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Ben Standig joins the show to preview Commanders training camp and discuss the expectations for Washington this season.
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00:00It's time to get out to the Rude Guest Hotline.
00:02Welcome in our guest from the last man standing sub-stack, Ben Standing himself.
00:07Ben, what's going on today? How you doing?
00:09Hello, I'm doing great. Thanks for having me.
00:12Absolutely. It's fun that we're finally going to be able to talk about actual football things.
00:17No more conjecture.
00:19I'll start with this. We started the show with this, and hopefully this is one of the last times we
00:23can mention it.
00:24Is the IUK stuff dead? Are we done with that?
00:27What? He's out there to die.
00:31So I haven't checked social media this morning, but I saw yesterday, right, that he posted that he bought a
00:38house in Loudoun County?
00:39Yeah.
00:41I mean, I don't know what to make of that. I mean, the person he's with is an actual realtor.
00:48So, I mean, I don't know what to make of that. I mean, this thing has already gotten kind of
00:53nuts, and it's been nuts.
00:55But if he's buying a home in Loudoun County, if this is real, but he's not actually going to play
01:01for the team, that is even weirder than I would have imagined this thing would go.
01:08So, I mean, for me, it feels like this has turned hard against IUK ever since he sort of called
01:19out Jayden, it felt like, and maybe even Jayden's mom a bit on social media.
01:23And then Jayden responded a little bit, we think.
01:25Like, and I've never been a believer that this is like some sort of bit between them.
01:30So if that is real and it did sort of turn, I just don't see how the team is going
01:34to go down this route.
01:37I think in general, sort of independent of IUK, sure, I think we all agree that like the second receiver
01:42spot is a bit of a mystery right now.
01:45But I think they have options if you consider that they're going to play probably a fair amount of two
01:51tight ends, maybe even three tight ends, in which case you only need two receivers on the field.
01:55And they have guys that can do specific things, you know, a deep guy, a vertical guy, a rat runner,
02:01a hands guy, whatever it is.
02:02So I just feel like they may be just comfortable enough with that group, or at least going into the
02:07first week of camp and go from there.
02:09But I don't see the IUK thing, but I haven't seen it for a long time.
02:14But the whole thing about it, like, listen, if you got enough money to go buy a house, you can
02:17buy it where you want to buy it at.
02:19But this football team can't do anything until you do what you're supposed to do.
02:23And I feel the whole thing is a non-story until he files for reinstatement.
02:30Yeah, I mean, that's the thing, right?
02:32I mean, there have been people who have been accused or actually committed acts far more, I don't know, far
02:41worse from a societal perspective than what Brandon IUK has done, even though there are some things going on here,
02:47including, you know, speeding and there's an arrest warrant.
02:51But, you know, relatively speaking, people have done other things.
02:53It's just that if we're just looking at this from, like, a professional standpoint, like, what he's been doing has
03:00just made zero sense going all the way back to, you know, when San Francisco, you know, decided to take
03:07away some of the guaranteed money from his deal.
03:12Because he, in their eyes, he stopped showing up for his rehab work, apparently.
03:17And he can sit there and say, well, it's not true or whatever.
03:20But it did happen.
03:23And he didn't, he nor the NFLPA or an agent or anybody even, like, fought seemingly to prevent that from
03:30happening.
03:31So, and then, of course, the reinstatement aspect, he just had to show up, you know, essentially at the 49ers
03:36at some point to get back in and deal with the NFL as well.
03:40These are just basic procedural things.
03:42This is not anything that, like, this is not a criminal, the law is not holding him back.
03:47The NFLPA wants to help him, you know.
03:49And yet, still, here we are.
03:51He's acting like the world's conspiring against him.
03:54So, I just don't know how you're looking at that in any way and thinking we want this element, this
04:00wild card aspect in our locker room, especially coming off a year that they just had and so on and
04:04so on.
04:04So, to me, it just makes no sense.
04:07But, you know, we'll see.
04:09We've seen stranger things.
04:12Yeah, for certain.
04:13Talking with Ben Standing at the last man standing sub-stack.
04:16So, let's get into the actual football.
04:18As rookies report to training camp today, vets on Tuesday, first full practice with the team.
04:23Next Wednesday.
04:25What are the storylines, the headlines that you're most interested in keeping an eye on early in camp?
04:31Yeah, I wrote about a bunch of these on my sub-stack.
04:35You know, obviously, well, I should say, obviously, you know, there's certainly little things like we're going to get to
04:41see Sonny Stiles play, you know, in something that's going to lose more akin to a real NFL practice scenario.
04:48And, you know, we kind of feel like he's going to be the green dot guy, but, you know, we'll
04:53have to see that for sure.
04:54If they're going to play a true 3-4 defense, then really only two of those, you know, three linebackers
05:00that we talked about are going to be on the field at any given point.
05:03I would assume Stiles is one of them, but let's just see what happens and just also, you know, what
05:07kind of a difference maker he can be, you know, when the game is turned real here.
05:13Obviously, there's some offensive line battles.
05:15The left guard spot.
05:17Is Nick Allegretti really locked in at center?
05:18I assume the answer is yes.
05:20And, you know, not to go down the list, you know, is Bill Krosky married?
05:23Is he showing enough as a pass protector or pass catcher that he can be a three-down option, which
05:28I really think would unlock something for this offense?
05:31But ultimately, a lot of it is just going to come down to, well, what are we seeing out of
05:34Jaden Daniels?
05:36Obviously, the injuries are not, you know, knock on wood, are not going to be a factor here because he's
05:39not getting hit.
05:40But, you know, how does he look in the new offense?
05:42I mean, I think everything has looked fine so far, but, you know, when we talk about questions at receiver
05:47to some degree and the offensive line a little bit, and just in general, the lack of offensive playmakers beyond
05:53Terry McLaurin, Jaden Daniels is going to have to be Superman again.
05:58And he did it in 2024.
06:00It's not like we haven't seen it.
06:02So I think that, you know, just come down to that.
06:06How does he look?
06:07How does the offense look under him, under Blouse's direction?
06:10And, you know, we won't see everything, of course, in camp because they're going to hide a lot until the
06:14season.
06:15But at the same point, we can see if it's not working or, you know, if there's questions.
06:21Because there were last year before the season started and ultimately led to kind of what happened.
06:25Did you see anything in the minicamp, OTAs, that was distinctly different that you could see with this offense?
06:33Oh, man, I've been to Vegas since minicamp.
06:36I don't remember what happened yesterday.
06:37Let me think.
06:41No, I mean, yeah, you can see a few things.
06:43I mean, again, you know, mentioning the tight ends, that it looks like that's going to be more of a
06:49feature.
06:49You know, having multiple tight ends on the field is a big deal.
06:52Obviously, some of the real basic stuff, like, you know, under center, huddling to a degree.
07:00And, you know, I think some of the route combinations, I think a lot of those things are going to
07:04be different.
07:06And, you know, that's the thing.
07:08I mean, with Cliff, it was, you know, a pretty rigid situation.
07:11You know, Terry McLaurin, the X receivers, always to the left.
07:15Terry McLaurin's always out to the left.
07:17You know, the no huddle, the shotgun.
07:19These things were incredibly effective in 24, but kind of limiting over time.
07:24So, I think there's just more variety at a basic level with what Blau's looking to do.
07:29And I think the route combinations.
07:30I mean, I think the other thing is that we're typically saying there's uncertainty receiver because we're not sure, like,
07:38which of these guys are going to consistently get open and make plays.
07:42But the thing is, like, with Blau's system and Ben John's system or what have you,
07:47is, like, the route combinations designed on the play call should help get these guys open.
07:53And that's where we just won't see it until the games actually probably happen.
07:58But, you know, you can see a little bit of that in practice just in terms of the formation
08:02and, you know, the actual routes being run and things like that.
08:06But, you know, you can see the differences coming up.
08:09Talk with Ben Standig of the Last Man Standig sub-stack.
08:13Follow him on X at Ben Standig.
08:15Ben, one of the things that I think has kind of helped try to formulate how I felt about the
08:20receiver room
08:20is what the expectations for the season are.
08:23If, you know, if you feel like taking a step forward from five wins and you get to eight
08:28and you feel like that's acceptable and that's kind of where you're fine with,
08:31I can kind of understand where they're at.
08:33If you want them to try to replicate what they did in 24
08:35and at least get close to 12 wins, at least get double digits and fight for a playoff spot,
08:40maybe they're coming up a little bit short.
08:42I'm curious what your thoughts before, you know, we've really seen what the full defense is going to look like
08:48before we've seen what the full offense is going to look like in training camp.
08:52What kind of expectations do you have for this team going into training camp?
08:59I'm going to say I have no expectations, which isn't to say that I think they'll be terrible,
09:04which isn't to say that I think they'll be good.
09:06It's to say they are just one of the many teams in the NFL where they're somewhere in the middle.
09:12You know, I mean, you know, look, 2024, 12 wins, an incredible season.
09:18We all were there, but you know how it is.
09:20I mean, if we go back, a couple of things happened here.
09:23I mean, look, they won the last, what, five games?
09:26Yeah, five, six games in the last play from scrimmage, you know?
09:30Like, that's not normal, right?
09:32Their fourth down percentage that year was off the charts.
09:35You know, look, they had a game where they won with a Hail Mary, right?
09:38It was the play of the year, and, you know, these are the things that are just the bounces
09:42went their way in an extreme way, but, of course, they took advantage of it,
09:46and that's the key is every team, every game, there's always advantages for teams
09:51that are sitting there, and the bad ones don't take advantage of them,
09:55and the good ones do, and that's kind of what this comes down to.
09:58So, you know, I think the defense obviously looks like it's a lot better on paper.
10:03You know, does that mean they're a top half of the league defense?
10:06Well, that's the question, but even if they're just ordinary,
10:08right, the league average, that's a big step up from where things were last year,
10:13and even, frankly, in 2024.
10:15So, if that happens, then this thing could go a long way.
10:18If you tell me that Jaden Daniels is able to avoid, you know,
10:21any real notable injuries over the course of the season,
10:24then, you know, the floor is going to be pretty high up, all things being equal.
10:28But, you know, tell me what the injuries are.
10:31Tell me how the new coordinators go when the games turn real.
10:35And, you know, I'm not trying to be wishy-washy and just being like,
10:38this is kind of, to me, what's realistic.
10:40Seven wins, nine wins, sure.
10:42Pick where you want to go on that, but let's see what happens.
10:45And can they show us enough, I guess, this summer to think, okay,
10:49maybe there's more than just a flip of a coin as to where they're going to be,
10:52that they really have some strength.
10:53And that's going to be determined, you know, over time here.
10:56Ben, you had mentioned the defense, and we talk a lot about complementary football.
11:01And I know Jaden, I mean, we all were dissecting in multiple ways the second receiver
11:07and what they can do offensively.
11:10JP asked me one or two weeks ago,
11:13what did I think would be best for Jaden to have a successful season?
11:17I said, the defense being better.
11:20And I'm off-base thinking that if they don't give up 30 points in games,
11:24that you take a lot of pressure off the offense,
11:27and now you can get settled into doing stuff,
11:29which I think that they are very good.
11:32They were, two years ago, very good at time and possession.
11:37If the defense is better and they can do the things they did with time and possession,
11:41it changes the whole ballgame.
11:44Yeah, no doubt.
11:44I mean, I think we remember back in 2024,
11:47where they had that stretch of like Tress Way was just kind of twiddling his thumbs
11:51because they just never punted.
11:54And it wasn't like it was just like 60-yard plays.
11:57It was just a very time-consuming drive, one after another,
12:02and that ended with, you know, some type of points.
12:05And, yeah, if they can be efficient like that again,
12:09that would be, you know, huge.
12:11And that, of course, helps the defense stay fresh.
12:14But then you're right, if the defense is able to buck up a bit here and there,
12:18you know, and create some actual turnover, you know,
12:21the ball is life mantra for the last couple of years,
12:25this has been completely dead, right?
12:28Realistically, you know, you got to get turnovers.
12:31And sometimes it's just even, again, just sort of the bounce of the ball.
12:33I think they only had one recovered fumble last year.
12:37Like, that's just not, this law of averages, that's ridiculous.
12:41You know, so, yeah, if the defense can hold up.
12:45And, again, I think this is where the Durante Jones system is very fascinating.
12:50Like, on some odd level, like, I'm not discounting the system at all
12:52because, obviously, Brian Flores has been effective with it, heavy blitzing,
12:57you know, guys coming from different angles.
12:59It almost feels, though, like it's like a college coach coming up with saying,
13:03well, we don't necessarily have enough, like, straight-up talent,
13:05but we're going to scheme our way.
13:07We're going to create opportunities off-snap to cause problems for you
13:13and to help us.
13:14And, you know, that should raise the floor, I think.
13:17I don't know how effective it is.
13:19Again, we'll just have to see how it plays out.
13:20But they have enough bodies, I think, in the front seven to be super interesting.
13:24The cornerback I still have some questions about.
13:26But, you know, they are younger, they are faster,
13:29and at a basic level, that should help them overcome a lot of the issues
13:32they've had the last couple years in terms of just, you know,
13:36preventing bigger plays and, you know, slowing down the opposing run game,
13:40things like that.
13:41They've got to be better at tackling.
13:42They've got to make some plays, you know, in terms of turnovers.
13:44But, yeah, if the defense can just be ordinary,
13:48then that should help Jaden a ton for sure.
13:51You mentioned the DBs.
13:52What is the status update or what are we expecting for Trey Amos?
13:56Is he going to be good to go for training camp?
13:58And what are some of your expectations for him in year two?
14:01Yeah, I mean, you know, they don't have to tell us anything official
14:05because it's not week one.
14:07There's no injury reports and things like that.
14:08But Dan Quinn is somewhat vague about Trey Amos and Dorrance Armstrong
14:12and some of these other guys, other than to say that they're progressing well
14:16and it sounded like there was an optimism that these guys could be ready for camp,
14:19whether that's going to be on Wednesday when we're out there
14:22or somewhere here along the way, not sure.
14:25I mean, Trey Amos, you know, he was only out in the field one time
14:28for stretching, not for actual practices.
14:31But at least that sort of suggested to me that, okay, he's not far off.
14:37They're just, you know, kind of waiting it out, you know,
14:40not trying to rush it in the off-season program.
14:43And so, you know, it won't surprise me if he's out there Wednesday,
14:46but I don't want to set that expectation largely because they haven't yet.
14:51But it's really interesting, right, because Trey Amos, like,
14:53obviously he showed a lot last year.
14:56Is he the number one quarterback on a team or is he number one here by default?
15:02Because I don't, you know, we don't really know what's going to happen
15:05at the other spot.
15:06And it's one thing to say that Trey Amos looks very promising here.
15:09It's another thing to say, hey, you get to be the guy that goes to the other
15:12with CeeDee Lamb and Malik Neighbors and so on.
15:15And, you know, that we'll have to see.
15:17I mean, the difference between being able to play
15:19and being able to be that level.
15:21And that's where I think we need to see where he's at health-wise
15:23and also just his development as a player.
15:26Man, when I saw the schedule at the beginning,
15:28as soon as they showed the schedule, I said they got to change intensity.
15:31Are you expecting more intensity in practice this year than it was last year?
15:37Yeah, well, I mean, this is, you know, of course, a perfect question
15:40for someone like you who actually lived through this.
15:44And, you know, back in my day, kind of comments everybody would always say,
15:49I'm watching these practices and it's just not the same deal.
15:53I know I always forget if it's you that said this to me or Doc Walker,
15:57but something to the effect of you can't get better at playing football
16:00unless you play football.
16:02That was me.
16:02Okay.
16:03So, yeah, and that's not just like going through the motions of,
16:07okay, the coach says run this way, turn that way.
16:10Like it is the, you know, how intense does it go?
16:13Do you raise the level of what the day-to-day expectation is
16:17that it becomes normal?
16:18I always think about the movie Miracle, obviously,
16:21about that 1980 Olympic hockey team.
16:22And if you've seen the movie, there's a great scene
16:24where they are pretty nonchalant in some exhibition game.
16:27And then after the game, Herb Brooks, the coach,
16:30keeps them out on the ice for an extraordinary amount of time.
16:32He's running suicide drills up and back, you know,
16:36up to one end and to back, and there he goes dying.
16:38Again.
16:39Yeah, again.
16:40Yeah, exactly.
16:41Now, obviously, that's the extreme,
16:42but the point was the way the movie played out was he knew he needed
16:47to get them to this, like, ultimate fitness and mental level
16:51that they would be able to play through anything when it came to being tired
16:55or whatever.
16:55And that, I think, is sort of what we're talking about here.
16:58Do they raise the level such that when they get to the season,
17:02they don't have to raise their level.
17:04The level is already there in terms of intensity and focus.
17:08Now, how easy that is, you know, again,
17:10I'll leave that to the football player,
17:11but it does seem like they need to raise that level up from last year for sure.
17:16And I'm going to be curious to see how many guys,
17:18you know, how many vet days do we have?
17:19Like, you know, the one drill I always love is when you have the offensive
17:24lineman and the defensive lineman, the one-on-one, you know,
17:28the guy is rushing and the tackle kicks out to cover it,
17:32to block it, whatever.
17:33We didn't get that nearly as much in last year as we have in years past.
17:37And I just think that's a good example of, you know,
17:39it's not the Oklahoma drill, but it's a good example of these guys getting,
17:43you know,
17:44a lot closer to a reality of what they're going to have to do.
17:47And it's an intensity that happens.
17:49And I, you know,
17:50that's the thing to me seems to be, there should be more of, again,
17:53I defer to the football player, but, you know,
17:55I do agree that they should hopefully be raising it because like Beeman said,
17:59that schedule is not starting off easy at all.
18:02Take the bubble wrap off, baby.
18:04Take the bubble wrap off.
18:05One last one here, Ben,
18:07talking with Ben Standing of the Last Man Standing sub stack.
18:10We're talking about the rookies reporting before you came on.
18:13And I'm curious what you think for the rookie offensive players,
18:18specifically Antonio Williams, Katron Allen,
18:21how big of an impact do you think that they're going to have this season?
18:25Like what,
18:25what do you think an Antonio Williams season looks like?
18:28And how much do you think Katron carries the ball this season?
18:32You know,
18:33one sign that things feel a bit different this year in terms of the roster is
18:36that obviously they didn't have a second and a fourth round pick.
18:39So that doesn't help what I'm about to say.
18:42But to me,
18:42it's kind of like Sonny Stiles,
18:44Antonio Williams,
18:45those are the guys you're looking for a real impact.
18:48And the opportunity is there,
18:50both obviously Stiles has been a linebacker,
18:52but on the offensive side,
18:54Antonio Williams is like the best hope that somebody at receiver breaks out
18:58and becomes a legit starter.
19:02And,
19:02you know,
19:02because we haven't seen him play,
19:04he's the best hope,
19:06you know,
19:07right,
19:07right now as a rat runner,
19:09he definitely looks promising.
19:10You know,
19:11he's got some good speed.
19:12I think the real question is like,
19:13can a guy who was a mostly slot in college thrive on the outside?
19:18But again,
19:19maybe they don't need him to thrive the way we typically look at it.
19:22It's just,
19:23can you,
19:23when David Blouse says,
19:24do this,
19:25he's able to do it at a high level and that flows with the offense.
19:30So to me,
19:30like that's the one guy,
19:31you know,
19:32Kate Ron Allen,
19:32I presume he makes the team because pretty much all the draft picks always do.
19:37And he would give them sort of a different element as this backfield by
19:40committee with a sort of the bigger body,
19:42tougher yardage,
19:43tough yard runner inside.
19:46Does that mean he's going to take enough touches away from Bill and,
19:50and Rashad White to be impactful?
19:53I don't know.
19:54We'll see about that.
19:54Jeremy Nichols may have something to say about that,
19:56but if Alan kind of can hit that basic rookie upside this year of being a
20:02physical presence and somebody capable of picking up third and one,
20:05things like that,
20:06then I think he could squeeze his way into the rotation.
20:08I think it's the high end for him,
20:09but to me,
20:10it's,
20:10you know,
20:10it's Antonio Williams and everything else would be gravy for them this
20:13year.
20:14All right.
20:14Well,
20:14Ben,
20:15you're no rookie,
20:15so you don't have to report to training camp today,
20:17but we'll see you next week and enjoy a couple of days before we get into
20:21the grinds.
20:21This will get you out there and put you in some pads,
20:23Ben.
20:24Well,
20:26I'm going to,
20:26I'm going to fail every conditioning test,
20:28even if it's just the reporter test of,
20:30you know,
20:31getting up to walk over to get Chick-fil-A.
20:33I'm going to,
20:33I'm going to fail every test right now.
20:35Well,
20:35real quick,
20:37Ben,
20:37how's your arm?
20:38You think you can pitch out of the bullpen?
20:39For the Nats tonight,
20:40we could use you.
20:42I got a better chance of hitting a jumper for the Wizards than I do.
20:45Pitching for the Nats.
20:46I'll leave it to Ben.
20:48Well,
20:48Ben,
20:48appreciate the time.
20:49We'll see you after the next weekend.
20:50Take care,
20:50man.
20:51Thanks,
20:51guys.
20:51See ya.
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