- 8 hours ago
Which Commander has the most to prove in 2026? Grant & Danny weigh in on the options.
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00:00John Coleman, receiver Buffalo Bills.
00:02Slow start to his career, to say the least.
00:04Still only 23, 33rd pick, second round 2024.
00:08He was meeting with the media yesterday, Danny,
00:10and they asked him how would he assess his performance last year,
00:12and he said, ass, which is succinct.
00:16Did they ask Danny Rouillet, fantasy owner?
00:18They had the exact same word.
00:21He didn't cut corners there.
00:23I mean, he pretty much told you how he felt.
00:24Talked about getting benched and how embarrassing that was,
00:27said his career's on the line in lesser words.
00:29But his takeaway on the year he's going into in year three
00:32is that it's a make-or-break year for him, and that makes sense.
00:3629 catches and 38 catches over the last two years,
00:39a combined 960 yards two seasons into his career
00:43as a 33rd overall pick.
00:46Mega disappointment.
00:47They went out and traded for DJ Moore.
00:49They've been desperate, ravenous for wide receiver help.
00:52Josh Allen is pushing a boulder uphill by himself.
00:55He's winning MVP awards because he's dragging a bunch of jags
00:58into a fight.
01:00There's plenty of opening for him to take over and help,
01:03and it hasn't happened.
01:04And so he's saying this is a make-or-break season,
01:07which he's correct about.
01:08Now, we're not on in Buffalo, and this isn't about the Bills.
01:11But I actually wanted to take what he said
01:13and make it about the commanders and localize here.
01:17Which players for Washington are going into gotta-have-it,
01:22now-or-never, make-or-break seasons?
01:26And we can open up the phones on this at 800-636-1067.
01:31That's 800-636-1067.
01:35I went through both sides of the depth chart,
01:38and I came up with six guys that I think are going into make-or-break years.
01:43There's another couple that I put in a maybe pile
01:46that, for differing reasons, I don't think are quite in that now-or-never mode.
01:51But I want to let you go first.
01:52Your number one Washington commander, make-or-break player in 2026 is?
01:57Johnny Newton.
01:58At some point, you're either the guy that they drafted in the second round,
02:02mind you.
02:02A second rounder that the selling point was,
02:05this would have been a first rounder if it weren't for some foot issue
02:08or some sort of setback, etc.
02:09What a find, what a star that we've got to kind of being an afterthought,
02:14to being out-snapped by Eddie Goldman and a bunch of other jags
02:16they got off the scrap heap.
02:17And he's buried now on the depth chart with other guys
02:20that are by far more featured in terms of this defense.
02:23Tim Settles back here, probably to play ahead of him at this point.
02:27He's in snap rotations with guys like Ricky Barber, among others.
02:31He's an afterthought now, and this was supposed to be the prince that was promised.
02:34He had officially three sacks in a game against the Cowboys on Christmas Day.
02:39If you actually go back and re-watch, it's like a four-sack game.
02:41He was great.
02:42Because of a technicality.
02:43But yeah, he was in that game.
02:45He made nine tackles.
02:48Nine.
02:49He had 38 tackles all season.
02:51That was a, I think, a four-sack.
02:53Nine-tackle game where he had two TFLs.
02:57He had five hits on the quarterback.
03:00Utterly dominant.
03:01Aaron Donald watches that tape and goes, whoa.
03:05They're pretty good.
03:05Who's number 95?
03:06This guy can play.
03:08Only 23 years old and was drafted just outside of the first round.
03:12I always say when you're in the top 35, 36 like he was,
03:15you're basically a first-round pick.
03:17I mean, you're taken within five picks of someone
03:19who gets to claim being a first-rounder for their whole life.
03:22So he's a very, very early second-rounder.
03:25But you're right.
03:26Totally a now-or-never guy.
03:28Because take that three-sack game out of the equation,
03:31he's got four other sacks and 32 other games in his entire career.
03:34And a whole bunch of guys that went not very far after him
03:37have been awesome.
03:38Right?
03:38I mean, awesome.
03:39I bring up sacks for him as a D-tackle,
03:41not normally what you're paid to do,
03:42because that's the calling card.
03:44Yeah, he's the disruptor.
03:45He's not a stout, smart card.
03:47No.
03:47And he's, frankly, he's struggled immensely against the run.
03:50It's why they went and got Tim Settle to play in those situations.
03:52You can have Kinlaw's size, Settle, or Payne.
03:55You can have a man who kicked inside, or they've used guys like Sheldon Day,
04:01or whoever it's going to be, on rundowns,
04:03because Johnny Newton should be a pocket-pushing disruptor.
04:07I like that word.
04:08A guy that's going to live in the backfield and a penetrator.
04:10And that's why they drafted him at 36.
04:12But it just has not happened.
04:14So that's a good one.
04:15Johnny Newton, definitely a prove-it-year, now-or-never, make-or-break guy.
04:20I'll go to the other side of the ball.
04:22Ben Sinnott.
04:24If Ben Sinnott does not show this season in a new, more tight-end-friendly,
04:30more Ben Sinnott-friendly offense, that he can play and catch passes in this league,
04:36it's not happening.
04:37And we all need to just keep it moving.
04:40That he'll be in the league.
04:41He'll block.
04:42He'll be a third tight end.
04:43He'll catch 15, 18 balls a year somewhere.
04:46He'll be watching NFL red zone in four seasons,
04:49and you'll see he'll catch a first-quarter touchdown for the, you know, Browns or something.
04:55That's in his future.
04:56But you're not going to make fetch happen.
04:59Unless, maybe with a new offense, with David Blau,
05:03with the tight end coming into vogue a little more in their passing game,
05:07with Ben Sinnott being a better fit.
05:08Is this a year where, all of a sudden, 18 combined targets over two seasons becomes 50
05:15as the number two guy to Chigakonkwo?
05:1716 catches over the last two years.
05:19Maybe you double that this year.
05:21He catches 32, 34 balls, something like that.
05:24You've got to prove it, man.
05:25I get that he's not 24 until June.
05:28He's still very young.
05:29But when you're chosen where he was at that position,
05:33as a tight end in the top 50-ish,
05:36who's 53rd overall in the mid-second round,
05:40you don't get three years to not produce
05:42and just still be considered a big-time prospect.
05:45It either happens this year for Ben Sinnott,
05:48or it's not happening.
05:49That's a great one.
05:50And I've kind of had the ship sail on that one
05:53because they went and got Chigakonkwo,
05:54and Bates is now the second tight end in blocking situations.
05:58You know, he's fighting with Colson Yankoff for playing time.
06:02Johnny Newton's more buried right now than Ben Sinnott is
06:04by that standard.
06:05You know what I mean?
06:06Yeah, but you're not playing, you know,
06:07well, the rotation's not the same.
06:09I mean, it's going to be Payne and Kinlaw and Amenahu.
06:12I mean, Johnny Newton's going to have a hard time
06:14getting in where he fits in early this season
06:16unless he really shows something.
06:17I think so, too.
06:17But the semantics to debate the two, I'm just saying,
06:19I think both of those guys right now are buried on the depth.
06:22Oh, 100%, yeah.
06:23But my point is with Sinnott, I'm not doing a,
06:25hey, it's make or break.
06:26Like, I think it's broken, and I think the ship is sailing.
06:29I think they do, too.
06:29I think a lot of people could say that about a lot of the guys
06:31we're going to talk about.
06:32Fair enough.
06:33Here's the next one.
06:34This might be a little bit controversial.
06:35People may not like this one.
06:36Mikey Sanders still.
06:38We've gone from what an asset, how awesome is this,
06:41to we think we've got something.
06:43The reason I say make or break is,
06:45are we sure we don't need to do better
06:48than a guy they thought was going to be a slot corner,
06:50who's not, it doesn't seem,
06:53who's maybe going to play on the outside here,
06:56and we don't know if he's special or not.
06:58Again, good dude, seems by all accounts
07:00to be a perfectly solid player,
07:01but if you aspire to be a first division club,
07:04in this division alone,
07:05you've got to deal with CeeDee Lamb and Pickens
07:07and, you know, not an A.J. Brown for long,
07:09but Makai Lemon and Devontae Smith
07:11and Malik Neighbors and a whole bunch of guys.
07:13There's some pretty good receivers in the old NFC,
07:15not to mention the rest of the league.
07:16Like, you're going to get tested,
07:18and if this is one of those down years again,
07:21or, you know, maybe even better or worse than last year,
07:24you might start shopping at the cornerback aisle again.
07:27So I think that that's a good one
07:29if we're changing the eyeline considerably.
07:32In other words, when you say Johnny Newton,
07:35it's make or break as to are you a bust?
07:37You know what I'm saying?
07:38Like, are you a guy that's going to play a lot
07:40and start in this league?
07:41With Ben Sinnott, make or break as to
07:45whether or not you can make good on where you were drafted
07:47and how much can you actually help?
07:49I think Mikey Sanristill has already put enough
07:52hay in the barn
07:53and has done enough that he is a...
07:56Like, you could put him in pen.
07:58That is a quality NFL football player.
08:01But if you're saying,
08:02was year one real
08:04because year two was a loud regression?
08:07Was the player we saw in the first season,
08:09the actual player,
08:11like, is that who he is or not?
08:12Make or break to get back to that?
08:14That's fair.
08:15By that standard,
08:15you could put Jaden Daniels in this conversation.
08:18But he's already proven, I think,
08:20that he's really good in year one.
08:22He just didn't do that in year two, right?
08:24Like, what's the difference there?
08:25My threshold, I guess, is a lot lower.
08:27I didn't have Sanristill on this list
08:29because I put him on a list of guys
08:30that I think has already done enough
08:32that I feel like that's a good football player.
08:35I hear that.
08:36I mean, to me, I'm kind of going,
08:38he was drafted to be a slot cornerback,
08:39probably won't be,
08:40and we decided because he's serviceable on the outside,
08:44oh, we have something.
08:45We make this mistake a lot of times as a fan base,
08:47I think,
08:47where just because the guy's starting
08:49means that he's quality
08:50or towards the top of the league
08:51or whatever,
08:52just because we know the name.
08:54I mean, this to me is a,
08:55do we have a really good outside corner
08:58or is this in the closer to just a guy,
09:00perfectly fine,
09:01but you'd like to do better kind of camp.
09:02So you're right,
09:03it's probably too harsh for make or break.
09:05Luke McCaffrey,
09:06make or break.
09:07Yep.
09:08He is in the Ben Sennett bucket
09:10on offense of very little production
09:13through two seasons.
09:14Now,
09:15McCaffrey was drafted at pick 100,
09:17which is the equivalent of like
09:19an early fourth round pick.
09:20It was the extra picks after round three,
09:22essentially.
09:23He's listed as a third rounder,
09:25but a third rounder could be pick 65.
09:27You know what I'm saying?
09:28The difference between that and pick 100
09:30is quite literally an entire round
09:33of an NFL draft plus some.
09:35But while there was growth last year,
09:37not statistically,
09:38because he only played in nine games
09:39and he got hurt.
09:40He was a lot better though
09:42and made more flash big plays.
09:44The diving catch against the Chargers,
09:46the long catch and run touchdown
09:48against the Bears,
09:49had a big play against the Raiders,
09:51went from zero touchdowns
09:52to three touchdowns
09:54all in the span of a month
09:55before he got hurt.
09:56So I think when you go back
09:57and you look,
09:57you go,
09:58okay,
09:58there was some signs
09:59that he kind of broke out.
10:00He was way better in games
10:01than he was at camp.
10:02He was kind of the opposite
10:03of Jalen Lane for me in that regard.
10:04Out at training camp, Danny,
10:06he's not separating,
10:07he's not getting open
10:07and I'm going,
10:09I don't feel good about this McCaffrey thing.
10:10I actually thought there was a chance
10:11he might not make the team at one point.
10:13And then when the games were being played,
10:15he was clearly way ready
10:16or more ready for the lights
10:18than Lane
10:18and a couple of the other
10:19younger receivers that they had
10:21that they called up.
10:22He's 25,
10:24but the make or break for him
10:25to me is pretty simply like,
10:27are you a starting receiver
10:28in this league
10:28in 11 personnel?
10:29Three guys are on the field,
10:31two on the outside,
10:32one in the slot.
10:33Are you one of them
10:34or are you a fourth
10:35and fifth receiver
10:35who is a kick returner
10:37and hangs around in the league
10:38because you're an awesome dude
10:39and you're a McCaffrey?
10:39You know what I'm saying?
10:40Yes, I do.
10:41What is the future
10:42for Luke McCaffrey?
10:43We're going to find that out
10:44once and for all,
10:45I think,
10:45this season.
10:46Yeah,
10:46it's wide open
10:47for him to do so.
10:48No disagreement there.
10:49He was on my list as well,
10:50figured you would use it,
10:51so I kind of went off
10:52the beaten path a little bit.
10:53Again,
10:53speaking of one
10:54that I'm betting
10:55you don't have,
10:56but year one,
10:58awesome.
10:58Year two,
11:00bitter disappointment
11:00and we expected huge things.
11:02Frankie Louvu.
11:04Are we sure?
11:06Again,
11:06year one,
11:07eight sacks.
11:07We go next year,
11:09talking about last year,
11:09here's the plan.
11:11He's unleashed.
11:12He's downhill.
11:13He's hunting the quarterback.
11:14Three sacks,
11:15half the tackles for loss,
11:16non-impactful.
11:17Biggest thing he did
11:18was get fined
11:19for hip drop tackles
11:20last season.
11:21He was an underrated
11:24huge disappointment
11:24last year
11:25for a defense
11:25that really,
11:26really struggled
11:26and was awful.
11:27Everyone wants to point
11:28to injuries.
11:29Rightfully so,
11:29they got injured a lot.
11:30He didn't.
11:31Played all 17 games
11:32and was way less effective
11:34year over year.
11:35Last year of his deal,
11:36are you getting a new one
11:37or are you kind of
11:38an afterthought
11:38that just sort of
11:39into the ether free agency
11:40where you're now
11:41somebody's,
11:42I don't know,
11:42you're somebody's
11:43Jeremy Reeves
11:43at the linebacker spot?
11:44It's an interesting one.
11:45You're right,
11:45I don't have him on the list
11:46because he's a veteran.
11:47He's been around forever.
11:48He's a proven commodity.
11:50He's going into a contract
11:51year, by the way,
11:51year three of a three-year deal,
11:52but that's where you could
11:53go make or break
11:54in terms of
11:55is he going to be here
11:56beyond this season?
11:57I would say right now
11:58the signs point to no
12:00because they went
12:00and got Leo Chennault,
12:01they drafted Sonny Stiles,
12:03they've got Jordan McGee
12:04kind of waiting
12:05in the wings as well.
12:06So this feels like
12:07his last ride,
12:09so to speak,
12:09but if he had
12:10a monster campaign
12:11and he's a perfect fit
12:12for Durante Jones,
12:13which a lot of people
12:13think he will be,
12:15then maybe it's
12:16make or break
12:16to get that payday
12:17or something like that.
12:18I have three other guys
12:20that are younger players
12:21in the league.
12:22One of them is
12:23Brandon Coleman.
12:24Brandon Coleman
12:25was a very solid
12:26left tackle.
12:27They traded for
12:28Laramie Tunsil,
12:28no problem there.
12:29They moved him
12:30to the right side.
12:31After telling him
12:32he was going to be
12:32the right tackle,
12:33they drafted Josh Connerly
12:34and called him again
12:34and said,
12:35whoops, never mind,
12:36now you're a left guard.
12:37And then he was a left guard
12:38for like eight minutes
12:39before they benched him
12:40and went to a seventh round pick
12:41from a previous regime
12:42in Chris Paul
12:43and made him the left guard.
12:45And so Coleman
12:46has effectively
12:47been a left tackle,
12:48not anymore,
12:49a right tackle,
12:50not anymore,
12:50and a left guard,
12:51not anymore.
12:52I could see him
12:53pushing and overtaking
12:54Chris Paul
12:54as the year goes on
12:55because I want my
12:56third round offensive lineman
12:57to be a starter.
12:58I know that they'll sell it
12:59as a win
13:00if he's a swing tackle
13:01or can play
13:02at three positions.
13:03The sneaky thing
13:04about Brandon Coleman
13:04to me is
13:05I seem to like him
13:05more than they do.
13:06I think he's always
13:07played well when he's played.
13:08Seems like every time
13:08he's in the game
13:09he does fine.
13:10They always seem to want
13:11someone else to play
13:12at the position he's playing at
13:13or at least that's
13:13how it's worked out.
13:14But when I say
13:15make or break for him
13:16I do feel better
13:17about him
13:18as a starter
13:19than I do say
13:19a Sinnott,
13:20a McCaffrey,
13:21some of the guys
13:22on this list.
13:23But if we get
13:24to the end of this year
13:25and yet again
13:26he's not starting
13:27and now you're just
13:28three years into
13:28your NFL career.
13:29By the way,
13:29this is like the entire
13:3024 draft class
13:31I'm realizing
13:31outside of Jaden Daniels.
13:33But if you get
13:34to the end of this season
13:35and you're not starting still
13:37all right,
13:37then you're just
13:38a versatile backup
13:39who can be plugged in
13:40to play a few spots.
13:42Which is fine.
13:43I could have found that
13:44in the fifth round
13:44probably.
13:45But if he's a little
13:46higher ceiling,
13:47I got no problem
13:48with depth.
13:48I got no problem
13:49with a win of a pick
13:50if he provides value
13:52at a few spots
13:53and some position flex.
13:54But I do put him
13:55in my category
13:56of make or break
13:57commanders.
13:58We'll get to the
13:59final two I have
13:59and whatever you've got
14:00left on your list
14:02next as well.
14:03And we'll take
14:03some calls on this.
14:04800-636-1067.
14:06The question for you guys,
14:08this is based on
14:09Keon Coleman saying
14:10this is a make or break
14:10year for his career
14:11in Buffalo.
14:12Who would you say that
14:13about for the commanders?
14:14This is the fan.
14:15Thanks.
14:15Thanks.
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