- 2 days ago
Do the Commanders need more weapons? Listen as The Junkies debate the need to add reinforcements.
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00:00But this is from Commanders.com, from their OTA notebook.
00:04There have been a lot of questions about the Commanders receiving room,
00:06but offensive coordinator David Blau said before practice
00:10that the team feels confident in what they have at the position.
00:13Former third-round pick Luke McCaffrey is one of the players
00:16they're hoping will develop this summer.
00:18He had a strong day with three catches from Jaden Daniels.
00:21One was a contested grab while working against Jeremy Reeves,
00:25and there's your defender, JP, who tried to make a play for the ball
00:28but had it snatched away by McCaffrey, who kept both feet inbounds.
00:33That Traylon Burks is another wideout who continues to stand out as well.
00:38Burks made a pair of impressive grabs during last week's OTA practice,
00:41and the former first-rounder was at it again with a tough sideline catch
00:45where he managed to get his knee inbounds.
00:48Burks has an ideal NFL frame at 6'2", 225.
00:51If the receiving room does end up staying the same for the regular season,
00:55it would be ideal if he managed to emerge as a No. 2 option for the offense.
01:00He showed some flashes in a limited role last season,
01:04so the hope is that a full offseason in the building
01:06will help make those highlight plays become more common.
01:09Look, it's open line Thursday, so I want to hear from some Commanders fans.
01:12We talked about Ayuk.
01:13We talked about the receiver position with him,
01:16but we specified that either Ayuk is going to be here on a one-year deal
01:21or Peters isn't going to touch him.
01:23I don't think Peters is going to touch him.
01:25I also do wonder if Peters and David Blau and DQ feel comfortable
01:31with the wide receiver room as it is.
01:33So if Commanders fans, here's my question to you.
01:37Are you okay with, and I'm just going to give you the top six
01:39on the depth chart right now, obviously Terry, Burks,
01:44Antonio Williams who they drafted in the third round out of Clemson,
01:47De'Ami Brown who they brought in from Jacksonville,
01:49Luke McCaffrey, Jalen Lane,
01:50and Jalen's probably going to be more of a special teamer.
01:53All right, Van Jefferson could make the top six.
01:56Ja'Cory Brooks was cut.
01:59I think he was cut a couple days ago, maybe yesterday.
02:03Jacoby Jones is out there on the depth chart.
02:05Chris Hilton, who they signed as well.
02:06He went to LSU.
02:07But are Commanders fans happy if they don't make any other additions?
02:12Are you happy with McLaurin, Burks, Williams,
02:15De'Ami, McCaffrey, Lane?
02:16Are you happy with those six?
02:18Are you happy with that room?
02:20That's my question to you.
02:21I was just writing out the top five.
02:24Or do you feel like it's a necessity you have to go out
02:27and get Ayuk or Diggs or Keenan or Debo?
02:31Valdez came in here during the break,
02:33and he said something which we've talked about before,
02:35but I think it does bear repeating.
02:37Two years ago to the NFC Championship game,
02:40this is your top five receivers.
02:42Terry, Noah Brown, Zacchaeus, De'Ami Brown, McCaffrey.
02:51McCaffrey and De'Ami Brown, let's keep them both at the four or five position.
02:54Terry in the one position.
02:56The only thing that's changed is you had Noah Brown and Zacchaeus.
03:00I put them as two, three.
03:02And then this year, it would be Burks and Antonio Williams.
03:07It's very similar.
03:08And maybe they probably also feel with the ads of Chig at tight end
03:13and Rashad White at running back,
03:15like they can kind of piecemeal together some of that production with those guys.
03:20Rashad White, if he plays...
03:22He catches 50 balls.
03:23Here are his receptions since he's been in the league.
03:26As a rookie, he had 50 catches.
03:29He had 64 in year two.
03:30He had 51 in year three.
03:32He had 40 last year.
03:34I'm guessing he's going to be in that same range.
03:36His minimum, barring an injury or playing an only, is 40 catches.
03:40He's going to give you 40 catches.
03:42He could give you 60.
03:43And Chig has been in the 50 to 60 range, but with subpar quarterbacks,
03:48including a rookie.
03:49Right.
03:50So you put him with a really good quarterback,
03:53and Jaden can be really good and accurate.
03:55I would think that the Chig numbers are going to go up to 70 to 80.
03:59Maybe they have faith in McCaffrey, Burks, Jalen Lane,
04:04all developing and taking those next steps.
04:06Burks is intriguing.
04:07He's just never been able to stay healthy and kind of put it all together.
04:11He's never lived up to that lofty draft status.
04:14It would be great if he did,
04:15because they signed him for a relatively cheap deal.
04:17I think he got like $3.5 or $4 million on a one-year deal.
04:21They're not paying him a lot of money.
04:22What did they pay De'Ami?
04:24I should know this, but what did they give De'Ami?
04:25I think a caller said he got like $8 million,
04:28but I think that sounds kind of aggressive.
04:30It sounds high, but he may be right.
04:31I can check SpotTrack and see what his number is.
04:35I mean, he made $10 million-plus last year in Jacksonville.
04:39I'd be shocked if he got $8 here, but we can double-check on that.
04:42So are Commanders fans happy?
04:44It looks like $1.2.
04:46$1.2, not $8?
04:48It says here on SpotTrack, $1.215 is his base.
04:52He did get a $250,000 signing bonus.
04:57So maybe $1.7.
04:58I see on one-year $1.7.
05:01So $8.8 is not even close.
05:01So it's nothing.
05:02It's minimal.
05:03Like that's, for the NFL, for a veteran, that's a pauper salary.
05:08It'd be great, though, if Luke McCaffrey is developing
05:12and Jalen Lane is developing.
05:14They have flash.
05:15You're talking about a third-round pick in Luke McCaffrey,
05:17a fourth-round pick in Jalen Lane.
05:19You want to develop those guys, and you would like them to get better
05:24and maybe move up the depth chart.
05:26I mean, I think we've all envisioned Luke as more of a slot receiver
05:30and as number three guy.
05:32To me, he's battling with Antonio Williams, though, for that spot.
05:35I feel like Burks is filling the Noah Brown number two spot,
05:41maybe just based on his frame.
05:43Yeah.
05:44His best game, though, last year, he had one touchdown in, what is it,
05:47eight games?
05:48Mm-hmm.
05:49Three catches for 58 yards.
05:52So it's not like he did incredible things,
05:54but we saw a couple flashes because of tough catches.
05:57Was Jaden playing that game?
05:59In the Lions game?
06:03Did Jaden play in that one?
06:05Yeah, I mean.
06:06No, that was Mariota.
06:08There you go.
06:08So his numbers would be better if Jaden's thrown to him for the entire year.
06:12I don't know.
06:13I don't know if Traylon's going to be the number two.
06:15No idea.
06:16I don't think it's going to be Deami.
06:19I think Deami's going to kind of back up Terry.
06:21Deami's just going to be a deep threat guy.
06:24Yeah.
06:24I think he's getting better at running.
06:26If you listen to David Blau and guys that are kind of following the team,
06:29he's getting better at route running.
06:31But you're right, he's a speed guy.
06:34But I don't know.
06:35Are Commanders fans happy with those six guys
06:38if they end up being on the active roster in week one?
06:42800-636-1067 is the number.
06:44Let's go to Don.
06:45He's calling from Ashburn.
06:47Hey, Don.
06:47Don.
06:48Donnie.
06:49Good morning, fellas.
06:51Yeah, I mean, I don't know that I'm, you know, excited,
06:56so excited about the six that we have,
06:58but I think that I'll compliment each other
07:00and have the ability to do good things.
07:04But the Iyuk thing, you know, I hope that they don't sign him
07:08because if you look at what you have in a Terry McLaurin
07:11on one side of the prison and then you got Iyuk on the other,
07:15it just doesn't make sense to bring that kind of person into your locker room.
07:20I mean, I've got four kids.
07:22I've got a 28-year-old.
07:23I've got a 21-year-old.
07:24My 21-year-old makes a decision that, like Iyuk made,
07:27it's a different conversation than if my 28-year-old,
07:29I mean, you're almost 30 years old.
07:31You're a grown-ass man, and you've got to know better.
07:34There's just a maturity thing that he's lacking
07:36that would just scare me.
07:38It seems like that.
07:38I mean, to have him on my team.
07:40Yeah.
07:40Yeah, and he's just checking bad decisions.
07:43I mean, again, it's minor, and I agree with JP.
07:45Like, just because the warrant comes out and he posts a picture of him,
07:49but it is another bad decision box.
07:51He just can't get out of his own way,
07:52and that would be a huge concern with me
07:54with all these other young guys in the locker room.
07:56And then on the other side, you've got all the good things
07:59that these guys are learning from a McLaurin,
08:02and then having somebody like Iyuk that's just the exact opposite.
08:06It was really worrying me.
08:07Yeah.
08:08My bigger concern, though, is can he play?
08:11And I have no idea if he can still play.
08:13Yeah, I don't know.
08:14I have no idea if he's in chase.
08:16I don't know what he has left in the tank.
08:18I don't know that.
08:19I would love to see him put through the paces
08:23of a high-intensity NFL training camp practice
08:26and see how he comes through it.
08:28And I remember Grand Danny had a guest on from San Francisco,
08:31and he said they've had a slew of, for lack of a better term,
08:38head case wide receivers there.
08:40Malcontents.
08:41Trell Owens.
08:42Divas.
08:42Michael Crabtree.
08:43I can't remember.
08:44He went through like five or six guys,
08:46and he said he's never seen anything like Brandon Iyuk.
08:49Like Iyuk.
08:49He was on another level.
08:50He's a different level of diva and a headache.
08:54He's a headache.
08:54And look, Dan Quinn needs to win 10-plus games.
08:58If he wants his job to feel safe and secure going forward,
09:02he needs to be in the playoff mix.
09:04And he needs harmony in the locker room.
09:07He doesn't need Brandon Iyuk and his wackiness
09:11coming in and disrupting things.
09:13Well, we don't know that he would.
09:17What I would say, and look, I've been against bringing him in,
09:21but what I would say in favor, if you're that way,
09:23is if you do meet with the guy and he says, well, look,
09:27I was creating a ruckus out there because I'm just sick of the organization.
09:30They didn't respect me.
09:31Whatever his rationale is in San Francisco.
09:34But he says, all along I've wanted to play with my boy, Jaden Daniels.
09:38I want to be here.
09:39I'm going to show you that I'm a good work ethic guy.
09:41And if you're confident in the production, then maybe you roll with it
09:45because what I would say is if he does return to his form from a few years ago,
09:51he's definitely way better than Trelon Burks.
09:54No doubt.
09:55Oh, yeah.
09:55But that's a huge if, if he still is able to perform at that level.
10:01At that, like, I don't know if he's ever been a pro bowler,
10:04but at a really high level.
10:06I just don't know if he's still that guy.
10:08Let's go to Marvin in Landover.
10:11Marvin, you're on with the junks.
10:12Good morning.
10:13Thanks for taking my call, gentlemen.
10:15Yep.
10:17You know something?
10:18You just said something, Kate, that really just hit home with me.
10:22You said that Dan Quinn needs, like, a sunny, like, good disposition in his locker room
10:29and stuff like that.
10:30And that leads me to my point.
10:31My point is I don't trust Adam Peeps.
10:35If I know that my team is on a good vibe streak, then last year was a complete miss.
10:43Like, letting him for a while was ridiculous.
10:46So I'm just not, I'm not so much I'm trusting Adam Peeps that much.
10:51Now, when it comes to Brandon Ayuk, honestly, you know,
10:55he's been a headache for, like, the last six months or something.
10:59But that's, like, a personal beef with San Francisco.
11:03He hasn't posted anything.
11:04He's kind of ghosted everybody.
11:06So it's basically...
11:07Say that, Marvin.
11:08Yeah.
11:08Yeah.
11:09Thanks for the call, man.
11:09Thanks, Marvin.
11:10Appreciate it.
11:11Here's my issue with him, like, just getting upset with the Niners and ghosting them
11:15and, like, all the shenanigans.
11:18And what happens at the first sign of adversity if he's here with the commanders?
11:22What's to say he's not going to do the same exact thing and fall into these same erratic
11:28behavior patterns?
11:29It's a huge risk.
11:30Like that?
11:31But if you only sign him to a one-year deal, you don't give him a bunch of money up
11:34front
11:35and it's all incentive-laden.
11:37Right.
11:37All right.
11:37Well, you're not really...
11:38You're not risking that much.
11:42But some GMs and coaches don't even want to deal with it, even for a few weeks.
11:47In camp.
11:48You think Dan Quinn wants to deal with Brandon?
11:49No.
11:50No.
11:50I don't think so.
11:52I don't think he wants to deal with him either.
11:53Well, not if, going back to how you opened the segment, not if they believe that McCaffrey
11:58and Jalen Lane are improving.
12:00Yeah.
12:00Yeah.
12:00I mean, both of them have shown flashes.
12:03Correct.
12:04Jalen Lane, to me, is tantalizing because we know he's a burner.
12:07I think that they expected McCaffrey...
12:10Now, McCaffrey missed half the season last year because of the injury, but they expected
12:14him with Jalen to kind of take that next step in year two after year one.
12:20Yeah.
12:20He didn't have a ton of catches in year one, but he had 18.
12:23They probably expected him to be in that 30 range and to score more touchdowns.
12:28He had three touchdowns on 11 catches last year.
12:32That's a pretty good ratio.
12:33They probably expected him to be in that 30 to 35 range and maybe have four or five touchdowns.
12:39So maybe this year in year three, maybe he does get better.
12:42Who knows?
12:43All right.
12:43Let's hope he does.
12:44Let's sneak in Christian in Manassas.
12:46Christian, you're on with the junks.
12:47Good morning.
12:48Good morning.
12:50I was going to say, actually, JP made a good point.
12:55I think if they can bring in a wide receiver on a one-year prove-it deal, I don't know
12:59if
13:00that's Ayuk or Stephon Diggs or someone that isn't going to be too large of a cap it.
13:07But I actually feel pretty comfortable with the wide receiver room.
13:12I feel like Terry's going to have a good year, and I really like where McCaffrey's going.
13:18He made some pretty impressive catches last year.
13:22But I think another piece on a one-year prove-it deal, that would definitely make me feel even more
13:29comfortable.
13:29Oh, yeah.
13:30I mean, if you brought in Diggs, you've got to think, okay, now this is legit.
13:34To have a healthy Terry McLaurin, Diggs, even though Diggs is older, but if you had McLaurin
13:39and Diggs is your two, and then you're bringing in Antonio Williams, some of these young guys
13:43as a three, D'Ami off the bench, you're much better.
13:46Yeah, and maybe Antonio Williams just has a bigger role as a rookie than any of us envision.
13:51Maybe he catches 40 or 45 balls, and he's kind of that missing piece.
13:56I mean, they drafted him in the third round.
13:58They drafted him relatively high.
14:00They didn't draft him to sit him on the bench and toil behind Jalen Lane and Luke McCaffrey,
14:06in my opinion.
14:06Well, yeah, but you drafted McCaffrey in the third round.
14:08I understood.
14:09So you drafted him in the same round.
14:11You're probably expecting similar numbers.
14:13Maybe they just feel like Williams is an upgrade over McCaffrey.
14:16Competition.
14:17You're sleeping on the X factor.
14:19And that is?
14:20You're talking about draft picks that were drafted in the third round.
14:24Right.
14:24Yeah.
14:25What about second rounder Ben Sinnott?
14:28Well, JP, I don't even...
14:29We don't even talk about Ben.
14:30I was saying it's sarcastic.
14:32I don't even think about that person.
14:34Actually, I've almost forgotten who that person is because he's so irrelevant.
14:38Yeah, we don't talk about him.
14:39In the commander's plans.
14:40All right.
14:40When we come back, we're going to tell you why Brandon...
14:43Another reason why Brandon and I may want to stay away from the D.C. area
14:46because a certain jurisdiction is cracking down on dangerous drivers this summer.
14:51We're going to tell you where that is next.
14:53Next.
14:53Next.
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