- 2 days ago
Ben Standig joins The Kevin Sheehan Show to give us the latest updates and noise coming out of the Commanders’ mandatory minicamp.
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00:00Ben's joining us here midweek because minicamp has and will reach its midpoint here in a few hours.
00:09And Dan Quinn spoke yesterday.
00:12Jaden Daniels, right, expected to meet with the media today.
00:17What time is that, Ben?
00:20Ben, you there?
00:26Do we have Ben?
00:27We did a minute ago.
00:29Okay.
00:30Can you hear me?
00:30I got you now.
00:32Yeah.
00:32Oh, okay.
00:33It was going in and out for a second.
00:34Don't know why.
00:35Who knows?
00:36All right.
00:36So we have Jaden speaking today.
00:38At what time?
00:43After practice, maybe that's like around 2 o'clock, give or take.
00:49Jaden's talking, Laramie Tunsil, Bill Krosky, Merritt.
00:52So, you know, guys we have not heard from yet.
00:55Those three in particular are interesting.
00:57Okay.
00:57Did we, I just played the soundbite where he mentioned Van Jefferson before anybody else when he was asked about
01:06wide receivers other than Terry.
01:08I always looked for those things just to see what pops into a coach's, a head coach's mind first.
01:14I thought that was interesting.
01:15Van Jefferson, you know, Kager and Jefferson have been the people that I have been interested in offensively because I
01:23thought that Kager was somebody they liked last year during the summer.
01:28And I think Van Jefferson's had some pretty decent games and had a decent season in 2021 with the Rams
01:36when they won the title.
01:37Did that strike you as telling at all?
01:41I mean, to a degree, like you said, what, what I like to ask questions of like, let him fill
01:47in the blanks.
01:48Right.
01:48And, you know, that was a question, Scott Abraham, what do you think of the receivers who aren't Terry McLaurin?
01:53And that was one of the names he came up with.
01:55And, you know, I think we talked about Van Jefferson the other day because when I wrote my story about,
01:59can they, you know, create a Frankenstein-y kind of number two receiver based on the different pieces that they
02:06have?
02:07Van Jefferson was the guy who was like the hands guy.
02:10He doesn't drop the ball.
02:11He has been a reliable player.
02:14He's also has been injured and has been, you know, a little more buried towards the back of some depth
02:19starts and things like that.
02:20So, you know, I'm not sure.
02:23It's a little surprising that he says it, but I kind of understand why a guy like Van Jefferson might
02:27appeal to Dan Quinn.
02:30I think the question is not including the long shots, the practice squad type guys.
02:35But, you know, there's basically seven receivers and typically I would project like six make the team.
02:42So the question is who would be the odd man out and Van Jefferson until otherwise is probably the default
02:47choice just because, you know, we, you know, he's not been here.
02:52There's a lesser upside than say a Traylon Burks.
02:55But, yeah, I think he's a guy that has, you know, stood out a little bit.
02:59And clearly if the head coach has mentioned him, you've got to keep that in mind.
03:02Let's say they keep seven.
03:04You want to do this right now?
03:05Let's just do it.
03:06If they keep seven, Terry, Antonio Williams, Jalen Lane because he's the punt returner, Deami Brown for sure.
03:16That's four.
03:17Traylon Burks, I believe, because they liked him last year and they ended up re-signing him, although there's no
03:22lock there.
03:23But I'll put him five.
03:25And then we're into six and seven.
03:28So it's between McCaffrey, Jefferson, Jacoby Jones, the kid that Terry's been raving about, the undrafted free agent, Jaden Bradley
03:38from UNLV.
03:39Give me six and seven.
03:41Did I get – I mean, I guess Traylon Burks isn't a lock, but it seems like he might be.
03:48Did I get the first five right?
03:52Well, I think the first four – I think that McCaffrey versus Traylon Burks is interesting.
03:59I mean, one, McCaffrey is the guy they drafted.
04:01Two, as a kick returner, he has done a pretty good job the last couple of years.
04:06I know that's not why they drafted him, but that is a thing.
04:10And, you know, he has two years left on his rookie deal where Burks is only here for a one
04:15-year deal.
04:15So to whatever degree that would happen.
04:17So I do think – and also, like, I mean, Burks has been back there a little bit for punt
04:22returns, again, just as like in a case of emergency.
04:24But otherwise, I don't know that he's helping much on special teams, whereas at least McCaffrey is returning.
04:28All right, so Terry McLaurin, Antonio Williams, Deami Brown, and Jalen Lane are four givens, correct?
04:37I would think so, yes.
04:39Okay.
04:40So give me your guess on the next three.
04:43Are you saying it's either McCaffrey or Burks, one or the other?
04:47Yeah, I mean, you know, until we get to training camp, it's hard to – like, I do think Jaden
04:53Bradley looks pretty good.
04:54But we see receivers every year, right, in this situation who shows something, and we're like,
04:59well, then it doesn't pan out like, you know, Jacory Brooks took last year.
05:03So I'm not ready to put in any of those sort of guys.
05:06I did like Jacoby Jones, too, last year, but, again, I need to see more.
05:09So, you know, of the – I think here's the interesting question.
05:13If they only keep the six, right, like I said, today I might have to say Van Jefferson,
05:18but I don't – I feel less comfortable about that, especially when Quinn mentions him.
05:22And here's what I think gets really interesting, though, Kevin, is, like,
05:25what if the Brandon Ayoub thing actually does happen?
05:28Then what?
05:29Now you're looking at two guys who might get cut.
05:32And, again, Van Jefferson probably is not going to raise a lot of eyebrows here,
05:35but then, you know, I do wonder, is that possibly Traylor Burks?
05:40Again, maybe it's not.
05:42Maybe he, you know, he crushes it in all summer.
05:46There's athletic reasons why you'd be interested in him.
05:49But there's also some inconsistency.
05:51You know, it's not like he obviously had a hot market.
05:53He got back here pretty easily, it felt like.
05:56So that would be the interesting one to me is if Ayoub actually is here
06:00and they only keep six receivers, which, again, is typically what I would project,
06:05then who is gone.
06:07And like I said, right now I'm sure people would say, well,
06:10you've got to keep Burks and move on from McCaffrey.
06:12I don't know that I'm seeing that one quite yet.
06:17Yeah, and I think to your point, too, you know, six over, say, like extending it to seven
06:22is just the idea that they will likely be in more 12 than 13 personnel.
06:26So it'll be tight ends that get kept.
06:28And then you look at their running backs and it's like Krosky, Merritt, Rashad White,
06:33and I think McNichols, because of his special teams play, are probably three givens.
06:39And then maybe, you know, Katron Allen, Jerome Ford are the other two, right?
06:44Am I missing anybody?
06:45I don't think I'm missing anybody.
06:46Yeah, and that's the thing.
06:48So, like, I have not done a full three yet.
06:51Get on it.
06:52Get on it because we're all living for your 53s.
06:55Of course.
06:57You know, probably after camp next week, something to look forward to.
07:00But just looking right now, I mean, I think one thing to say, you know,
07:04in the context of, you know, how good is this team going to be,
07:07I think they have – we always make a big deal about certain choices
07:11they have to make at the end of these decisions.
07:14When they make the 53, oftentimes we're just kind of stretching it.
07:17Well, okay, this guy.
07:18Boy, how are they going to let that guy go?
07:19I think this year there's a legit, like, five or six guys that we're going to be like,
07:23wow, that guy got cut?
07:24Okay.
07:24Like, there's a lot of guys on, like, the defensive line that can't all make
07:29the team.
07:31You know, we just went through the receiver.
07:32You mentioned the running back.
07:34Like, every year I probably have Jeremy McNichols on the outside only to look
07:38like an idiot because they clearly value him, which I totally understand.
07:41But, like, you know, they also keep all their draft picks.
07:44Are we saying Kay Tron Allen isn't ahead of McNichols most likely in that
07:48pecking order?
07:49Or do they have to keep four good guys, right?
07:50Are they even keeping the third quarterback?
07:53You know, that's what they've done so far.
07:55They drafted the kid out of Rutgers.
07:58But, again, where is this kind of, you know, where do they have to make some
08:02tough calls?
08:03So that's why it's hard for me to see them keeping seven receivers.
08:07And then, you know, therefore it's going to be a really interesting conversation.
08:11Even, like, the safety room, right?
08:13I mean, if they keep six, it seems like we can probably look at that pretty
08:18simply.
08:18It's like five guys who were back from last year and Nick Cross.
08:21But if they only keep five and five corners to 10 for 10 defensive backs, then
08:26somebody from the Tyler Owens, Percy Butler, Jeremy Reuse, et cetera.
08:30Jeremy Reuse isn't going anywhere, but you know what I mean.
08:31But, like, somebody is not going to be there.
08:33So I think they have a lot more questions at the back of the roster than they
08:38have in recent years.
08:39Okay.
08:41I hope you're right because that would speak to them just having better football
08:47players.
08:47It doesn't have to speak to that.
08:48It could be, you know, a lot of mediocre players that are just difficult to
08:52choose between.
08:54But I hope it's because they've upgraded the talent.
08:57You wrote in your, you know, summary of many camps so far just about the
09:03cornerback position and, you know, what they're going to end up doing there.
09:08I'm curious as to how, you know, you think they are viewing Witherspoon in the
09:13ad of Witherspoon because I've heard that he is, he's really a competitor and
09:18they love, like, his fiery kind of, you know, competitive, you know, part of
09:26his game is, he's a given at this point.
09:30But how much do you think they like Witherspoon in the addition of him?
09:35Is it a Robertson or Witherspoon?
09:36Because I don't know if Witherspoon.
09:38Okay, well, I don't know.
09:39No, no, no.
09:40A Robertson.
09:41The Detroit guy.
09:42My fault.
09:43The Detroit guy.
09:43Yeah, yeah, yeah.
09:44My fault.
09:45No, no.
09:46Yeah, no.
09:46I would think he's, he's in there.
09:48I think, you know, we're still, I think they are probably still, and we're still
09:50trying to figure out exactly, you know, where are they going to play
09:53everybody, both Sanders still and Robertson, like, on the surface.
09:56You wouldn't look at them as, like, slot guys.
09:58But, you know, in this setup, at least one of them is going to have to play
10:01on the outside and probably both to various points.
10:04I do think the question becomes, after the top three, including Trey Amos,
10:09you know, is Witherspoon is the guy who's been around the league, good size,
10:14all that.
10:14But, like, you know, he's not played.
10:16He only played, I think, six games last year.
10:18You know, it's the kind of guy, like, there's no ceiling, right?
10:21He is who he is.
10:22The question is, can you do better?
10:24Same thing with sort of Antonio Hamilton.
10:26That's where there's a lot of guys, and I asked Dan Quinn yesterday
10:29when he said, so the point of practice here this week, or at least yesterday,
10:33but I think the whole week is, they want to give more reps to guys who are
10:37sort of the back end of the roster, both to see what they have,
10:40but also to make sure that these guys are as competitive as possible
10:43so that when they get to training camp, they're giving the starters
10:46and the high-rotation guys as much of a, you know, competitive practice
10:51as possible, right?
10:52So that corner, so Dan Quinn said that one of the groups he's looking at,
10:56along with quarterback and running back in this regard, is corner.
10:59And there are, like, a lot of, like, four, five, six guys who are, like,
11:03either within the league for a little bit, but they haven't really latched on,
11:06or Carlin Vigors was a UDFA practice squad guy last year.
11:11Fred Davis, the second out of Northwestern, is that guy this year.
11:14And I kind of wonder if one of those two younger guys knows enough
11:18that they can sneak on because, like I said, they can go to Witherspoon,
11:21they can go to Hamilton, but you kind of know what they are.
11:24There's not a lot of upside there.
11:26Do they seek that?
11:27Obviously, there's special teams factors and locker room factors and all that,
11:31but that, to me, is an interesting scenario that we'll see play out in camp.
11:34I loved your write-up.
11:36Ben does such a great job covering this team with his sub-stack column,
11:41and I would urge all of you to subscribe.
11:42You can just link to it from his X account at Ben Standing.
11:47But I loved the section that you wrote about involving this guy from Northwestern,
11:53the corner, Fred Davis II from Northwestern.
11:56He had a very, very good quote about a play that he made yesterday.
12:01Will you tell everybody about it?
12:05Kevin, my memory is shot.
12:07He and I talked for like seven minutes.
12:09What quote did I use?
12:10I don't remember.
12:11So he made – apparently he's got a 38-inch vertical.
12:15He's 6'1".
12:16Yeah.
12:17He leapt into the air and made a play on a throw towards the sideline.
12:22Oh, this is where he said he's not going to get yelled at?
12:24Well, he was asked – I guess maybe you asked him about it,
12:28and he just said, saw ball – saw ball, got ball.
12:32That was the quote.
12:34And then apparently they're not supposed to actually make plays on throws.
12:40Is that the deal?
12:41And so he was –
12:42Yeah.
12:44Yeah, no, that is the deal.
12:46And, you know, obviously that's a bizarre – like he and I talked for several minutes.
12:49I actually put the interview on my podcast most recently because I enjoyed the conversation that much.
12:55Yeah, it's a very weird deal, right?
12:57Here you are, this undrafted free agent.
12:59You're trying to show that you can make the team, go get the ball.
13:02And then the coaches are saying, well, actually we need the offense to be able to go through their process.
13:07So don't – you know, if the ball is sort of a competitive situation, don't make a play on it
13:13for now.
13:14So that's weird.
13:15He even does flat out.
13:16Yeah, it's super weird.
13:17But when this opportunity came up, the ball was thrown out wide.
13:21It was his or nobody's.
13:24And he made a really nice jump, caught it at the high point.
13:28And it's one of those plays where, like, you can't get overly worked up over one play.
13:32But it was the type of instinct and athletic play that you're like, oh, okay, this guy does have something
13:39there.
13:39Well, especially when the offense isn't expecting the defense to be able to make plays on the ball.
13:44That may have factored into it.
13:48Like I said, in this case, it was more just like he got the – it wasn't so much that
13:51he defended the receiver.
13:54It was more like the ball was thrown away and he made a play on it.
13:57And obviously this is a team that has struggled to create turnovers significantly, right?
14:02So let's not practice them.
14:06Well, something like that.
14:08It is a weird – but I remember I went back and looked at – when they announced all the
14:12UDFAs,
14:13I went back and looked at who I wrote about.
14:14And I remember I wrote them sort of in, like, here are the guys I think are most interesting.
14:18Number one was the kicker, and number two was Fred Davis, just based on what I had read about him.
14:23So, you know, again, in a situation where after the top three corners, I feel like things are open,
14:28this is a guy that's interesting.
14:29Again, he played four colleges.
14:31He had zero interceptions in college, which is very weird.
14:34But, you know, he stood out yesterday, and I thought it was worth noting.
14:39Talking to Ben Standing, of course, in Ashburn for minicamp day two.
14:44So, tell everybody what Quinn said about not cutting minicamp short
14:52and any sort of significance attached to that.
14:57I don't think so.
14:58I mean, obviously, we've seen a couple of teams at West just cancel minicamp altogether.
15:03Those, of course, are teams that are definitively Super Bowl contenders, veteran teams.
15:07So, you know, they're doing whatever they're doing.
15:09And Washington is coming off a five-win season.
15:11So, I don't see that happening.
15:13Now, you know, the point of cutting it a day early would largely be
15:19so everybody could go on their merry way with vacation.
15:21This is not something to do with football,
15:23but they're doing some sort of like a family event, barbecue, practice.
15:28So, nobody's going anywhere.
15:31So, that's kind of another reason that's no point in canceling the practice.
15:35But, yeah, I mean, look, this is a team that needs the work.
15:39I mean, who could say otherwise?
15:41And the point, again, that what Quinn is looking to do here, he said, is give the guys who have
15:46not typically been getting a ton of reps more reps because they want to see what they have.
15:51And, obviously, he also said, we don't know when, but we know we're going to need depth because injuries are
15:56going to happen, which, of course, this team knows very well after last year.
15:59And that's what this is all about.
16:00You've got to figure out who you have because once they get to training camp, you know, Jaden Daniels and
16:05Terry McLaurin and O-Way and everybody else,
16:08they're going to be out there as much as it makes sense for them to be out there, not that
16:12that's no more the time for the deep cuts to get work.
16:16So, this is their time to shine now, and they're giving them that opportunity.
16:19All right.
16:20Tell us about the two kickers, Jake Moody and the Iowa undrafted free agent, Drew Stevens.
16:27This is something that you can gauge something about because they're actually kicking and they're competing,
16:33and that'll happen, obviously, through training camp and through preseason games.
16:37But do you have any sense of who might have the upper hand at this point?
16:42Or maybe it's, you know, we've got to wait until preseason games at the least, very least.
16:47Yeah, you know, to your point that we can say, okay, well, so-and-so made X amount of kicks.
16:52That would be a pretty good marker.
16:54They've now had 10 practices, starting with the OTAs, and we've only seen four.
16:58So, I don't know what happened in the other six.
16:59But in the ones that we've had, including yesterday, going into yesterday, I think they were fairly even in terms
17:05of the just makes misses.
17:08Yesterday, Drew Stevens going second made all six of his kicks.
17:11They started at the 28 and then go back five yards until they get to the 53.
17:16Moody missed from 38 and 48.
17:19I think, to me, like, again, it's only one practice, and we didn't see a lot of the other ones.
17:24But in general, Moody's got to be very – he's got to be more accurate than Stevens because Stevens has
17:30the bigger leg.
17:32The other day we spoke with Larry Izzo, the special teams coordinator.
17:36You know, he was asking, you know, six different ways, what are you looking for here, you know?
17:39And he basically was like, look, cut to the chase, make the kicks.
17:43Beyond that, we'll, you know, we'll go from there.
17:45If you're not accurate, then nothing else really matters.
17:47And so if Stevens, with what looks to be like the bigger leg, is it equal to or is making
17:53more than I don't – you know, then he's going to have a good leg up, no pun intended.
17:57But we'll see.
17:58Again, this is one where they'll have a long runway here, you know, every single day of practice.
18:03They can go through these same exercises and do it again.
18:06And, you know, I don't know what's happened again on the days we're not there.
18:09But Stevens has looked – you know, if you're rooting for the guy who might be – I don't want
18:13to go crazy and say this team's Brandon Aubrey, but somebody who would give them the opportunity to make –
18:19to take a 55 or 60-yarder where we have really not seen that around here for a long time.
18:24And, obviously, this is a new era in the NFL where that's happening more regularly.
18:27Then he looks to be the more interesting of a guy.
18:30Again, Moody was a third-round pick not that long ago by the team of this team.
18:36Yeah.
18:37All right.
18:39He has a lot of favorites, correct?
18:41What did you say?
18:43No, I was just saying Adam Peters was with the 49ers when they drafted himself.
18:47Yeah.
18:47And then they brought him in.
18:48He got some fondness for him.
18:50Yeah, and I think for whatever reason, and it tends to be, I think, probably verifiably true, is that kickers
19:01usually don't end up becoming great with the team that they initially are on.
19:06It ends up being two or three teams later, and it has to sort of evolve.
19:13It's like they're not ready, you know, as a rookie or as a young player to win an NBA championship.
19:18They have to be in the league and take their hits and develop some scars before they end up becoming
19:27really good kickers.
19:28And Moody now is with team number three, I think, if not four at this point.
19:34So we'll see.
19:35He is three, yeah.
19:35Yeah.
19:36I remember when I talked to Stevens at that rookie camp, you know, I was like, look, obviously pressure is
19:42what this whole deal is with your position.
19:43I was like, it feels like from the outside, as the kicker for Iowa who scores no points, your kicks
19:49every time felt like there had to be more pressure.
19:51He's like, well, look, obviously I put, you know, I expect to make every one.
19:54But, yeah, sure, there were definitely times where it's like, if I don't make this, what are we doing?
19:59So, you know, he may be coming into this with a little bit more of those, you know, scars to
20:04a degree because he's, again, to a certain extent, Iowa's offense was the kicker.
20:08So, you know, that made me catch for a little bit more, yeah.
20:11Yeah, they were a little bit better offensively this year than they've been.
20:15But, yeah, he was a big, big, big part of what they did.
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