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The Sports Junkies debate if the Commanders are lacking playmakers.
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00:00He tweeted 18 hours ago, and again, he's at IHarditz, H-A-R-T-I-T-Z on Twitter.
00:08All right.
00:09If we ranked every team's collective running backs, wide receivers, and tight ends.
00:13Collective.
00:14Commanders coming in 31st, question mark.
00:19So not the quarterback, just the skill position.
00:21Yes, RBs, tight ends, tight ends.
00:24I think it's probably fair.
00:26They don't have the best in any position.
00:31Probably most of the positions.
00:32I think the receivers probably bring that ranking down because of just the lack of depth
00:37and uncertainty of who's going to be the number two, three, and four.
00:41But I think the running back room is better than that.
00:43I think they'll outperform that a little bit, but let's just go with it and say it's true.
00:47He's not leaving out the most – he's leaving out the most key ingredient, which is the quarterback.
00:51Yeah, sure.
00:52And it makes me think of years, say, in New England where Brady didn't necessarily have
00:59the best wide receivers, didn't necessarily have the best cropper running backs.
01:02He had Gronk, but they kind of made it work.
01:05And JP's brought up many times, like, Jaden elevated a very pedestrian cast of wide outs
01:10when he was a rookie.
01:11And maybe – I mean, maybe Adam Peters is thinking the same thing will happen in 2026.
01:18I kind of feel like this is a better group than that.
01:22Chig needs to really come through.
01:23If he doesn't come through, that's going to be – you can't replace the Ertz numbers.
01:27I think he's going to be a football part of the offense.
01:29I understand why he's saying – you know, question mark.
01:32He's asking, is that possible?
01:33Because there's no huge – besides Terry, there's no big names.
01:36But I just think collectively they're better than 31st.
01:41Who does he have right ahead of him?
01:43No, he's just asking.
01:44He doesn't have a list.
01:45Oh, he doesn't have a ranking.
01:45He doesn't have a ranking.
01:46He just has – he's just thinking.
01:48He's kind of – he's just saying only the Dolphins are worse.
01:52The skill positions.
01:54When you take quarterback out of the equation.
01:56Maybe he's right.
01:57Yeah, I mean, the Dolphins have traded away.
01:59Take offense to it.
02:00They traded away Waddle to the Broncos.
02:01Tyreek Hill is no longer there.
02:03They're starting from scratch.
02:06The only skill player of note that they really have is Devon HM.
02:09He's great.
02:10He's really good.
02:11I'm looking –
02:12That's about it.
02:12I mean, they've got – he's got the Raiders ahead of him.
02:14I mean, I'm sorry.
02:15I mean, the Raiders have Brock Bowers, but Jack Beck, Trey Tucker, Jalen Naylor.
02:22Do they have an RB?
02:24RB?
02:24Well, RB is going to be – it's Jente.
02:26I mean, I think they've got a top-rated guy.
02:28But Jente didn't do anything.
02:29Okay, but they've got a top-rated guy in Bowers.
02:32I'm looking at one list.
02:33He's legit.
02:33Chig is ranked 24th best tight end.
02:37So, if you just went by individual, if you then went receiving core, where's their receiving core?
02:42You know, it's going to be in the lower third.
02:45I would agree with that.
02:47I'm just saying – I'm not saying they're top 10.
02:49I'm just saying 31 seems pretty low.
02:51I just think it's going to be good enough.
02:53Because as you bring up the 24 – I mean, the 24 team was led by Terry and Zach Ertz.
02:58But after that, it was Zacchaeus, Noah Brown, De'Ami, Brian Robinson, Eckler, you know, played some at some.
03:08But I think his impact was overall a lot less than what people expected.
03:14So, I think it's a similar group.
03:16Jaden just balled out and elevated everyone.
03:18It's going to need that again, for sure.
03:21Yeah, I mean –
03:22And I do think Chig will be good.
03:23I think he's a good addition.
03:24I think, as you say, people seem to be really intrigued by what White's going to bring, their running back
03:29room.
03:30I think he just brings an Eckler-like element to the backfield.
03:34I think Antonio Williams is going to be an impactful player.
03:37I don't know.
03:38I'm somewhat encouraged.
03:40Look, offensively, they finished 22nd in points scored.
03:46So, they weren't a 31st team.
03:48And that was with a major injury.
03:50It was a big-time letdown that they only were scoring 21 points a game.
03:55Yeah, well.
03:5622nd.
03:57Their best two players were hurt.
03:58Correct.
03:59I would not be shocked at all if, in the next month, month and a half, if Adam Peters adds
04:04one of these free agent names that's still out on the wideout market.
04:07Still can't believe they're out there.
04:08I mean, why wouldn't you add Stephon Diggs on a one-year deal or a two-year deal?
04:13I don't know.
04:14It's kind of inexplicable to me.
04:15Why don't they just get it done?
04:16What are we waiting for?
04:17I guess they're waiting for the IU situation to play out.
04:19Of course, IU could be traded here.
04:21Or he could be released and they pick him up.
04:23Like, he could be a guy that impacts the wideout group here.
04:27This is why I asked you earlier if the defense might be the strength of the team over the offense.
04:33Because a lot of people probably look at the offense and go, it's okay.
04:38I think it's going to be better than okay.
04:39I think as long as you have Jaden, it's going to be the strength.
04:43I think he's the best player on the team.
04:44It's also probably underrated.
04:46Now, part of it is that Mariota and Jaden ran.
04:49But they finished fourth in rushing last.
04:51I mean, your guy, Bill, ran for...
04:54900?
04:55Like, in the 800s.
04:57I think he scored eight touchdowns.
04:58Although, by the way, I believe he was watching yesterday.
05:01I think he might be nursing something.
05:03It's possible.
05:04I thought I heard that.
05:06I mean, obviously, it's early.
05:07It doesn't matter.
05:07But it's something worth noting.
05:10I mean, Bill was probably...
05:12I mean, how could he not be the best value pick of last year's NFL draft?
05:16Yeah, I don't know.
05:17For his production?
05:19Seemed pretty good.
05:20He picked in the seventh round.
05:20The guy gives you eight end zone trips and was pretty respectable as a rusher.
05:25Seemed pretty darn good.
05:26I mean, he averaged 4.6 yards a pop.
05:28I mean, you couldn't ask for a better rookie campaign from Bill.
05:32No.
05:32Hopefully, he builds on that in year two.
05:35But it's...
05:37I'm not going to argue if they want to say it's 31st and you take the quarterback out.
05:41Fine.
05:41I can see why he would speculate that they're in that territory.
05:45Probably weren't ranked very high in 24.
05:48Maybe higher because guys like Eckler had named.
05:51But Eckler didn't really produce all that much.
05:54Well, that's why we all talked about them upgrading in the draft.
05:57Now, they didn't do it with their first round pick.
05:59But we knew that they needed to get a receiver.
06:01So they do it with their third round pick.
06:02So this is a guy that's just speculating.
06:04I mean, if Chig works out and Antonio Williams works out, then all of a sudden that offense looks a
06:11lot better.
06:12And White.
06:13And White contributes the way they think.
06:15They knew they needed to upgrade.
06:16That's why they made the free agency moves.
06:18That's why they made the draft pick.
06:21What did we order?
06:22We averaged 22 points per game last year.
06:24The year before, we averaged 29.
06:26We got to return to like at least 25, 26.
06:30That's a good.
06:31I feel like that's fair.
06:32And they will.
06:33They will.
06:34I feel like that's fair.
06:35If Jaden plays 14, 15 games.
06:37Don't you think they will?
06:38They might be 27.
06:38I think they should bounce back into that range.
06:41Yeah.
06:42And I just think the defense is going to hold teams to a lot less than what they held teams
06:47to this past year.
06:48Hope Sonny Styles is a stud.
06:50He's going to be.
06:51I mean, last year was such a disaster.
06:54God bless you.
06:54Excuse me.
06:55I mean, the sense that, you know, Mariotta played 11 games.
06:58I mean, if your backup quarterback plays 11 games.
07:00Of course your numbers are going to be down.
07:01It's over, Johnny.
07:02That's why I can't really compare numbers from last year.
07:06You can't.
07:08I mean, it was just a total disaster.
07:11Yeah.
07:13I just think 31 is way too low.
07:16And I agree.
07:17Chig's going to have a big year.
07:18Well, 31 might be fair for that group, but they're not going to be the 31st-ranked offense.
07:23That's what I mean.
07:24Yeah.
07:25I don't think that at all.
07:26800-636-1067.
07:28It's hard to compare because all of these players haven't played together yet, and you've got a new offensive coordinator.
07:34So I understand there's speculation, and there's a question if they can be as good as two years ago.
07:41But look at what they did two years ago.
07:43And in my opinion, I mean, obviously Terry had a huge year that year.
07:47But I think this is better than that cast overall.
07:52If you just looked at total points last year, if you averaged 25 points, where would that put you?
08:00That would put you in almost the top 10.
08:04The Niners averaged 24.9 points per game.
08:07That's a good – so did the Ravens.
08:0924.9 for the Ravens, 25.7 for the Niners.
08:14Well, and they had quarterback issues.
08:19Brock Purdy was out for a lot of the seasons.
08:21Yeah, I mean, Matt Jones was filling in.
08:22Yeah, so if Purdy's there for the entire year, it's probably up a couple points.
08:26Weren't those all playoff teams, the Ravens and Niners?
08:31Did the Bears make it?
08:32I can't even remember.
08:34The Bears missed, right?
08:38Ravens were in the playoffs.
08:39The Cowboys were not.
08:39The Cowboys averaged 27.7.
08:43Here's my thing on Chig.
08:45You guys seem higher on Chig than me.
08:47Chig may be fine.
08:49I just don't know that he's going to be any better than what Zach Ertz has been.
08:54Oh, I think he's going to be more impactful.
08:56He might not score as many touchdowns, but he's going to average more yards per catch.
09:01He's going to average way more yak than Zach Ertz ever did.
09:05Probably the yak, but they averaged, and I know this is just looking at statistics,
09:09they averaged basically the same yards per catch.
09:11Yeah.
09:12So it wasn't like Chig was going downfield, and this is maybe a dumb concern, I'll admit it,
09:18but he wasn't even really the number one guy there.
09:22And you look at these rankings.
09:23A tight end in Tennessee?
09:25Yeah, I guess he was.
09:26He had the most catches of the tight ends.
09:28I'm looking at these rankings.
09:30This is one person's rankings.
09:32He's in tier five for him.
09:35The company that they believe Chig is with is with guys like, and these guys contribute.
09:40I'm not saying they don't contribute, but he's in a pool with Jonu Smith, Isaiah Likely,
09:48Kate Otten, Micah Sicki.
09:51It's probably just based on numbers.
09:52I also look at the quarterbacks that were delivering him the ball while he was there.
09:56Guys like Will Levis, Tannehill at the end of his career, and Cam Ward.
10:03Yeah, I think that Adam Peters has baked in that this guy with Jaden Daniels at the helm of the
10:10offense,
10:10he's going to make a step in production in both yardage, catches.
10:16I don't know if he's going to be as impactful touchdown-wise as Eckert's,
10:19but I think he's going to put up big numbers in this offense, potentially.
10:24I mean, he had 56 catches on 79 targets from a quarterback who completed less than 60% of his
10:30passes, a rookie.
10:31Right.
10:31I would say if he has less than 60 catches, and 60 is only one more than that, that would
10:35be a disappointment.
10:36Yeah, I think he's going to, yeah, I agree.
10:39I think he's going to be in the 70 range.
10:41Right, but last year he averaged 10 yards per catch.
10:43Yep.
10:44Zach Ertz averaged 10.1.
10:46I just don't see a big difference.
10:49Well, let's see.
10:49Let's see.
10:50Maybe you'll be right.
10:50Like, it seems like a lot of people are expecting him to be a lot better than Zach Ertz.
10:56And maybe you're disrespecting what Zach Ertz did here in Washington.
10:59No, Ertz was very good.
11:00I don't think there's any doubt, though, he's going to be better with the ball than Ertz.
11:04Maybe they were running different routes.
11:05I don't know.
11:05You know, I'm not an offensive coordinator.
11:07I couldn't break down.
11:07That would be my perception, too.
11:09Yeah.
11:09But then, I mean, this is not a small sample size.
11:12Right, but I think everyone understands that Chig's going to be better,
11:16after the catch.
11:17Even without the numbers, I think you're going to watch games,
11:19and you're going to see Chig make plays, and you're going to say,
11:23Zach Ertz never could have done that.
11:24Yeah, but in four seasons.
11:25Maybe at his peak, but not when he was here with the commanders.
11:28You can blame it on the quarterbacks, but four seasons is a lot of seasons.
11:31And he's played in every game.
11:33So, durability, great.
11:3517 games every season.
11:37His career average is 10.4 yards per catch.
11:41Right, but it's not like there's this big jump from what Zach Ertz was giving you.
11:44Yeah, but I think what they're looking for is the difference is after he catches the
11:48ball, breaking tackles, that's going to be yards after contact.
11:50Look at the difference in that number.
11:52That's where I think you're going to see the difference.
11:54And he breaks tackles, something that Zach Ertz was impossible for him.
11:56So, Zach Ertz's talent was getting open.
11:59Yeah, but Zach Ertz's talent was getting open, and they're just getting tackled.
12:03Hopefully, this guy could get open and then take off.
12:05You have a weird Zach Ertz hang-up for some reason.
12:08No, they're both getting, like, my point is, if I throw a ball to Jason.
12:13You can't bring Zach back.
12:14If I throw a ball to Jason, and he gives you five, I throw a five-yard pass, and he
12:19drags a tackler for five yards, that's 10 yards.
12:22If I throw it to you, you run a pattern 10 yards, and you just go right down like Zach
12:27Ertz.
12:2810 yards is 10 yards.
12:29But if you ask any offensive coordinator, anyone that has a job in the NFL or college,
12:35do you want a guy that can break tackles and actually has GAC capability instead of a guy
12:40who just falls down when he gets the ball?
12:41They're going to take the Chig model over the old Zach Ertz model 100 times out of 100.
12:47Despite what the numbers say.
12:49His numbers were just average, I get it, but the quarterbacks that were thrown to him
12:52were below average.
12:54Yeah.
12:55It has a lot to do with it.
12:55He should be taking a quantum leap quarterback-wise.
12:57I mean, he could have been open 20 yards down the field, and the quarterback didn't get
13:00to him.
13:01Right.
13:01All right.
13:01Well, one guy had, in the last two seasons, 11 touchdowns.
13:05Chig's got eight in his career.
13:07Yeah.
13:07Four seasons.
13:08I don't know.
13:09I just don't...
13:09I think that going back to Harditz and him saying in the 31st, I think that that's way
13:15low.
13:16But I think you're factoring in Chig as like this huge upgrade on Zach Ertz.
13:20To me, it's a break even.
13:21I'm not saying he's Travis Kelsey.
13:22I just feel like, in his prime, I just feel like he's an upgrade.
13:25And I think you're going to see him put up numbers.
13:27As long as he stays healthy.
13:29All right.
13:29Scott Abraham will join us.
13:30We'll talk more commanders with him.
13:32He's out of Commanders OTAs in Ashburn.
13:34He'll join the show coming up at 845.
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