and signed Romeo Dobbs to a big deal,
16:18being at Washington, and then this sounds like they're going to get A.J. Brown.
16:22So they decided, despite Diggs' help last year, they didn't bring him back.
16:27This is after, you know, some rocky exits elsewhere.
16:30So his reputation, I think, as like a locker room guy is probably a bit dicey
16:37or, you know, unsure.
16:39So in a general sense, you'd think, okay, I don't know that this is a guy
16:42that fits here based on all the culture talk we hear.
16:45But if you're going to go down the Brandon-Aiuk route, and again,
16:48I don't know these people as people, so it's only so much I can say
16:53or any of us can really say.
16:54But if you're going to bring in sort of that, you know, wild card element,
17:00why not go with the guy who's actually played since 2024,
17:03who's actually been a highly productive receiver?
17:06I mean, not that Aiuk wasn't before his injury, but, you know, it's been a minute,
17:11and he's not, you know, he disappeared.
17:13I mean, so, you know, that's the part to me.
17:16I would think that Diggs would be of interest, but, you know,
17:19they didn't show any of DeJuan Jennings, it seems, you know,
17:22it's already shown much in him, and, you know, similar kind of story.
17:25So, you know, you would think, yeah.
17:27All right.
17:28Ben, as always, it's a pleasure.
17:29Thank you, my friend.
17:30We'll talk again soon.
17:31Thanks, guys.
17:32Ben Standig, last man standing podcast as well on Substack,
17:36at Ben Standig on Twitter.
17:39All right, let's talk schedule coming up, B. Mitch.
17:41How much interest is there in Commander fans going to London,
17:44and what do you want in terms of the number of primetime games?
17:49There was a ton last year, and most of them went very, very poorly.
17:53We'll get into the schedule talk next.
17:54It's B. Mitch and Finley.
17:55Steve Zabin sitting in for JP.
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