00:00Training camp is set to kick off, and there is a lot for Washington to figure out, okay?
00:09Let's start on the defensive side of the ball.
00:14Offensively, David Blau is putting in a new system, right?
00:17But there will be some elements of what they did with Kingsbury.
00:20Yeah, I think it'll be more elements than we expect.
00:23Like, they'll still be in shotguns.
00:24Like, it's not going to be all under center, wishbone, eye formation.
00:28You know what I mean?
00:29Like, we will still see some pistol.
00:31We will still see plenty of shotgun.
00:36Defensively, how much, if at all, do you think we see from last year carry over to this year?
00:42What do you mean defensively?
00:43On the defensive side of the ball.
00:46I think that overhaul might be more extensive.
00:49I think it's more of a three down, three big diamond down.
00:54They're going more to that to be able to have those four linebackers on the field,
00:58to be able to do the different blessing from all the different directions and things like that.
01:02But the thing that you've always stated, and I totally agree with you, that they run so many different things.
01:09They don't run like a traditional, like, a team that's a 3-4 run 3-4 the whole damn game.
01:16Team that's a 4-3.
01:17They, before, ran a multitude of things.
01:21And that's exactly what I think Durante is going to do as well.
01:24I just think that the aggressiveness is going to be different this year, which would cause offenses to have to
01:34make quicker decisions.
01:36Or you'll see some quarterbacks holding on to the ball a little bit longer, which I think will help the
01:41defense.
01:42Like, the last time we saw a true base 3-4 was when Mike Shanahan was here.
01:46And, I mean, that's 15 years ago now.
01:49And I think the NFL has evolved.
01:52The real base defense around the league at this point is nickel.
01:57Way more than 4-3 or 3-4.
01:59Like, there are more DBs on the field than ever before.
02:02And that's why you've seen the rise of kind of these linebacker slash safety hybrid type dudes.
02:09I think one of the biggest differences, we don't know this yet, right?
02:14But if you look at how Flores' defenses in Minnesota played, you saw a nickel look, but with three safeties
02:24and two corners rather than three corners and two safeties.
02:28And I think that would kind of play to their depth.
02:31I like the safety group.
02:32Cross comes in.
02:34If you have a safety who can cover, is also a short tackler, you can use him as much in
02:43the nickel as you do a third cornerback.
02:46Because, like, some of these people, when they bring in nickel, they're trying to give you a look of nickel
02:52to get you to put smaller people in,
02:54and then they run the damn ball on you.
02:56But if you have a safety who's legit, that safety can be a help in that run game.
03:01Totally.
03:02I think defensively, things will look more different than even offensively.
03:07And I know we're not accustomed to seeing Jaden under center, and when that first starts happening, will be a
03:13big deal.
03:14But I think defensively, there's not going to be much carryover from what we saw.
03:20And I think you'll see that with safeties on the field, and I think you'll see it through blitzing coming
03:27from everywhere.
03:27Yeah, I think the blitzing, because, especially when it was, which column was very, like, Joe Witt did not into
03:34a lot.
03:35Even when DQ kind of took over, you saw, you saw more aggression.
03:38And it was like, it went from a zero out of ten to, like, a three.
03:42I think it's going to get up to six, seven.
03:44It may.
03:45Six, seven.
03:45But, like, the thing about Jaden under center, if everything flows, it's going to be like nothing else ever happened.
03:53Because it'll be just football.
03:55If they have issues with it, it'll really look, it'll become, like, a big issue then.
03:59But if they, if he's snapping on the center and they're just going through and there's no issues, we'll just
04:04start looking at it like we look at every other football game.
04:08I agree with that.
04:10I think.
04:10Because, like, for me with the shotgun, I was overly concerned with the shotgun last year because one ball's here,
04:18one ball's here, one ball's here, one ball's over here, one ball's all over there.
04:21The snap wasn't consistent.
04:23And that, to me, was a problem because I got to hand the ball over here and it snapped over
04:28here.
04:29Timing is off.
04:30Yeah.
04:30You know?
04:31So that's the thing I saw that was a problem with me last year.
04:34Agreed.
04:38I think there is far too much Bobby Wagner slander considering he was still very good against the run.
04:47And the coverage did take a hit.
04:48If you watch the games, it's pretty obvious.
04:50I think the increased speed in the middle of the field will be noticeable immediately, obviously with Stiles, but also
04:59with Chanel, a kind of do-it-all linebacker.
05:02I also think that's going to free Frankie Louvoo up to do kind of what he does best, which is
05:08rushing the passer from all over the field.
05:11And I think that could be a really good sign for Louvoo going into this season.
05:18On the offensive side of the ball, we've had so much focus on the wide receiver two position.
05:28I mean, at this point, I'm not expecting another wide receiver to be on the roster when we get there
05:34tomorrow morning.
05:35In 24 hours, their first training camp practice will be over.
05:38I think the people that will take part in that practice are the group we've known about for some time.
05:42Do you agree with that?
05:43Yeah, I'm with that.
05:44If something changes, I think it changes two weeks from now.
05:46But how do you feel about that left guard spot where we thought it was going to be Coleman?
05:55Coleman got the opportunity early last year, and then they're like, you know what?
05:58We're going with Chris Paul.
05:59And then they re-signed Paul.
06:00A lot of people thought he'd leave in free agency.
06:02Well, he came back, and I was very, very comfortable with Chris last year.
06:08I have no choice but to be comfortable with him this year.
06:11What he did last year was get an opportunity and never relinquish it.
06:17And if you look at the offense last year, you can't look at him and say he was a problem.
06:23Dude, you can't really look at the offense last year and say the offense was the problem.
06:28Like, they weren't as good as the year before.
06:30Yeah.
06:30But they still, even with Jaden only playing four full games, they still moved the ball fairly well.
06:37Well, Mariota had too many turnovers, kind of, once he got his opportunities.
06:42The offense wasn't good, but, like, I mean, how many games does Josh Johnson start?
06:47When you get down to a third-string quarterback, it's going to...
06:50But, like, the thing I'm looking at is when you look at this offensive line, people immediately go to Allegretti,
06:55and then you get a question about the left guard.
06:58I know Brandon was drafted, what, second, third round?
07:00Third round.
07:01Okay.
07:02Chris comes in.
07:03He basically won the job.
07:06I don't care what round you drafted in.
07:10And everybody here, like, your draft day is when you can talk about the draft.
07:14Once you get on the football field, we find out if you can play or not.
07:18We've seen mistakes in the first round, seen mistakes in the second, third, fourth, fifth round.
07:23But when a guy wins the job and he goes out there and he performs at a level like Chris
07:27did,
07:28you got to judge him based on how good he played.
07:30Not where he was drafted, not who was drafted in the same position.
07:34How did he play?
07:36And I think him right there sitting next to Tunsil, those two dudes work well together.
07:42Playing next to Tunsil helps anybody.
07:44Yeah, yeah.
07:44But the thing of it, like, you can be next to Tunsil and get your ass whipped on a consistent
07:48basis.
07:49He stood up.
07:50But, like, the thing that Ron said he was dense and he can't be moved, well, that helps.
07:55If you're an offensive lineman, if people can't just push you back and you can just stalemate them,
08:00you're running back a set of blocks for you.
08:02I also think, Alec Gretti, whatever happens to left guard, I think, like, in order of concern on the offensive
08:09line,
08:09left tackle's zero.
08:11Every position in football is about staying healthy, but Tunsil's a baller.
08:14Yeah.
08:15Right tackle, that's a plus.
08:17Yeah.
08:18I like Connerly.
08:19I think he's only going to get better.
08:20Mm-hmm.
08:21Right guard, I think.
08:22I think Cosby's probably their second best lineman.
08:25Two years removed from this surgery, he's going to be even better now.
08:28I think, to me, like, if I'm stacking offensive linemen as far as how I think they perform,
08:33Tunsil's at the top, then Cosby, then Connerly with a chance to move up,
08:37and then you have the left guard situation and the center situation, which I am not overly concerned about.
08:44I think, I think the Biotis in his first year was quite good.
08:48I think last year, I think that knee really hampered him, especially second half of the season.
08:54There's a reason they're going to Alec Gretti.
08:56And I think the offensive line, as a position group, I feel pretty comfortable in.
09:02If you want to be concerned about center depth in July, fine.
09:07But, like, that's a, if your biggest concern is your center depth, I think that's a pretty good problem.
09:11When you start looking at this team, I think people look at the team and they see Alec Gretti
09:15and they see the kid who was just drafted, and they go, oh, that's our centers.
09:18Goldman.
09:18You know how many other guys on that line can snap?
09:21See, the thing of it, offensive linemen.
09:24And do you know how many vets are going to get released throughout the summer?
09:27Yeah, but I'm saying Wally can snap.
09:30Coleman has snapped.
09:31So you got other guys there that can do it as well.
09:34What's from the kid, number 61?
09:37Is that Good Jones?
09:39Not Good Jones, 60.
09:41Played golf with him, I forgot his damn name.
09:43He's a snap, too.
09:45So you got different guys.
09:47But the ultimate thing is, it's not just the two people you see with a C, by their name.
09:53Like, when Raleigh McKenzie was here, they put guard.
09:57He played center, he played right tackle, right guard, center, left tackle, and left guard.
10:02But they can't put all them damn initials behind him.
10:06He played every position on offensive line.
10:08I mean, Coleman, through his two seasons right now, has played right tackle, left tackle, left guard.
10:12Yeah.
10:13But you put what you expect him to play, but hell, it may come a time in a game where
10:19he's got to play something else.
10:20We're going to open these phones about the most intriguing camp battles.
10:23There's plenty more I want to discuss.
10:25Plus, we're going to give you our all-time preseason hero, GOATS, for the Commanders,
10:30and let you weigh in on who could be the preseason hero this year,
10:33who are some of the preseason heroes of seasons past.
10:36You're listening to B. Mitchell Finley.
