- 1 day ago
JP, BMitch, and some callers debate which Commander is most important to the team's success next year.
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00:00Ben Standig, on his Substack, wrote an article.
00:03Actually wrote an article on my Substack last night.
00:05So check it out.
00:06At J.P. Finley, I think.
00:08I should probably know what it is.
00:09You should know what it is.
00:10You're going to promote it, though.
00:13It's funny because I haven't tried to learn a new social media thing in a while.
00:18But Substack's a very unique product.
00:21It's interesting.
00:22I'm interested in it.
00:24It's at J.P. Finley, D.C.
00:25And what I wrote about was just that, how can I phrase this?
00:31The commander's leadership is being very intentional about making clear
00:41that the media is not reporting formations.
00:44They don't want any information getting out about the offense or the defense.
00:48And they're monitoring it.
00:50And it's always been there, in a sense.
00:53Right.
00:53Just like right now, they're making sure.
00:55Right.
00:56Exactly.
00:57Because I'm putting something brand new out there.
00:59I don't need you tipping nobody off.
01:01Totally.
01:01But as we talk.
01:02Trying to give the content to people first.
01:04As we talk to more and more people, you know, Terry McLaurin's a really insightful guy.
01:09And he spoke at OTAs this week.
01:10And David Blau's an insightful fellow.
01:13And they're not tipping their hand about formations and stuff.
01:16But we are really starting to learn more and more about what the offense is going to look like.
01:21And we probably had a decent idea with a lot of it, right?
01:23Like motion, multiple formations, getting Jaden under center.
01:27And I think the one thing that was really interesting that McLaurin said that I wrote about was Terry talked
01:33about, you know, all routes.
01:38You talk about the route tree, one through nine.
01:40And then you can run a lot of variations off of one through nine.
01:43But it stems from the route tree, right?
01:47And what Terry said is the thing with the route tree is everything starts from the same stem.
01:53Everybody's getting off the line of scrimmage.
01:55And everything can look identical for a step or two, right?
01:57Totally.
01:58And he said one of the biggest problems was that in the prior offense, we didn't use the whole tree.
02:08So the stem's the same.
02:09But then if you're really only running certain routes, the defense has a leg up on that.
02:15Yeah.
02:15They know based off of the depth, you can't run the other stuff.
02:18You don't have to run it.
02:19And the stats support it.
02:21I may have mentioned this earlier in the week.
02:22Josh Norris, our friend from Underdog Fantasy.
02:26Terry, this number is astounding to me.
02:28And I get that the overall routes were down because he missed time.
02:3437% of Terry McLaurin's targets last year were hitches.
02:39With a dude with the contested catch ability he has and the vertical ability he has, that is asinine.
02:45It is.
02:46But that.
02:48The horizontal range, man.
02:49You know what?
02:50But like, Jay, we talk a lot about that self-preservation.
02:52We talk about people with the mindsets.
02:55You know what is very high on the hitch routes?
02:59The completion ratio.
03:00Right.
03:02And the people that run around discussing those things are normally the people that call those plays.
03:08It's like, you know, but the reason that they did it with Terry, they knew how good he can do
03:13after the ball's in his hand.
03:15Right.
03:15My question is, why not get that 10 yards down the field?
03:1915 yards down the field.
03:21And if he has the great ability to catch it when being contested, give him more chances.
03:26Because you know what he might do?
03:27He might come down, the other dude may fall, and then he can run again.
03:30He doesn't have to always be the hardest, you know?
03:33Because Gary would do that.
03:35Gary would take a hitch and go.
03:39So, I think, Terry talked about being able to run the full route tree out of the same stem and
03:46the advantages that presents.
03:47And I think we're going to see that this fall.
03:50I also got to talk to Josh Connerly.
03:51Maybe I said this to you.
03:53If you want to read it, it's at JPFinleyDC.
03:55And I asked Connerly, like, what do you guys think you did well last year?
03:58He's like, well, we ran outside zone well.
04:00We just didn't run it enough.
04:02And if you look at the numbers, it can be a little misleading because they were fourth in the NFL
04:09in rushing yards.
04:09They were ninth in rushing attempts.
04:11They averaged 4.7 per carry.
04:14But a lot of the attempts are driven by Jaden and Marcus running.
04:18You know what I mean?
04:19Because that all just counts in the same bucket.
04:21You need more intentional run plays to your backs.
04:25Totally.
04:26And I think we'll see that, too.
04:27Because intentional run plays to your back, as I discussed about the play-action pass, slows down the defense.
04:35And when the defense slows down just for a moment, their space is open behind the linebackers.
04:41And even you get the safety looking in the backfield, now they can't get over the top on a lot
04:47of routes.
04:48So, as we look at this season, I want to open the phone lines up.
04:52800-636-1067.
04:54800-636-1067.
04:56Ben Standing contends that second-year right tackle Josh Connerly is one of the most important players this year for
05:04the commander.
05:05And it's because he had an incredibly difficult start to the season, right?
05:11You had that Giants offensive line.
05:13Then you had Micah Parsons, who was kind of eating everybody up.
05:15Then Max Crosby came to town.
05:18But Connerly really settled in the back half of the season.
05:22And to go a year where he didn't miss a snap as a rookie offensive lineman, that is a serious
05:30achievement.
05:30Hell yeah.
05:31Do you think, though, of that offensive line, can a right tackle be that level of difference maker?
05:38I think he can be because the thing of it is, like, we always worry about the backside of a
05:45quarterback.
05:47Somebody in their face is a problem, too, right?
05:50Yeah.
05:50And also, when you're at your left side, if normally you're protected from your passes, a lot of runs are
05:58initiated on the other side.
06:00If he's better at that, you know, you've got to anchor on the left, and then when you can still
06:05run the ball effectively on the right, that could make a hell of a difference for your offense.
06:11Who would you say, and this is a question for the phones, non-Jayden, non-Terry, like, who are the
06:20most important players this fall for this team to get back to the playoffs?
06:25Because I think you could almost make the argument, I think this receiver room, current constitution.
06:31You're going on offensive defense, if you're asking.
06:33Anybody?
06:34It could be anybody.
06:36I'm going to give you another question.
06:37I'll give you another answer that might screw you up.
06:40Who the hell playing center?
06:42And how well would they be?
06:44Because we saw last year, it was kind of an up and down thing.
06:48The snaps were all over the place.
06:49The hesitation was there.
06:50If that position is more solidified, because when we start talking about importance on the team, we always talk about
06:56quarterback, left tackle, cornerback, pass rusher.
06:59The person who touched the ball all the time is the center, right?
07:04And the center is the person who sets the strength and also initiates all in the middle.
07:10If that guy is solidified and is consistent and very good all the time, the whole offense is going to
07:17work better.
07:19I feel the center position is going to be something there.
07:21You think Allegretti gets it done?
07:24I have a lot of faith in Allegretti.
07:28I do too, honestly.
07:30I've said it.
07:31I think you could argue that the offensive line is the best position group on this team, frankly.
07:38For me, especially on the offensive side of the ball, I think you need Chigakonkwo to be really good.
07:46I think you need him to be explosive and athletic, and I get that some fans got frustrated that Zach
07:56Ertz couldn't get you extra yards after the catch.
07:59But he was open.
08:00Dude, he was open.
08:01Jaden trusted him.
08:02Third downs, red zone.
08:04That dude, his burst off the line of scrimmage.
08:08Listen, his athleticism wasn't the same as it was in Philly when they won a Super Bowl.
08:12But his burst off the line of scrimmage was still there.
08:15Like, he had that veteran knack to getting off the line where, we talk about can receivers get off press.
08:24Tight ends are fighting linebackers and D-linemen to get off.
08:27Like, it's a different setup entirely.
08:28I truly believe that if Chigak does the things we expect, or we expect him to do,
08:36he'll take some of that angst off of who the wide receiver number two is.
08:41Totally.
08:42That's what happened in 24.
08:43I believe totally he's going to be a better athlete 90% of the time than anybody's checking him.
08:52When those linebackers and safeties are checking him, he's going to be a better athlete than them.
08:57And he should whip them.
08:59Let's check in with Shane.
09:00Shane, non-Jaden, non-Terry division.
09:03Who needs to have a monster year for the Commanders to get back in the playoffs?
09:07Jerron Payne's big sorry ass.
09:09It's got to be Jerron Payne.
09:10Can we finally get something out of him before the one year he got his back and he's been absent
09:15since then?
09:17How about you start with Jerron Payne?
09:19And if not, we've got to figure out what we're going to do with his big ass and get him
09:22out of here.
09:23Just tell it what it is.
09:24It's got to be Jerron Payne.
09:25Without Johnson Allen, right beside him, he's got to step up.
09:30And right guard.
09:31You can say right guard.
09:32Big Sam.
09:33He got hurt.
09:34But he's got to have a monster year, too.
09:36Got to have a monster year.
09:37But it's got to be Jerron Payne.
09:38He's got to pay like it.
09:40Monster years from the big guys.
09:42All right, man.
09:42Thanks for the call.
09:44I will say, the last time Jerron really went off the 22 season, he had 11 and a half sacks
09:51that year.
09:52His career high elsewhere is five.
09:54That was a contract year.
09:56And you know what Jerron's in this year?
09:58Last year of his deal.
10:00So, I don't know that those two things directly correspond.
10:04But there are plenty that would suggest they do.
10:08I think for me on the defensive side of the ball, you need a more consistent year from Mikey.
10:17The pros with Sam Roussel are he's a ball hawk.
10:20But he said it himself.
10:22Like, last year was not the ball he wants to show.
10:26And you got new defensive coordinator.
10:29His background is coaching DBs.
10:32Like, I think all the DBs need to be better.
10:34But I would look at Mikey and say, Mikey and Kwon, maybe.
10:38Those two dudes have to be better.
10:40They have to be better.
10:42But you know what?
10:43Something that could directly help them is the pass rush.
10:46100%.
10:46I mean, like, I know we look at that position, those positions, because they're left out on their own.
10:54When a quarterback can pat the ball, pat the ball, his step, his step.
10:56Totally agree.
10:57You're not going to have a very good season as a defensive back.
11:00But they have to get better up front for those guys to be better in the back.
11:04I agree with that.
11:05Let's go to RJ and Laurel.
11:08RJ, who needs a monster year to get the commanders back in the playoffs?
11:12You know, I was going to kind of go with the niche as far as, like, the line.
11:17Just that interior line.
11:19Especially, like, Coleman and Carly.
11:21Just to really justify the picks and just really strengthen that line with continuity.
11:26You hope they would rise to the opportunity and protect Jaden.
11:31Because we want him to be a drop back, play action passer, right?
11:35So, I think that interior line is key.
11:37But outside of that, this kid, Trey Amos, I mean, we got to stop a receiver.
11:43We don't for sure know if we have two cornerbacks.
11:46We need at least one.
11:48I think if he isn't who we think he is, and he doesn't turn into at least a, you know,
11:541A style corner, maybe not the top of the league, we're just going to have a long year stopping anybody.
12:01Yeah, Amos is an interesting one because he was playing really well before the injury.
12:06And are you a little surprised he's not back out there yet?
12:10No.
12:12You know how they do over there.
12:14They make sure people get time.
12:16It's June.
12:18It's May.
12:18I imagine that was a broken bone in early November.
12:23Does that sound about right?
12:24Like week 11-ish?
12:26He broke bone and he messed up the knee.
12:28No, broke his fibula.
12:30Which one's the fibula?
12:31The front one?
12:33In the leg.
12:34It's definitely in the leg.
12:36Let's hit up our guy Mark in Landover Hills.
12:38Mark, who's got to have a monster year?
12:42Fellas, it's like B. Mitch said in the beginning one more time.
12:45It's got to be that the trenches, guys.
12:48Both sides of the line, but especially the defensive line like B said.
12:52It's got to happen, man.
12:53We got to have it.
12:54When the hands get in the dirt and the brutality begins, man, we got to have it, guys.
13:00And then that'll unleash that fellow we got from Ohio State that, man, I've been with since day one.
13:06I told you guys, man, I think he's game as a rooster, B.
13:10I really do.
13:11And, hey, man, it'll open it up for Amos.
13:14Appreciate the call, brother.
13:15I'll tell you guys.
13:16Thanks, Mark.
13:16Good to hear from you, buddy.
13:18Have a good weekend, guys.
13:19Take care of the girls.
13:20I'll see you.
13:21Take care, man.
13:22Mark out there celebrating Scotty's Vagor Rebel Friday, I think.
13:25Phone lines are open, 800-636-1067.
13:29800-636-1067.
13:32Who's your most important Commanders player outside of Jaden Daniels for them to make it to the playoffs?
13:37If you're allowed to say Terry, I think it's Terry, because I think that receiver group can get it done
13:42as long as Terry stays healthy.
13:44I think they've raised the floor, but last year Terry goes down.
13:48I mean, that thing's went awry.
13:50Yeah, dude.
13:51And you need 15 games out of Terry for sure.
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