- 3 hours ago
An ESPN article detailed the Commanders and free agent CB Trevon Diggs potentially being a good fit for Washington.
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00And ESPN took some of the best remaining free agents in football and assigned perfect fits for all of those
00:06players.
00:07The commanders were the perfect fit for just one of them.
00:10It was a Diggs and it wasn't Stephon.
00:13It was his brother, Trevon Diggs.
00:16Washington could view Diggs as a reclamation project.
00:19ESPN writes, helping him get back to being a true playmaker in the secondary.
00:24He's had 20 interceptions in six NFL seasons, including a league high 11 picks.
00:30In 2021.
00:31Remember that?
00:32Yes, I do.
00:33Gosh, five years ago.
00:34Who was the defensive coordinator there when that happened?
00:36Would have been Dan Quinn.
00:37Hmm.
00:38That's really interesting.
00:39Durante Jones is the defensive coordinator here now.
00:41Diggs can use man coverage traits, backfield vision to get a jump on the ball in the commander's pressure heavy
00:47scheme.
00:48However, he has plenty of availability concerns after spending at least a portion of the past three seasons on injured
00:54reserve.
00:55We've talked a lot about how badly they need help at wide receiver.
00:57You know that my feeling is they actually have a bigger need at cornerback.
01:02I think they need another veteran corner.
01:04So I actually like this.
01:05Sign me up.
01:06I'm very interested.
01:07The ask will be lesser of cornerbacks.
01:10I don't think Trevon Diggs' best days are ahead of him.
01:13But I don't know that they need to be.
01:15I think the way that ESPN writes this up, which is you're going to count on pressure.
01:20It's kind of a click and close situation on the back end where you're watching, you're spectating, you're dropping, you're
01:26driving and trying to hit guys as the ball gets there.
01:28Playing a lot of, you know, man on the outside and first 10 to 15 yards.
01:32And then after that, you're not worried because the pressure is supposed to be getting home.
01:36I think Diggs could fit.
01:38I do too.
01:39Again, you're not asking him to be what he was maybe a couple of years ago.
01:42That's always the thing.
01:43If the scheme demands that, hey, man, you're going to leave you on an island and you got a playmake
01:48and, you know, maybe you're a boomer bus, give up some stuff.
01:51Because people, you don't get 11 interceptions in a season without people targeting you.
01:55They weren't afraid of him.
01:56Even though he's picking the ball off all the time, he's still giving up, you know, all sorts of catches
02:00and yards and things of that nature.
02:02So it's kind of a push and pull.
02:04But if you could use a guy that's going to break a few on, you know, jump early on a
02:09few routes, break on a few routes, and maybe give up some things every now and again.
02:12If you need a playmaker, which I think the secondary does, I don't hate this at all.
02:16Again, because it's not going to cost you what it would have a couple of years ago.
02:19This is not a $20 million deal.
02:21This is an aftermarket reclamation project for a guy that's been injured a bunch.
02:25Again, go back.
02:26I use this name all the time.
02:27It's kind of funny how often he comes up.
02:29But Ron Everett actually did this really well with Ronald Darby, a guy whose reputation had kind of been damaged,
02:33been hurt a bunch.
02:34Hey, man, we need something from you.
02:36You need something from us.
02:37A place to show your wares.
02:38We could use some good cornerback play for cheap.
02:41Ta-da!
02:41He has a nice career after that.
02:42This is what Trayvon Diggs could use at this moment.
02:44A bit of a reclamation project.
02:46Who better than his former defensive coach, now the head coach here?
02:50Daris, tell Nate Elgin to put Ronald Darby mention on the board.
02:54It comes up a lot.
02:55The next time he does a Grant and Danny bingo buzzwords thing.
03:00For a guy that was here for a season, you get some mileage out of Ronald Darby.
03:03100%.
03:03I always do because it is the prime example of my reclamation project thing where the guy's desperate.
03:09He needs to clear his good name, so to speak.
03:11And the team's going, well, we can benefit from that.
03:13You give him a place to play, you get good production.
03:15Everyone gets something.
03:16Diggs, this past season, ranked 68th out of 114 corners overall.
03:21His coverage grade via PFF actually was pretty fine.
03:2445th out of 114.
03:26His pass rush grade I don't care about.
03:28They do that for guys that occasionally blitz off the edge.
03:30Run defense grade I care a lot less about, too.
03:33He's never really been an overly physical guy.
03:35He was 99th, I think, out of 114 in terms of how he played the run last year.
03:39But I'm not paying him to do that.
03:41I want him on the outside.
03:42I want him, you know, basically with his eyes to the backfield, kind of dropping, sinking his hips, turning and
03:48running.
03:48The 11-pick season is just not something a lot of guys in the league are capable of.
03:53I know it's a complete outlier.
03:54It's a complete fluke.
03:56Since then, he's had 3-1 and 2 interceptions over the last three seasons, which is more realistic.
04:02But how many guys have ever had 11 picks in a year?
04:05You've got to have legit ball skills.
04:07You have to have some intangibles, some feel, some understanding of what routes are being run.
04:13And, you know, just being Johnny on the spot is kind of a natural playmaker gene button you either have
04:18on your controller or not.
04:19He has also, as recently as 24, you know, 11 passes defensed in a season that year.
04:25So he's been around the ball, gotten his hand on the ball.
04:28Now, the big question to me is durability.
04:31Because he did miss seven games two years ago.
04:34He missed another eight games last year.
04:36I think you're probably, at this point of the offseason, whether it's 27-year-old Diggs from Gaithersburg, Maryland,
04:42played his college ball at Alabama, or any other corner, you're getting guys at a discount.
04:47Nobody's looking to break the bank right now because that already happened in free agency.
04:52There were a few waves that if everyone thought you could still do it.
04:56Remember, he ended up with the Packers at one point, had a weird falling out with the Cowboys after a
05:00contract.
05:01So I'm interested.
05:03I don't think you have to pay a lot.
05:04I kind of like that fit.
05:06A few other intriguing names here that I saw on this list.
05:09Vaughn Miller, who played last year in Washington, they're saying makes sense for the Chicago Bears.
05:13They write, the Bears are still awaiting the return of edge rushers.
05:17If two of them coming back from injury, including Shamar Turner, with a torn ACL.
05:21The team didn't take an edge in the draft.
05:22That could open the door for Miller as a sub-package player.
05:25Kind of the area of the depth chart where Washington needed him last year.
05:30Yeah.
05:30And people forget.
05:32I know it was the quietest nine sacks ever.
05:35I mean, it's library, whisper, quiet.
05:38Very much not impactful.
05:40But that's what happens when it's not his fault when you're 5-12 and you're picking where they picked and
05:44you're losing a lot of football games or whatever.
05:46But what might he have been capable of if they were closing out games, if they were in the lead?
05:50Normally, it's easier to be a pass rusher on a good team because teams are throwing it more often and
05:54you know they're throwing it.
05:55Maybe it's 10.5-11 sacks and a couple of them are louder.
05:58So, I would still have interest if I just needed someone to come in on passing downs.
06:03Von Miller proved to me last year two things.
06:05One, he's still got a little bit of a get-off.
06:07And two, he knows how to get to the quarterback.
06:10Yes, he does.
06:11You're almost 40 and you can get nine sacks on a bad team that doesn't win very often.
06:17You know something the guy across from you doesn't.
06:19It reminds me of Ronald Darby.
06:21I'm kidding.
06:21Come on.
06:21We're having some fun.
06:23You like Ronald Darby.
06:24We're having a good time.
06:27Yeah, your point about if you have a lead or as a defense force teams into something called third and
06:33long.
06:33It's been a while since that happened around here.
06:36What it means is the offense has a far distance to go, third and long.
06:41Let me be clear.
06:42Third and long is not a problem.
06:43They got that covered.
06:45It's the getting off the field on third and long that has been the issue around these parts for a
06:50few years.
06:50Yeah, there's a number of issues.
06:51There's not three scarier words in football than third and 15.
06:54As far as I'm concerned, the 17 yard cushion reception first down.
06:58That just means you get to stay on the field against Washington.
07:00Yeah, the teams are running against you.
07:02It's tougher to pass rush.
07:03And again, it was the most whisper quiet nine sacks in human history.
07:05But as a sub package pass rusher, you could do a lot worse.
07:09I blame Ronald Darby for that.
07:10It's Ronald Darby.
07:11Another old head, Bobby Wagner.
07:14They've got linked to the Jacksonville Jaguars as a fit.
07:18Nine and a half tackles per game last year for Bobby Wagner.
07:21Ranked sixth in all of football.
07:23They say he shows a year ago on tape that he can still help you out against the run.
07:29I completely agree with that.
07:31Limitations in coverage at this stage of his career that the Jaguars or anybody else would have to account for.
07:36But an early down defender, first, second down, I think you could do a lot worse than Bobby Wagner.
07:41Devin Lloyd, who was a mainstay in Jacksonville on the second level, got a three-year deal, 15 million per
07:46from the Panthers.
07:47They actually lost multiple linebackers in free agency this year.
07:52So Bobby Wagner is going to play.
07:54I think Jacksonville makes a lot of sense.
07:57He's one of the two former commanders on defense that were on this list.
08:00One other name that's interesting for Washington fans that was on, it's funny because a lot of their best players
08:05that left still haven't been signed.
08:07There's a theme there.
08:08Kind of tells you.
08:09Almost like being really old and having some red flags or whatever is problematic.
08:13Deebo Samuel.
08:14They got his best fit to the Indianapolis Colts.
08:17The Colts went out and signed Nick Westbrook-Akine this offseason.
08:21You've got Alec Pierce who they retained at about $30 million a year.
08:25Josh Downs is their slot man.
08:27Shane Steichen's a really sharp guy.
08:29Offensive play caller, designer.
08:31Maybe with Akine, Downs, and Pierce, you can use Deebo in that gadget role that Washington drew up for him
08:38before he basically had to become their de facto number one when Terry got hurt.
08:42I think it's a great fit.
08:43He's got to be on a pitch count now.
08:44You see what happens.
08:45He's going to wear down if he's a featured player.
08:47You can maybe get away with it for one week, but if you do it for consecutive weeks or a
08:52month, he's not going to be able to practice.
08:54He's going to get out of shape.
08:56He's going to get worn down.
08:56He's going to lose a step.
08:57And you never know when he's going to be himself.
08:59But if you keep him in that gadget role, kind of to your point where it's like you've got, just
09:05for the sake of argument, seven to eight looks per game where you may or may not get the ball,
09:09but it may be designed to go to you.
09:10The first read is to you.
09:12Maybe we end up going somewhere else with the play as the quarterback dictates.
09:15That's probably about right at this point.
09:17So the marketplace for him, I think, is sort of reflecting that.
09:19He is not a front-line receiver or player anymore for anybody.
09:22If he were to end up with the Colts, he'd have a game against Washington in London in week four.
09:27If Wagner ends up with the Jaguars, as predicted here, he would obviously be playing Washington week 17 in Jacksonville
09:33as well.
09:34One name I've been intrigued by for the commanders is Stephon Diggs.
09:38The problem with signing Diggs, and we'll talk about this later in the show, is that it would absolutely hurt
09:43Antonio Williams' role with this team.
09:45There's no ifs, ands, or buts about that, because Diggs plays inside and outside just like they want Williams to
09:50do.
09:51So you would stunt the development of your early round pick, which is why it makes a lot of sense
09:56probably to avoid Diggs.
09:58But if you want to sign a wide receiver who could be a pain and has been a malcontent, Ayuk's
10:03not the one I would go get.
10:04Diggs went for 1,000 yards last year.
10:06There is no injury concern with him like there is with Ayuk, but this actually makes a ton of sense
10:11to me.
10:11They like him to the Rams with Puka Nakua and Devontae Adams on the outside.
10:16The Rams threw the ball 430 times out of 11 personnel last year, which is three receivers.
10:21That was ninth most in the league, and he's one of those natural route running separators underneath.
10:27I think he would be a really good piece for Sean McVay.
10:30I don't know if they've had any talks with the Rams, but that feels like the perfect fit.
10:34Doesn't it?
10:34Yeah, you're going to a team that's ready made already to be towards the top of the NFL.
10:39And if he's willing to take on that third receiver slot, maybe a little bit outside, a couple stacks and
10:44bunches.
10:45And if he's willing to block for Sean McVay, then that could be an unbelievable fit.
10:48Because the receivers in McVay's system, you've got to work out there.
10:51You need to engage and block.
10:53And I don't know if that's Stephon Diggs' specialty at this stage, but he could still go get it.
10:57I mean, listen, he is not a downfield threat like he was when he was going for 1,500 yards.
11:01But the guy that he is is still an 80-plus catch, 1,000-yard dude, which they don't grow
11:05on trees.
11:06That's a great fit.
11:07I think he'd be a good fit anywhere.
11:08Grant and Danny on the fan.
11:10Joe House is on the show to talk Wizards with us at 3 o'clock.
11:13Next, though, we found out that the NFL draft in 2030 is going to be at a brand-new stadium
11:18in Nashville.
11:19What about the Commander's new stadium?
11:22When will it be able to hold the Super Bowl?
11:24That's next.
Comments