- 4 weeks ago
Washington Commanders' Reporter Ben Standig from The Last Man Standig Podcast and Substack joins The Kevin Sheehan Show to discuss the Commanders woes at wide receiver, if the team will sign Stefon Diggs and what stood out during training camp so far in week 1.
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00:00All right, the team not practicing today, but they did open up camp with all veterans in on
00:05Wednesday. We talked to Ben on Wednesday. He's back with us today as he usually is in his normal
00:10spot. Ben Standig covers the team about as well as anybody else does. Read him on his sub stack,
00:17Last Man Standig. You can follow him on X at Ben Standig. So I'll ask you the question that I
00:26just
00:27asked callers for the last hour, and that is, let me just preface it by saying, last year you were
00:34very spot on, clairvoyant, with your, they don't have any depth, God forbid their receivers get hurt
00:42because they don't have anything behind Terry McLaurin, Debo Samuel, etc. What's the area of
00:51the team where the powers that be, front office, I'll throw the coach in there as well, could look
00:57the worst if something transpires in a certain way?
01:03Good question. Yeah. So, I mean, obviously, if Terry McLaurin would have missed games again
01:10because of an injury, there is no like obvious person who's like, okay, well now this can be the,
01:15you know, fill in main person. As it stands right now, it doesn't look that way. The difference though,
01:21between this group to me and last year's group is that, I just didn't feel like last year's group,
01:26was really, there was like nobody proven at all. McCaffrey hadn't, you know, done much yet. Lane
01:33was a rookie. Chris Moore was old, you know, just hadn't really done anything. At least with this
01:38group, again, there's a long, you know, a lot to do, but, you know, Traylon Burks, you know,
01:44a former first round pick, who's got all the tools, unfortunately, you know, gets hurt, but he could,
01:48you know, be a thing, you know, De'Ami Brown can do the one thing specifically, get down the field,
01:52you know, McCaffrey, Lane, Antonio Williams. I think they at least have other options. Plus,
01:58you know, Chigakanku is kind of the fact, you know, a wide receiver by default almost.
02:03So I don't feel as bad about that, even though they would have a hard time replacing Terry.
02:07I actually do wonder if Chigakanku were to get hurt, then what? Because I don't know that they
02:14have a guy who can do what he does. It's like how last year when they brought in, they said
02:19their
02:19plan was to get bigger on the edges defensively to stop the run. They bring in Dietrich Wise. He
02:24gets hurt in week two, and that plan went out the window. So I kind of wonder if that would
02:29happen
02:29with Akanku. The other one that just comes to mind is, you know, cornerback right now, right?
02:36Trey Amos is out. So watching that group, I do think Rasul Douglas, I think it's going to work
02:41out, I would guess. You guys been around, but you know, we're not talking about a pro bowl level
02:46there and we'll see where Sanders still develops. But that's a spot where I think it's not even so
02:51much an injury, but just in general, what are they doing there? But I guess actually there is one
02:56more center, right? I mean, you've hit on all the, all the, the answers. I, I think the one that
03:02would be highest profile though is wide receiver and they could add digs in, in our perspective
03:09would change about that. Um, but that's the area where there's just this feeling and it's
03:17not, it's not wrong, even though at least I'll acknowledge they've tried, but try and may
03:22not have anything to do with it, but there just doesn't seem to be enough weaponry around
03:28Jaden Daniels. They've invested in the offensive line over these last couple of years, trading
03:33for Laramie Tunsil, drafting a tackle in the first round last year. Um, you know, that's
03:38an investment in the quarterback, but wide receiver specifically, you know, the other quarterbacks
03:45that were taken in the 2024 draft have had better situations in their bit. There's been more
03:50focus, uh, by those front offices on those situations. I mean, there's no, there's no
03:57doubt, uh, no doubt about it. Um, you know, the, the, what, what Drake may and Caleb Williams
04:03have, have received, you know, uh, Bo Nix gets a Jalen Waddle this year. Uh, Michael
04:09Panix already had, uh, Drake London and B John Robinson. And, uh, yeah, I mean, that's the,
04:15the other than Terry McCormick last year, AJ Brown this year.
04:19In New England. Right. Right. It'd be a, other than Terry. They did trade DJ more in
04:24Chicago, but they've got burden and they've got a dunze and they've got, you know, they
04:28got backs, they've got tight ends. Um, yeah. Yeah, no, I think that's the, that's the,
04:34if you just looked at Washington in a vacuum and said, okay, they invested a ton of money
04:39to get one of the best left tackles and they traded picks. They spent the first round pick
04:42on a right tackle. They gave the right guard a big fat extension. Like, okay, this is what
04:48you want. Invest in the line. That's great. It's just the offensive line doesn't create
04:52fantasy football stats and it does. And that's not in there. So it doesn't feel as good. Even
04:57though, I mean, the funny part is we just went through this in 2024, Terry McLaurin and a bunch
05:03of random receivers, and they had one of the best offenses in the league. And Jaden had arguably the
05:07best rookie season for a quarterback ever. And here we are two years later, kind of the same
05:12setup. And there were, everybody's like, Oh no, God, not what this isn't enough. They just lost
05:16that person, Austin Eckler. Like they don't have anybody. And what are they going to do? And
05:20you know, I think because, because nobody wants to admit it, even if you're incredibly high on
05:26Jaden Daniels still, you know, like last year was not good for, for anybody. Right. And you know,
05:32the injuries and everything else, like, Hey, we need to like help them a little bit more.
05:37And you know, it's, um, they just haven't done that. I mean, again, they tried and I respect the
05:44fact that they didn't just take the Alec Pierce allocated money and then give it to somebody else
05:48just to do it. But yeah, I mean, look here, the reality is this, whether it's McCaffrey,
05:54whether it's Jay on lane, whether it's Antonio Williams, one of those guys steps up real hot.
05:59This conversation can be, can probably end to a degree. If one of those guys looks like a legit
06:03starter Williams would obviously be the best bet, but if that doesn't happen, then it's
06:08like, Hey, Adam Peters, you directed three receivers in three years, none of them are panning out
06:12and you didn't get some type of veteran presence to help Terry. I mean, they did get Debo last
06:17year, but Debo is not a, you know, a true wide receiver, which is why I didn't have any issue
06:22with them kind of moving on from him. So yeah, it's, it's, it's definitely a concern. Um, like
06:28I said, I do think that Shiga Konku probably should be factored into the receiver room, even
06:32that she's technically a tight end, but, uh, yeah, I mean, there's, there's definitely
06:36questions until they're not, no doubt. Yeah. I mean, you also bring up the flip side to
06:42this conversation, which is it's not over for them because Burks could end up looking
06:48good. McCaffrey could, uh, Jalen lane could, Antonio Williams could develop into something
06:54that, you know, they didn't get with McCaffrey, you know, there's still a chance here. And part
07:00of it will be about what they do offensively schematically and how good Blau is and getting
07:05people open. And we feel pretty confident, confident in the quarterback's ability to,
07:10to, to deliver. I also think, and I've said this a lot and I, I, I'm not, I actually believe
07:16the opposite of this will happen, but there is a chance that Terry at 31 years old, isn't
07:24what he was two years ago, you know, coming off an injury, you know, uh, riddled season
07:30and, and not his fault that he didn't have the numbers. He didn't play enough in the
07:34quarterbacks. The quarterback wasn't there, but I actually think he'll be ready. I think
07:39he's a pro. I think this, this is a different, you know, beginning to a season than he had
07:44last year, obviously. Uh, but there, there is that possibility that in addition to not having
07:50a true number two, or even beyond that, that their true number one, isn't what he used to
07:57be. Yeah. I mean, look, obviously we went through this whole thing last year about, do they want
08:02to pay a receiver who's hitting the wrong side of 30? And obviously they were only willing
08:06to do it to a certain degree, but right. I mean, at no fault of his own, other than just,
08:13you know, father time. Yeah. It's reasonable to think that McLaurin at some point we'll start
08:17to lose. I mean, well, Stefan Diggs is what? 32. Uh, yeah. He's 32. Yes. And he's still
08:24productive, but he's not as productive as he was three years ago or, you know, right. He's
08:28not, he's not the, this, the, the deep threat that he was. He's not, he's not unable to run.
08:35Um, but he's not what he was in Minnesota or Buffalo. Right. And obviously he did have a
08:40significant injury in between, but yeah, but, but that's the point. It's not that he can't,
08:43it's not that he can't be productive. It's just a matter of what level of
08:47you counting them on. They've been counting on Terry to be, you know, a wide receiver
08:50one and that's fine. The other component is we're obviously focused on this year
08:54because of this next year is too far away, but there is the possibility that
08:59Terry McLaurin, you know, the, the contract situation, you know, rears its head again
09:04next off season. And then they don't even have, like, as it stands right now, they
09:08don't have a number two. I'm sorry. They don't have somebody to replace him, let alone
09:13a number two. So like, it isn't just this year. It's the ongoing
09:16process of, uh, of, of building. And that's why it is, you know, paramount that Antonio
09:23Williams or Elaine or McCaffrey or somebody, or maybe it's trailing Burks, but like, you
09:28know, the injuries with him, obviously he already missed practice yesterday with a foot
09:32soreness. That's been his bugaboo over his career. So yeah, it's definitely a question
09:38or there's no, there's no doubt about it. And, uh, yeah, I mean, Terry, and by the way,
09:43next, next year, free agency wise, it's Pickens. That's basically the, the, the class. I mean,
09:51there are other names in the class, but nobody of note at this point, I mean, Devante Adams
09:56is going to be 35 years old. He could be available potentially, but it'll be Pickens after he's
10:02played on the franchise tag. That'll be the only one in free agency. That, that is, I know
10:07you've made that point before and we don't want to get ahead of ourselves because maybe
10:11some of their younger players will develop and maybe Terry will have such a big year.
10:16They'll be forced to rework whatever it is and, and keep them. Um, but if they do struggle
10:23at that position and he is now entering that age in which their analytics and research people
10:29were concerned about in the first place, man, they are in a bind going into 27 at that position.
10:37Real blind. And the other, we sort of alluded to this, but when you go back to draft game
10:44Daniels, number two, and what is the thing that we all think about? Okay, here you go.
10:49QB rookie contract, right? Oh wait, he's actually really, really good. Oh my God. This is incredible.
10:55Now you can spend all this money because you don't have to pay him yet. Sooner than later,
10:59that's no longer going to be an option because he's going to get paid. And then that whole thing
11:02goes out the window and then you start seeing, uh, you know, where teams have to start, you know,
11:08uh, releasing players, you know, salary cap cuts because they got to make it work larger because
11:12of the quarterback contract. So yeah, it's, it is odd that they haven't done a bit more,
11:17by the way, like speaking of digs, we spent this whole off season talking about, they got to get
11:21younger, faster, primarily on defense, but just in general. And now it's all about, can you bring in
11:26the 32 year old wide receiver? I know it's not apples to oranges. It's a, you know, or it, you
11:32know,
11:32it's, it's an individual thing we're discussing, but at the same point, the idea that the, the saving
11:37grace is the exact type of player everybody didn't want, uh, four months ago when, when it came to
11:43free agency and things like that. Yeah. I think it's also important to note that, you know, it's not
11:50like there have been, you know, it's not like there's been an abundance of great receivers
11:57available to them. You know, free agency last year was basically Stefan digs and Cooper cup.
12:04You know, this year it was Alec Pearson, Romeo Dobbs. Um, and, and who knows, they may have drafted
12:11Carnell Tate had he fallen to seven, but there wasn't obvious stuff. You know, they could have
12:15taken Luther burden, you know, instead of Josh Connerly. Um, they, it's not like they're just,
12:22you know, ignoring it and swinging and missing all over the place on great players. That's not really
12:28what's happened. It doesn't make it any better that there haven't been, you know, obvious options,
12:36but an obvious option right now exists, even though he is older and that Stefan digs. So here's where
12:45we are. He's the only one left. Keenan Allen wouldn't be the play here to re kills, not the
12:51play. Cause he's not even going to play this year. More likely than not. Uh, everybody understands the
12:56brand and I use situation now. So it's down to digs basically, unless somebody like, you know,
13:03Demario Douglas or Cedric Tillman or somebody like that becomes available late, but that's not going to be,
13:09you know, a wow move. So where are you on digs right now? A, do you want it? B,
13:15do you think it'll happen? Uh, I, you know, I, I was just talking, uh, on my podcast with, uh,
13:25Jake Rudin, uh, earlier this morning, and I was kind of saying to him, what, you know,
13:30how do you, if you're looking at their receiver room, at what point do you think, okay, we have
13:34to go get somebody else or not. And he's like, well, you probably should have figured that out
13:39before, you know, the, uh, by the time you left mini camp, like, okay, this is the team we have.
13:44And he's like, the fact that they haven't gone out and made a move for digs probably suggests
13:48they're good with what they have, or at least they think so. Now that said, uh, you know,
13:54when, when Noah Brown came available a couple of years ago, we were all like, Oh, clearly go get,
13:58they got to go get that guy. Who was a guy with no disrespect to Noah Brown, but he's not
14:02a pro
14:02baller. And it was like, that's what, what a big upgrade. And of course they did go to get that.
14:06So, you know, I, I, next week they, you know, they're off today, they're back tomorrow. And
14:11then they practice like five out of six days in a row or something like that. I get through that.
14:16And then maybe see where they're at. I just think that, look, Adam Peters, again, he's drafted three
14:22receivers in three consecutive years, including the one this year. I just imagine he wants to see this
14:28out. If they're going to play 12 and 13 personnel, that already means you're going to have
14:32fewer receivers on the field and they're going to want to see these guys play. I mean, Peters
14:37didn't, I mean, we can all sit here and say Luke McCaffrey, this or Jalen Lane or whatever, but
14:42you know, Williams doesn't got here. You want to see them work out. So I'm kind of leaning towards
14:47no on dig, but give me a week and see where they're at. You know, if, if you ask me
14:52at the
14:52end of next week, Hey, how the receivers look, I say, well, Dayton is looking and there's nobody
14:57open or, you know, then maybe we have the conversation. Um, the other thing is, of course,
15:00I don't know where digs his head back. He's got still some off the field stuff going on.
15:05I'm sure that's gotta be a factor for some teams. Maybe it's one, I don't know. And you
15:09know, for some of these vets, they just want to skip as much of training camp as possible.
15:15Uh, no matter what, so he may be holding up any, any, uh, buddy from signing him, but at
15:20the moment I would say, no, they won't. And no, I don't think they should, but I have the
15:27right to change my mind if in a week or so I'm like, yeah, this is not working out.
15:31Do you have any, any knowledge, uh, about any sort of, you know, interest level? Like
15:37for all we know, there are reasons that only they know that make them not interested. And
15:42I, you know, the number one reason typically in a case like this is money player thinks
15:46he's worth, you know, uh, uh, you know, something much greater than what the team's willing to
15:54offer. Yeah. I mean, I think, you know, I mean, Adam Peter said the other day in the
15:58press conference that, you know, they liked the room, but he's not afraid to make a move.
16:03My sense is that they are still open to the receiver market. Like it's not, they're going
16:08out. We're definitely out now. So, you know, you're always open to everything as they will
16:13all say, but I do think there's like something there to it. I don't think they're, I don't
16:17think they have blinders on a real thing that they're completely set that if something
16:20shakes free that they would consider making that move. But I don't, is that big specifically?
16:27I mean, like I said, there's a lot of sort of, there's, there's some point to go against
16:32him too, whether that's, um, you know, the age to a degree, even though we had another
16:36thousand yard season, the off the field stuff, if that's a factor, uh, you know, all those
16:42things, or just even just the fit, right? I mean, do they think he's the guy, if they're
16:46going to do this, that makes the most sense of stuff. I think they're still open to
16:50a receiver, how much they're open to him, that, that I can't say for, for sure. But
16:56like you pointed out, if we're just looking at the bigger names, it's hard to figure out
17:00who would it be besides him at this point.
17:02Yeah. Uh, Ben Standing, of course, joining us, our team insider. Um, you were there for
17:09the first two days of training camp with veterans in, did anything just stand out like as,
17:15wow, uh, that actually was notable.
17:19Well, I think broadly on defense, um, you know, again, no pad yet. And, you know, defensive
17:24typically starts out faster than the offense, you know, all that. But, you know, the, the
17:28speed aspect is definitely noticeable. The, the activity going on at the line of scrimmage,
17:34uh, you know, whether it's both in terms of guys like away, you know, getting after the
17:39quarterback or the constant, you know, moving of players around, you know, faking blitz,
17:44dropping into coverage or, or, or being on the line and dropping back or, you know, guys
17:48coming from different angles. I think all those things are pretty interesting. We've talked
17:52about it and, you know, this is what we think would happen to Brian Flores, uh, type of defense.
17:57And it's, you know, looking more and more like that as time goes on, uh, Frankie Louvoo said
18:02yesterday that, you know, we can't even go full bore yet because obviously no pads and, uh, and
18:07things like that. So I'm, I'm curious next week to see when, uh, when they, when they do start that,
18:12um, how it looks, but I think the defense to me has really just stood out in, in that regard.
18:16And they have one, you know, quote unquote, one practice the last two days when they're doing
18:21primitive red zone work, which is obviously a hard space for the offense to produce in general,
18:26let alone first two days of camp and you're, you're working guys around. So yeah, I just think
18:31the defense in general is, is what is the stood out, uh, you know, within that, you know, uh,
18:37OA has, has been, uh, noticeable, uh, you know, and Daron Payne has stood out to me a couple of
18:43times,
18:44you know, seeing Louvoo, Chennault, Stiles, all that, uh, has played, has looked pretty good to me.
18:50Uh, so that, I think that's, that's probably the biggest thing that stood out to me.
18:52You wrote, um, in your writeup after the first two days that you see Russell Douglas challenging
19:00for regular season snaps, possibly as a starter. Do you think that's because of Trey Amos's
19:05current health, or do you think it's just because Douglas is as good as anybody they have?
19:11Yeah. I mean, you know, the Mikey Sanders still thing is just, uh, you know, it's an interesting
19:15situation. There's been a lot of reason to be optimistic about him. Super smart kid,
19:20very good athlete, uh, you know, competitive plays bigger than his size. He had half of their
19:25interceptions. Not that it was a huge total, but he was the one guy able to make plays. But as
19:30we've
19:30discussed, the reason why I think everybody wanted to see him in the slot was because he just gives
19:35up a lot of size on the outside. Douglas is over six feet tall. He's been in the league for
19:39his 10th
19:40year in there, done that, uh, you know, which is, which goes both ways. It's to say, well, he's bouncing
19:45around a lot. He's not like a guy teams have to keep, but you know, he may very well be
19:50just
19:50in terms of say pure cornerback on week one, he may very well be a better option than, than
19:57Sanders still, unless you're just playing the long game and you're like, Hey, we, we believe
20:00in Sanders still, he'll get there, but he's not there yet. So yeah, as far as the train,
20:04most part goes, I mean, I'll just have to take, you know, Dan Quinn at the word that it's,
20:09you know, it's not, it's not a big deal. The broken leg is healed, but hopefully the soreness
20:14goes away in a little bit, but they don't see it as an issue. But yeah, I think Douglas
20:18has a, has a shot to, uh, to, to play again. He's only good practice two days with the team.
20:24Uh, but yeah, I think, I think he has a real shot there right now, Chris Paul or Brandon
20:29Coleman at left guard. I mean, I'll, I'll default to the last year starter because I want to see
20:36what the pads and see Coleman get out in space a bit more, um, yesterday as they've been doing,
20:41you know, they alternate who's working with the ones. And then Coleman had the first reps
20:46yesterday, but I want to say Chris Paul had the first reps the day before that. So I'll,
20:51I'll stay with Paul just because he's the guy that had the job last year after Coleman, uh,
20:56faltered at the beginning. But as we've, we've mentioned, it just feels like all things being
21:00equal. Coleman's athleticism, his ability, uh, to, to, to get down the field a bit more works better
21:06with what they're trying to do in his own blocking. But, you know, ultimately you got to make the plays
21:11and Chris Paul is the one that did that last year. Of the two kickers, is anybody stood out
21:16Moody or Stevens? So yesterday, uh, the way, uh, some of us were situated at practice was we're
21:23behind one of the end zones where they were kicking. So like a little just to the side of
21:28the goalpost. So I'm watching, you're watching to see if the ball goes in, right. And they,
21:33they both made same thing. They did at OTAs and made a camp started at 28, kick that,
21:39go back five yards, each subsequent kick. So you get to the 53. So they both made every
21:43kick six for six. But when you watch the ball goes through the goalposts, Moody's is coming
21:48through. Looks, look, look, look, look, looks fine. But it's like the difference between,
21:53uh, somebody who runs like a four, six 40 and somebody that runs a four, three 40,
21:58just because of the leg strength from Stevens. Yeah. When he's taking it, the ball is still like
22:02accelerating and rising as it's going through. And that's why he's got a shot to make,
22:07you know, deeper kicks, you know, 55 and beyond. And, you know, that part stands out. So if they're
22:14both accurate, all things being equal, I kind of would lean towards the rookie. But of course,
22:20in that position, it's all that trust. And, uh, you know, Moody came in, did a good job last year.
22:25So Steven, if he continues to prove this, then, you know, I think he's got a real shot, but it's
22:30not
22:30like Moody's faltering. I just think the kid has a big leg. And if they value that, then,
22:34you know, I think he would get it. All right. Thanks. Have a good weekend. I'll talk to you on
22:39Monday. Of course. Ben standing, everybody.
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