- 11 hours ago
Is "Bill" being overlooked nationally? Grant & Danny think he could have a big year for the Commanders.
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00:01Kevin Burkhardt, Tom Brady on the call for Fox
00:04as Bill scored a touchdown.
00:06I'm going to guess that was the Chargers game,
00:08but there are other options.
00:09He had a two-touchdown game against the Chargers.
00:12What game would that have been, Dad?
00:14That was his first career touchdown in Week 1 against the Giants.
00:17We'll accept that answer as well.
00:18He also scored on a 70-plus-yard touchdown run
00:21against the Dallas Cowboys on Christmas Day at Northwest Stadium.
00:2611 for a buck-oh-five.
00:28That, Dad, ain't bad.
00:2970-plus will help you.
00:30That's good work.
00:31On one of those.
00:31That's true.
00:32That's 10 for 30.
00:33Otherwise, that's a pretty normal day.
00:35The rest of it was pedestrian, yeah.
00:36But here's what I'm surprised by.
00:39So PFF's doing a bunch of rankings,
00:41and we're trying not to every day do another one of their rankings
00:43or whatever, but it's that kind of time of the year.
00:45Occasionally, though, something's jumping out at me,
00:47and I'm bringing it up as just part of a larger conversation.
00:51They ranked the 32 starting running backs in the league,
00:54and Bill was 30th.
00:56I also felt like during the spring,
00:59locally, within the media, the beat would have you.
01:02There was a lot of Rashad White this, Rashad White that,
01:05who for his career is a sub-four-yard-per-carry veteran running back.
01:08Now, I like Rashad White.
01:10I think he has a role he's going to carve out as a pass catcher.
01:14He averaged 50 catches over the last four years in Tampa Bay.
01:18But to me, it seems like Bill's being forgotten about a little bit.
01:22The good was really, really good.
01:24He's got some flaws.
01:25He's got some things to work out.
01:26He barely got the ball at times last year,
01:29and that's not just the they-don't-know-what-I-know thing.
01:32Clearly, there's reasons for that.
01:33But I think if you turn up the usage on Bill,
01:37you're going to get productivity to come with it.
01:39I'm not giving up on him being a really, really good player.
01:42So I like him.
01:43It seems like they don't as much, and here's my evidence for that.
01:47It basically took Chris Rodriguez getting food poisoning
01:49or a last-minute injury for them to finally give him double-digit carries.
01:53Nine of his 17 games, he averaged less than four yards a pop.
01:57Now, part of that is ineffectiveness.
01:58Part of that is the whole world knew that they couldn't go over the top,
02:02and defenses were throttling the line of scrimmage
02:04and making it difficult for anybody to do anything.
02:06But still, they didn't trust him on passing downs, for example,
02:09and always went in a different direction when it came to that,
02:11whether it's pass-pro or otherwise, which limits your production.
02:14If you have to be off the field in a huge percentage of the plays
02:18and everyone knows it's kind of a telegraph when you're on there,
02:22without huge development in certain areas,
02:24he can't do the kind of production that I think you and I are maybe envisioning for him.
02:28They didn't really want to throw him the ball.
02:30I don't know if that's a Kingsbury thing
02:31or this coaching staff didn't believe in him in that regard thing.
02:34He can't hold up in pass-pro.
02:35Maybe.
02:36We don't know.
02:37But to me, whenever Rodriguez was available, they did that.
02:40And whenever someone else was available, they did that.
02:43It was only a handful of games.
02:44He even got the double-digit carries last year.
02:46They always seemed to prefer a different option.
02:48They didn't run the ball a lot, just as a general thesis.
02:52And to your point, it was a hot-hand situation where one week it's this guy,
02:56the next week it's that guy.
02:57But yeah, to never really get into a flow, into a rhythm, to get rolling with him
03:03just surprised me.
03:04Because the couple of games where I felt like it was the Bill show,
03:07and it's a chicken-or-the-egg thing because he's running well,
03:10so he gets more work.
03:11But that Chargers game's a great example.
03:13Where the Cowboys' home run, they have not had a guy who could do that
03:17since Clinton Portis consistently.
03:19There's been a lot of your plotting types.
03:22Even the really good backs like Alfred Morris, he could never do that.
03:25That was not a club he had in the bag.
03:27So I'm intrigued to see more of him.
03:30I'm also surprised a little bit with the attempts to put Rashad White over.
03:35I thought when they went and got Rashad White, the point was,
03:38here's Jeremy McNichols, and now McNichols is also back,
03:42so maybe he'll be the fourth running back.
03:43But in a perfect world, I'd like to see Bill as my first and second down guy.
03:49I'd like to see Fat Man Allen from Penn State, the rookie sixth-round pick,
03:54all-time leading rusher for the Nittany Lions,
03:57get work in that first and second down role spelling Bill as maybe a lighter-used
04:03Chris Rodriguez early on.
04:06And then you've got Rashad White on third down, two-minute, four-minute
04:08in the McNichols role, and he's either on teams or on the practice squad
04:12or whatever, speaking of Jeremy McNichols.
04:14That's kind of how I envision it, but I think there's a chance,
04:17like the way things have trended so far.
04:19We're going to learn a lot more in the first few weeks of camp.
04:21But right now, I would say there's a decent chance Rashad White's like their first
04:24and second down back in week one, just based on how everyone was talking about him
04:28and kind of what came out of minicamp, which shocks me.
04:30I wonder what the Catron Allen part in this is, because, again,
04:34it's not what I would major in, but everybody in the NFL loves the idea of the,
04:39you know, this is the David Montgomery role, the thunder to the lightning,
04:42potentially, of somebody.
04:43I wonder where he fits in in terms of touches and carries.
04:45He's Chris Rodriguez.
04:46Yeah.
04:46Now, Rodriguez worked his way into usage based on effectiveness.
04:50The plan at the beginning of the year, remember,
04:52they basically almost cut him a couple times, and then he had the great preseason,
04:56he was still inactive, and then he wasn't dressing.
04:58So he just kept performing, and they had to play him.
05:01And Catron Allen off to perform to get played.
05:03But I think the idea of him is to be the Rodriguez, which is,
05:06you're the battering ram, this guy is more of the speed first and second down back,
05:12and then White is the pass catcher.
05:14I view it almost like a bullpen with defined roles.
05:17Yeah.
05:17There's the one kind of specialist, a different kind.
05:19But I'm wondering if I'm just wrong.
05:21And Rashad White's their starter.
05:22I wonder.
05:23I mean, because, again, the – I don't know how to say it in a different way,
05:27but if Bill is on the field and he cannot hold up in pass pro,
05:33people figure that out real quick one way or the other.
05:35In other words, like if you can't throw on first down because he's in the game
05:38and you don't trust him, then it's a tell and it limits what you can do with him.
05:42But White, I mean, that's his bread and butter.
05:44That's what he is.
05:44He's a pass catching back.
05:45He's been mildly effective at times as a runner between the tackles
05:49as a conventional running back.
05:50Like, he's here to catch the ball and be involved in the passing game.
05:53He is a sub-four-yard per carry running back in his career.
05:55Yeah.
05:56Bill, last year, I think, averaged 4.7 as a rookie.
05:59I mean, the effectiveness – like, I think Rashad White is a back.
06:03I've had him in fantasy a few years and, like, watched him a lot, actually, weirdly.
06:06He is the get-what's-there back.
06:08Like, you blocked it up for 3.8, I'm going to get you 3.8.
06:12That's kind of what he is, which is not a knock.
06:14Again, I would hire him in a second on any team I'm on,
06:16and I'd throw him the football, and I'd use him in pass pro.
06:18Yeah, as a receiver, he's – I don't want to say this, but he's slithery.
06:21You know what I mean?
06:22Like, in space, I like him.
06:23I just want them to use Bill more,
06:25and I want him to have the first crack at the first and second down roll.
06:29I hope that's the plan.
06:30I'm just not sure that it is.
06:31He's their most dynamic on any given play.
06:37Daniel's under center or whoever.
06:38Turns around, hands the ball off to the running back.
06:40He would do the most with it most often.
06:42I think that's – everybody kind of agrees there.
06:44But how much do you prioritize that over being able to run effective play action
06:49or being able to have him in pass pro or lining up in the pistol or the gun
06:52or any other million things that running backs have to do at this point,
06:55and is that going to limit his touches and playing time?
06:57But I hesitate to just label him as this guy that can't do all that stuff, right?
07:03I don't think that's a thing.
07:06It felt like it was last year, right?
07:08Because he didn't play enough.
07:09I don't know.
07:09They never threw him the ball.
07:10I mean, they have roles like they didn't,
07:13but they didn't throw the running backs the ball enough, period.
07:16But they also have a pass catching back just like they do now in Rashad White.
07:20Like most teams are going to do that.
07:21You're not going to have a three-down back,
07:23and you're certainly not going to have a guy in year one as a seventh-round pick
07:26be a three-down back.
07:27But I think we'll get a better feel in this offense, honestly,
07:31the way they're going to do it now with maybe more carries to go around.
07:34Let's go to Will in Alexandria.
07:36Will listed 30th among 32 starters seems low for me.
07:39What do you think of Bill?
07:41Well, I'm a fan.
07:43I'm a Washington fan.
07:44I think as a seventh-round rookie, 800 yards was a phenomenal return
07:49and probably the quietest 800 yards from a rookie that I've remembered in some time.
07:55But we also need to remember he didn't really have a final year at Arizona.
07:58He played one game, kept himself in shape,
08:01and kudos to him for still getting drafted in the seventh round.
08:04But we talk a lot about, like, rookie linemen
08:07and having a year in the weight program and all that stuff.
08:10And I almost wonder if you see a little bit more here understanding his lack of playing in college.
08:16It's a great point, and it's certainly something that should be acknowledged.
08:20I would think it has to be some type of factor just in terms of, you know,
08:24getting bigger, getting stronger, those types of things.
08:27And he was basically like a one-year college guy at New Mexico in 2023
08:31because he played a game in 2024 over those last two seasons.
08:36So it's an interesting point.
08:38The other thing I would point out, though, and this kind of relates to that, I'd say,
08:41based on the program, getting in the gym, all that.
08:44One of the reasons you heard so much about Rashad White this spring and not him is he wasn't active.
08:48He was on the sideline.
08:49Oh, that's true.
08:50He's nursing an injury.
08:51Well, that happened a lot last year, too.
08:52When you look at his carries or why didn't he have more touches in this game
08:55or look at how many weeks he went with this low carry total, all that stuff,
08:59he got banged up a bunch last season.
09:01The only way to become a 15 to 18 carry a game guy, which is kind of the area I
09:06want him to be in,
09:07that's not a ton, by the way, but over the course of a season, that's about 250 attempts.
09:12I'd love him to get to that threshold.
09:13He had two games with that many last year.
09:15Right.
09:16Right.
09:16But he had a lot of games where he was banged up and on the sideline
09:19or wasn't available or was playing through pain.
09:21You've got to be healthy.
09:22He was not healthy.
09:23So he's going to have to take care of his body.
09:25The same stuff we talk about with Jaden Daniels and durability.
09:28I would say that's a fair question about him coming out of last season.
09:31I think so.
09:31Yeah.
09:31Even though we didn't miss extended time, it was always the little, you know,
09:34the questionable tag or he was held out of this practice or, or whatever.
09:37Right.
09:38He got hurt.
09:38Again, one of these nagging things, not like a, you're out for a month,
09:42but in that first like burgundy versus gold scrimmage they did,
09:45that was like the good on good.
09:47Now we're going to find out who's who kind of things.
09:49He got hurt in that.
09:50Remember, and missed like a week or two of practice,
09:52leading up to the start of the season.
09:53So I feel like he was constantly in the tub last year as the year went on.
09:57Dan's in Fairfax.
09:58What's up, Dan?
10:00Hey guys.
10:01Big fan of Bill.
10:02I, I think he is punching above his weight.
10:05I kind of get like Will Riley or Keishon George vibes from him as in like we internally during
10:11the city, we like him more than perhaps other people do.
10:14But I did have a question for you guys too.
10:17You were asking about who ends up with the third most receptions on the team.
10:21Do you think if they use white as much as you're thinking they may, that he ends up in that
10:2550 to 60 cash range?
10:28Very possible.
10:28It's not crazy.
10:2960's rich because they're going to use so many other backs.
10:33I think collectively the position group will get 60 or 65.
10:36But yeah, I think he'll be in the upper 40s, low 50s range probably.
10:40I would not be surprised by that at all.
10:42So to give you the frame of reference in 24, I think this will be different offenses, but
10:45just bear with me.
10:4624, McLaurin obviously leads the team.
10:49Tight end is number two.
10:50Eckler had 35, but remember, missed a bunch of time.
10:52He would have been the third leading receiver.
10:54He would have caught 50 plus.
10:55But that's Austin Eckler.
10:56Yeah.
10:57You know, you have a version of that in Rashad White, who's not Austin Eckler respectfully.
11:01No, but he's average 50 catches for four years.
11:03So, you know, would that be good enough to do it?
11:05You hope not, honestly.
11:06You hope that there's a couple guys ahead of him, but it could be a future part of the
11:09offense.
11:09I do think White will get looks.
11:11I think he will very, if I had to bet right now, yes, he will be the third.
11:16Pass catcher on the team in terms of number of catches could even be second if he were
11:21to catch like 62 balls or something.
11:23But when I asked that question earlier, what I'm wondering is who is number two among the
11:27wide receiver group?
11:28Like that to me is the billion dollar question.
11:30It's going to be Terry, hopefully a con quote.
11:33Maybe it's White.
11:34But the number two receiver and catches is really important.
11:37I want to tell you who I actually came up with as my answer for that when I was talking
11:41to Logan about this on take command, because we had different guys.
11:44Mine was kind of surprising, and I'll see who you think next as well.
11:47Grant and Danny on the fan.