Skip to playerSkip to main content
  • 2 days ago
OTAs for the Washington Commanders has ended and while we got to see a little bit of a preview for the upcoming season with the roster there are still some question marks for the team roles. Reporter Ben Standig from The Last Man Standig Podcast and Substack joins The Kevin Sheehan Show to answer questions about the roster based on what we saw from OTAs and going into mandatory minicamp.
Transcript
00:00Was there anything significant last week about Bill Krosky-Merritt
00:04not really participating as much as he could have at OTAs?
00:09No.
00:10You know, again, they're not under obligation to tell us anything about injuries
00:13until basically week one.
00:15So, you know, don't know exactly all the details.
00:20He's walking around.
00:21He's in uniform.
00:22You know, he's doing work on the side field.
00:25So it doesn't seem like it's some major issue.
00:28And maybe they are just sort of slow walking him into the, you know,
00:33the meatier part of the offseason program.
00:37I guess my only sort of concern is, hey, it is a new offense, right?
00:42He's got to, you know, essentially he's going to learn a, you know,
00:45what is his third or fourth offense in like four years basically.
00:48So he's got to learn that.
00:50And, you know, I think a huge aspect of this offense this year is,
00:55can he be trusted on passing downs?
00:58If he can, then the workload, I know we've talked about this in the past,
01:03his workload could go north of 60%, 70% even if he's able to play every down.
01:09If not, then we're looking at something more akin to a 50-50 split probably
01:13with Rashad White, you know, depending on game flow and things like that.
01:17And that's, you know, that's interesting.
01:19So until he, I mean, look, they have obviously seen him to a degree,
01:22but until he's really out there and practicing, in doing it.
01:26And that's why for this part of the camp, we can say it's, you know,
01:32not, there's not a lot of concrete things we get out of this.
01:35Watching a guy pass block would actually be something you could look at, right?
01:39That's not, I mean, you can't make too much contact, you know what I mean,
01:41like the form and what have you.
01:43So I do think there's something to be gleaned if he's out there.
01:46But so far, no, we'll see if he's out there this week.
01:49But ultimately, I don't think it's any, like, significant concern or anything.
01:53I mean, mini camp is next week, right?
01:56The 15th through the 18th, I think a week from today through next Wednesday
02:00or whatever it is.
02:01But I'm just curious, and maybe I asked you this last week,
02:04if I'm being repetitive, tell me.
02:06But do you have any sense that there's a player that they're excited about
02:11that maybe, you know, we weren't expecting after some OTA days?
02:17Um, good question.
02:20Um, I don't know about, I'm trying to think here, who have they discussed?
02:24Um, you know, yeah, I mean, I, you know, I, I'm trying to think we, we've asked a lot
02:31of questions about the receiver room and they've said, you know, they like,
02:34they like those, uh, they like those guys.
02:37I mean, I will say that if I, if I mentioned Terry McLaurin, that's the complete
02:43and utter cop-out and a ridiculous response to a degree, but not necessarily,
02:49not necessarily.
02:49I mean, uh, because of that was a rough year last year.
02:53Yeah.
02:54Yeah.
02:54I mean, you know, what made it so surprising with how it went last year,
02:58was it just in every way, shape or form, Terry McLaurin seems like the utmost professional.
03:03Not only does he cause no problem at a position that is, you know, littered with divas around
03:08the league and, you know, he take it.
03:11Some people claim team leader, but they don't really behave in that way.
03:16He does.
03:17And that's what, you know, if, if you're going to tell me there's a commander away,
03:20that guy would seem to be it, which made last year so weird that said, so he's come back
03:24and it doesn't seem like there's any bitterness or resentment.
03:27He's out there doing, doing his thing.
03:30He and Jaden look to be, you know, on the same page.
03:32So, you know, I just, and look for this receiver room, you know, I still think that they can,
03:38that they sort of have enough to get by, but that's only because of Terry McLaurin being
03:43the number one guy and everything can revolve around him.
03:47Sure.
03:47They could use better options at number two, but having the number one guy makes life easier
03:52for everybody else.
03:53And he is, you know, throughout his career shown that he can be that guy.
03:58Um, do you have an early, you know, call like last year, you had an early call on Brian
04:06Robinson jr.
04:07Um, that you didn't think that he would end up being on the roster when the season began.
04:12Do you have one of those this year?
04:14Cause it was about right, right about now where you started, I think to say, keep an eye on
04:19Brian Robinson jr.
04:21There's a chance he's not on this roster.
04:23Yeah, I don't yet.
04:25And that's, I think it's in part because the coordinators are still kind of mystery, right?
04:31I mean, even though Cliff Kingsbury and, uh, Joe Witt were new here, they had established
04:38backgrounds with essentially taking the Dan Quinn defense and Kingsbury obviously does
04:42his thing.
04:42So you can kind of see who would fit and, and, and, or wouldn't, I'm not ready for those
04:48kinds of discussions here, uh, quite yet.
04:51So I don't know, uh, if I have anybody for you, but definitely keeping an eye on things.
04:57I'm going to, you know, some positions like there's a lot of guys at safety.
05:02Um, you know, even if without IU, you know, if they're only going to keep say six receivers,
05:06they're probably one or two over that, that number.
05:09What happens, what happens there is the defensive line, frankly.
05:13I mean, they have, including the edge guys, like there is a bunch of dudes there.
05:16We don't know how many players they will ultimately keep, but you know, it's conceivable that somebody
05:21that we might think is staying doesn't.
05:23But, uh, and I guess there's the other one is like Frankie Lou, who like I, I'm not, I'm
05:28assuming he will be here, but depending on how much they really want to lean into a three,
05:32four defense and have, uh, the two edge guys count as the outside linebackers, then what
05:37does that mean for styles, Chanel and Louvoo?
05:40And to that end, is there become a point where they decide to move on, but I'm not remotely
05:44ready to, to go there now.
05:46Well, you just named the one player.
05:48I mean, that, that would be shocking to me, um, because I think he's very talented.
05:53Um, but you just named the one player that might bring something back, you know, like,
05:58I don't, I think if Duran brought anything meaningful back, he might not be here right
06:04now.
06:05Um, and I think that that's probably something that they realized that there wasn't necessarily
06:10a market for him.
06:12Um, but last year there was ultimately a, uh, you know, a day three market for Brian Robinson
06:18jr.
06:18And I'm just thinking and looking through the roster who that person would be this year.
06:23I guess you could, you know, obviously Louvoo would bring, bring some value back if you
06:27decided to trade him before the final year of his contract.
06:31Yeah.
06:31I mean, and this is where, right.
06:33And also this is where like last year with Brian Robinson, part of that thinking was,
06:37okay, Bill Krosky merit looks like an actual player.
06:40Now, if Jordan McGee and Cain Medrano and Ali Cahill show that they've made strides, that
06:47Durante Jones believes that they can fill in when needed.
06:50Okay.
06:50Then that makes it even more of a reason that they could potentially, uh, move on.
06:54Um, but you know, look, I think of all the players, the holdovers that I've picked here
07:00within Durante Jones is, you know, aggressive defense.
07:03I mean, Frankie Lewis fits like Frankie Louvoo, like a glove.
07:06So I'm, you know, I'm much more inclined to believe they find ways to use him versus not.
07:12But yes, if we're playing the, the, uh, the, the, the, the, what if game, then yeah, he
07:16would be somebody you'd have to at least consider.
07:18Uh, Ben, uh, you should subscribe to his sub stack.
07:22Uh, I'm a subscriber.
07:24It's a couple of bucks a month.
07:25It's totally worth it.
07:26You can get links to that, uh, at X on X at Ben standing.
Comments

Recommended