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  • 2 days ago
Could Stefon Diggs still end up with the Washington Commanders? ESPN NFL insider Jeremy Fowler joined Grant & Danny to discuss the latest on the veteran wide receiver and whether Washington remains a realistic landing spot. Plus, Treylon Burks talks about his role in the receiver room, how he's fitting into David Blough's offense, and what "wide receiver-friendly" really means from a player's perspective.

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Transcript
00:00So I told you, Danny, I caught up with Traylon Burks.
00:02I want to play that conversation for people.
00:06Burks is a, what I consider, and this is not meant as a negative,
00:10he's like a chip on his shoulder guy.
00:12I really like his demeanor.
00:13You're going to hear what I mean in this conversation.
00:15But he is a team guy, too.
00:17You wonder how many opportunities a guy gets with a lot of injuries
00:21or why a guy hangs around.
00:22He's not only physically very gifted.
00:24Tell me this isn't an interesting personality and someone you'd want around
00:27in terms of being willing to be a team-first player.
00:32Burks, on the time that he missed with the foot issue one day of training camp
00:36and how he's feeling now.
00:37I've been feeling great, man.
00:39Good for the opportunities.
00:41Just keep getting better and better each day.
00:42And just bless.
00:44Was the day off with the foot, was that more precautionary?
00:47Did you have any concerns there?
00:49No.
00:50Nobody had concerns.
00:51You know, you just got to take care of your players, and that's what DQ did.
00:55And come back out here and keep grinding.
00:59You've had a fantastic camp.
01:00You're open a lot.
01:01You're making a lot of catches.
01:03Do you feel like healthy in this offense, playing with a guy like Daniels,
01:07this is your best opportunity maybe to really break out?
01:11I hear all the breakout this and that.
01:13I don't care about a breakout, man.
01:15I'm just here to help everybody get better and play my role.
01:18And that's what I'm going to do.
01:19I'm going to make the plays when the plays come to me.
01:21And God will take care of the rest.
01:23What do you think, when you talk about a role, carving out a niche or a role
01:27that's maybe different to you in this group, what do you think that role looks like?
01:30Can you explain that a little more for me?
01:32Yeah, you said you want to play your role.
01:34What's your role in this wide receiver role?
01:36Being where I'm supposed to be, making the plays when the ball comes my way,
01:40and also helping the guys that are out there on the field.
01:44Just, you know, it's just like any other job.
01:46You play your role by helping conduct.
01:49You know, he's holding the camera, all of that.
01:51So just being where I'm supposed to be, making plays, and just being who I am.
01:55How do you feel you fit into the Blau offense, and what kind of things does it do?
02:00Everyone says it's receiver-friendly.
02:02What does that mean to you?
02:05Honestly, everybody's got a chance to make plays.
02:07And as long as you're where you're supposed to be, like I said, you know,
02:11the ball will find you, Jaden will find you, and God will take care of the rest of that.
02:15And you mentioned hearing everyone talking about break out this, break out that.
02:19When you see this group at work here, there's a lot of noise about bringing receivers in.
02:23How do you feel like you guys have kind of reacted on the field and performed?
02:26We don't listen to it.
02:27We come out here every day.
02:29We, you know, the guys that are in the room with us, we love each other.
02:34You know, if they were to bring somebody in so big, we love them too.
02:37You know, that's just who we are.
02:38But, you know, we take care of what we can control and make the plays when we can.
02:44And, you know, everything else is taken care of.
02:46So, appreciate the time.
02:47Appreciate you.
02:48Traylon Burks, I enjoyed that conversation.
02:51Kind of a no-nonsense, to-the-point guy.
02:53And, again, very much comes off as team-friendly.
02:57You wonder how the ops are going to keep coming.
03:00But I will say, Danny, I know there's skepticism and perfectly reasonable.
03:03He has a hard time staying healthy.
03:05I think he's missed something like 38 of 63 games in his career.
03:09It's a number standing out.
03:11But it's a ton over half-ish of his games.
03:14So, it's been an issue.
03:16But he is having a good camp.
03:17He is big.
03:18He is fast.
03:19He gets open a lot.
03:20If you're talking about the receiver, not Chig, you know, not the tight ends,
03:24but the receiver outside of Terry who flashes the most and does the most at practice,
03:28it's routinely Traylon Burks.
03:30Someone's got to do it.
03:31I mean, again, the opportunity is there.
03:33Now, that's with no other signings pending.
03:36We still don't know.
03:37It's murky, whether it's Diggs or nobody or whatever.
03:39But there is a wide-open lane for somebody to step in and get way more targets here
03:45than they would in most other situations.
03:48So, as irritated as I am by that, that doesn't change the fact that the opportunity is certainly there.
03:52And I loved his answers, quite frankly.
03:54That was really refreshing and cool to hear.
03:56Where, you know, a lot of times a guy who's had the career he's had, where it's been, to be
04:00kind,
04:02incredibly disappointing and unsuccessful given his draft history and his previously viewed stock,
04:07there's a lot of guys that would have had chip on their shoulder, like, not in a good way.
04:11A, this was someone else's fault.
04:13You know what I mean?
04:13Like, I was really good and it never worked out.
04:16And there's a reason for that.
04:17It was because they screwed me or some kind of nonsense.
04:19That sounds like a guy that's going, I'm lucky to have a shot.
04:23I need to do everything exactly right at all times because this can be taken away from you.
04:28You know what I mean?
04:29Like, that was really refreshing to hear somebody at that point.
04:32But his larger point, I think, is right.
04:33He's going to have a chance to make some plays here.
04:36And I don't know that would be the case on a lot of teams that have designs of competing.
04:39Well, you heard him say that we love each other in that room.
04:43And if we bring somebody else in to take reps away from me, I'll love that guy, too.
04:47He's like, that's the kind of player I am.
04:48So, well, that guy could be Stephon Diggs.
04:51Yesterday we had Jeremy Fowler of ESPN on because he was out here at training camp.
04:55And I bumped into him, so we got him on the show.
04:57And Toby asked him for a basic update on where things were.
05:02And is it still the case that Diggs and Washington may have some interest in one another?
05:06They are monitoring the Stephon Diggs situation.
05:09You know, that's one that's firmly on the radar, I would say.
05:12It's really a situation where they can play out at least this week
05:16and just see who emerges, who develops.
05:20You know, they really have pretty big plans for Traylon Burks.
05:23Not that he's a bona fide, too, at this point,
05:24but they do feel like he can help them with some of his strengths, you know,
05:27especially in the red zone.
05:29He might not be able to look like the quick twitch separation guy,
05:32but he is a contested catch guy in the red zone, so he'll help.
05:35And, you know, they want to see what Antonio Williams can do.
05:37The early signs are promising.
05:39I still think they'll add somebody.
05:40I think Diggs would probably be the pick if they can work it out.
05:44But, you know, he, one, needs real money,
05:46and, two, probably isn't eager to get to training camp this early.
05:50You know, guys like that that are in their 30s can wait a little bit.
05:53So the commanders will have to navigate that.
05:56We went on later in the conversation to circle back to Stephon Diggs,
06:00and I asked Jeremy Fowler, who keeps talking about Diggs wanting to be here
06:04potentially in mutual interest, would he go as far, Danny,
06:07as saying it's likely that it'll happen?
06:09And would it be overstated to say that he expects eventually Diggs to sign
06:14with Washington, and he clearly wasn't ready to put that in pen yet?
06:18I'm not going to go that far yet, but I just know that they've had contact,
06:23and it's on the radar.
06:24So that, to me, tells me that if they sign a receiver,
06:29he's certainly on the short list, and that's probably as far as I'd go right now.
06:34I don't think it's heated up to that stage yet where it's intensified.
06:38So, but it's on a platter for them to make the move.
06:41You know, it makes a lot of sense.
06:42They've been aggressive all offseason, or at least in March, you know,
06:46with free agency and signing players, and I think they're already seeing the benefits
06:49of that of, you know, Ndafe Owe, Elie Chanal, Chigekonkwo.
06:53Like, these guys are helping immediately.
06:56So, you know, the more advantageous it is to utilize free agency,
07:02the quicker you can try to get yourself into contention.
07:05I totally get why right now both sides are perfectly fine not getting a deal done.
07:11I think if you're Diggs, you don't want to be out here sweating in Ashburn
07:14and bleeding and, you know, running around.
07:16Most veterans who have been in the league as long as him don't enjoy training camp.
07:20On the other side with the commanders, I think you benefit immensely from having Antonio Williams
07:25and Traylon Burks and Jalen Lane and all these guys just get a lot more reps.
07:29And you still could bring in Diggs or somebody like Diggs two, three weeks from now
07:34and still have him plenty of time to get up to speed for the season.
07:38Having said that, what do you make of that, Dan?
07:40I know you've kind of been, sign me a receiver as soon as possible.
07:43It does make a little sense.
07:45Assuming they eventually come together, you would wait.
07:48The problem is, is like the Niners have injuries out the wazoo and could call them at any second.
07:53The Chiefs have problems and could call them.
07:55Now, obviously the agent would have to be in touch with Peters
07:57and then you could up your offer and bring them in because they have more money than those teams.
08:01But is that the concern for you, that like the longer you wait, the more it just might not happen?
08:05Yes.
08:06And it's counting on something that is a variable.
08:09You know what I mean?
08:10Stephon Diggs, now assuming there's still interest and I think there's been enough flirtation,
08:15but as you said, say the Chiefs come calling.
08:18Hey man, you'll be our one really on the outside and Kelsey's on the inside,
08:23you get to play with Pat Mahomes.
08:24That's pretty appealing, honestly, right?
08:26Or as you mentioned, the 49ers, who are one of the two teams that have more cap space than Washington
08:30at this point
08:30with almost 71.5 in effective cap space.
08:34So, yeah, it's leaving a lot of the chance certainly,
08:37but if there's continued dialogue and there's an opportunity for that to happen
08:40and you feel confident, that's going to happen.
08:42It is the best of both worlds to give your kids, to give your kind of group of Jags extra
08:47reps
08:48for those moments when they will be counted on and they will be.
08:50It's the NFL, it's what happens.
08:52Whether it's resting on a play because McCorn ran a go route
08:55or if it's a couple weeks where someone's got to strain something,
08:58you're going to need depth on your football team.
09:00But it is a scary proposition to go, your number two receiver isn't on the team yet.
09:06And you can understand why someone might have a bit of anxiety about that.
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