- 14 minutes ago
Warren Sharp from Sharp Football Analysis joins The Kevin Sheehan Show to discuss the Commanders signing Stefon Diggs, how much this move will help Jayden Daniels and the Commanders’ offense and what kind of player the team will be getting for the 2026 NFL season.
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00:00Joining me right now is Warren Sharp.
00:04We've had Warren on the show many times in the past.
00:07At Sharp Football, flat out, he's one of the best NFL analysts out there.
00:15His 2026 football preview is available.
00:18You can go to At Sharp Football and get access to it.
00:23He has tweeted a lot this afternoon about the Stefan Diggs signing.
00:28That's where we'll start.
00:30I will talk to Warren about a couple of other things.
00:33But you liked it, so tell everybody why.
00:38Yeah, I did like it, and thanks for having me.
00:40Obviously, I love doing this annually, and it took a little bit of extra time to get on this year
00:44for a variety of reasons.
00:45No, that's fine.
00:46We're here now, and it's a great time to be talking because of Stefan Diggs.
00:50I just want to throw out there, if people are interested in that book, use code COMMANDERS.
00:54You can get 50% off over on my website.
00:57He's also up on Amazon.
00:58But the fun part about the Washington Commanders signing Diggs is because of how badly they needed him.
01:06You know, this team could not get by.
01:09Their number two most expensive wide receiver after Terry McLaurin was Traylon Burks at $1.9 million,
01:14who obviously has flopped in a couple of different stops, and hopefully he does better in D.C.
01:19You obviously draft a new receiver as well.
01:22But what is the confidence level of that receiving core after Terry McLaurin?
01:28And what I found to be the kind of the point that really was bothering me a little bit was
01:35you look at what a team like the New England Patriots had done
01:38for their quarterback, Drake May, who was drafted just a couple spots away from Jaden Daniels.
01:44In the same year, they changed their office quarter, upgraded him, bring in two new number one, number two receivers
01:51this past offseason,
01:52and really helped and spent a lot of money at that receiving position.
01:58And then you look in D.C., and we weren't seeing the same type of support system built out for
02:04Jaden Daniels.
02:05Jaden Daniels has been injured.
02:08Jaden Daniels needs to stay healthy.
02:10And if you put too much on Jaden Daniels' shoulders, he is not going to be able to stay healthy.
02:15The guy is such a competitor.
02:17He wants to win for D.C. so badly.
02:19But if his number one receiver is Terry McLaurin, and they don't have anybody else out there,
02:25I was anticipating the fear of Jaden Daniels holding on to the ball a little bit longer to force things
02:31and maybe getting hit in the pocket, Jaden Daniels taking off the run a little bit too often,
02:35rather than trusting the receivers, trusting the new offense from the new offense coordinator,
02:40and playing in the pocket, distributing the football, and staying healthy all year.
02:44I think the acquisition of Stefan Diggs is going to help the health of Jaden Daniels,
02:50which could be one of the most important aspects that people won't talk about as it relates to
02:54this acquisition.
02:56But what I will say is there are a variety of statistics here that I think most people probably
03:02don't know about the Commanders last year.
03:04They had the number five highest rate of incompletions due to wide receiver error of any team in the NFL.
03:11When targeting the slot specifically, 10% of their incompletions were due to wide receiver error,
03:18the fourth highest in the NFL.
03:21Steph Diggs had a 46% slot target rate in New England last year, the fifth highest in the NFL.
03:27He operates out of there a ton, and Steph Diggs had overall last year the number one best catch rate
03:33of all receivers with 100 plus targets.
03:36The number one most accurate target catch rate.
03:39If a target was accurate, this guy was catching it nine out of every 10 times.
03:42He had only two drops all season long.
03:45He had the number one lowest rate of wide receiver error.
03:48He was able to be a consistent possession-type receiver, a security blanket for Drake May last
03:56year, and I think the same thing could happen here in D.C., and they just needed him so badly.
04:01One other statistic about where Steph Diggs lines up and where the Commanders were throwing the ball
04:06last year, it's a different offense this year, obviously, but the Commanders threw between the
04:11numbers last year at the number five highest rate of any team, and between the numbers, 37% of their
04:18incompletions were due to wide receiver error.
04:21That was the number two highest in the NFL of every team.
04:25Diggs had the number eight most total targets on passes thrown between the numbers, and on those
04:32targets, he ranked number one in EPA per play and number four in accurate target catch rate of all
04:37qualifying players. So Diggs is just going to be somebody that hopefully the Commanders, and Jaden
04:43Daniels specifically, will be able to count on. And I think that will go a long way to both the
04:49upside of the passing attack, the well-roundedness of the offense, and the health of Jaden Daniels.
04:55So I want to ask you about the wide receiver error number, because I read this and talked about it
05:02on the air a few weeks ago, but I almost reached out to you to get more clarification. But I
05:08want
05:08you to just go through that again. It's going backwards a bit, but there were so many issues
05:14last year at wide receiver, and I tried to emphasize the fact that, you know, with not only their
05:19quarterback barely playing, he played in four complete games last year, start to finish out of
05:24the 17. Jaden Daniels did. But Terry McLaurin missed seven games, and Noah Brown was out.
05:31It was a disaster, injury-wise, for them last year. And it wasn't just injuries, as you know,
05:37to a large number of players. It was their best players that were getting injured and missing the
05:43majority of games last year. But specific to incompletions due to wide receiver error, will you
05:50lay out what defines wide receiver error for me? Yeah, so specifically, it's a drop. It's a play
06:00where, in the judgment of the charter, the receiver near the sidelines could have and potentially should
06:05have gotten two feet down and was unable to do that. That's a little bit more of a gray area.
06:10It's a play where they bobbled the football and then saw the not complete the pass, so it wasn't a
06:19true drop. But it was a case where they couldn't quite secure it before they reached the ground.
06:25Very different than an actual drop, but it's in the same realm. Those are kind of like the three
06:31largest buckets as it relates to wide receiver error. There are a couple of others that don't
06:37occur quite as frequently. But other types of incompletions from a charting perspective are
06:42ruled non-receiver error. And some of those are just complete inaccuracy from the quarterback.
06:49That's not captured in receiver error. Miscommunication. So the charter doesn't
06:55know whether the receiver broke off his route or the quarterback threw something, but they're just
07:01going to chart it as a miscommunication. So I know a lot of people are critical of the way that
07:06people are charting things, and justifiably so. This is like their best judgment, and they are
07:11experienced in doing this. But they are not going to chart something that could be in receiver error
07:17as receiver error. If it was a miscommunication, they'll put it in that bucket. Pressure. If the
07:24quarterback is pressured and he simply throws an inaccurate pass because he's being pressured,
07:31that would go into that bucket. Tight coverage, that is a totally separate bucket. If the pass is not
07:37caught because of the defense, specifically a batted pass, that's another one that could be
07:42considered charting, and that's a batted pass. A throwaway is likewise not charted. A hit the
07:50helmet, like if the quarterback is throwing. We saw Patrick Mahomes highlight where he was in camp
07:54a couple days ago and just threw it at the back of his center's head. That was a hilarious highlight,
07:58but that's another type of situation. So these are the types of buckets that different types of
08:04incomplete passes would fall into for a variety of reasons, and a few of them fall into receiver error.
08:10Yeah, so when I was going through that number that you put out a few weeks ago, I figured it's
08:16very
08:17hard to know whether or not the miscommunication was receiver error or quarterback error, but I will
08:24tell you based on what was told to me during the season last year, with either Jaden in the few
08:30games
08:30that he played in, or even Marcus Mariota at times, because of all the receivers that they were basically
08:37taking off the street. Robbie Chosen, and Trelon Burks, and Chris Moore. I mean, there was just a
08:44Tay Martin. I mean, guys that were out there that were not supposed to be a part of the team
08:48in 2025. I was told over and over again, they're running the wrong routes. They're running to the
08:55wrong depths. Jaden can't trust that they're going to be where they are, or Marcus can't,
09:00and that's why the whole thing was a s*** at times offensively. So I would bet that that
09:06incompletion due to wide receiver error, or even a quick quarterback run, was due to wide receiver
09:14error as well, based on those kinds of things. It's the first time I've had you on since reading
09:22that number. When you brought it up, it just jogged my memory on that. So, you did a really good
09:27job
09:28of explaining what Stefan Diggs was last year in New England, and what Washington wasn't
09:34in 2025. Let's focus on Diggs here. What kind of receiver is he now compared to the receiver
09:43that he was? Yeah, he's not the type of guy who's winning downfield contested cast situations. He's not
09:52the type of guy who's outjumping somebody. He's not the type of guy who has the same speed,
09:57to burn you on and run away from you as a DB. But he is the type of guy who
10:04can still be
10:05sudden in his route running, who can be on time, who understands leverage, who knows where to play
10:12in his foot and how to convince the defender that he's going a certain direction and then
10:17be where the quarterback needs him to be. He still has the hands, obviously, from the drop
10:22perspective. So, there are so many things that, it's like, I mean, Matthew Stafford is a bit of
10:29a unicorn because he still has the arm strength. But as quarterbacks get older, they might lose
10:34some arm strength, but their mental acuity perks up. They understand the defense is better,
10:39so they're a little bit better suited. Same thing happens at the receiver position, just in a different
10:43way. You lose some of the physicality and the ability to do those extra things, whether it's
10:51like height or speed or quickness. But the savviness that you bring to the table and the hands are still
10:58there. And this is not the type of scenario where, unfortunately, you know, a lot of people know
11:04like some tight ends, like your Zach or your in D.C. as well, like Chris Cooley. Like, as they
11:11get
11:12older, they just get very slow, very quickly. And it just, you could tell it's over for them to a
11:17degree. Like, that's not the situation at all that we're talking with. Step Diggs is not quite that
11:21far of a step down quickly. But he's not the same as he once was. But in this offense, I
11:27don't think
11:28he needs to be. And Jaden Daniels doesn't need him to be. And certain, you know, he doesn't need to
11:33be
11:33the number one. You've got Terry McLaurin. But I think the pairing, Terry has never had a guy like
11:38Diggs on the other side there. And the stress that this is going to put, this relationship and
11:44this duo will put on defenses, this is not a Cincinnati Bengals with Jamar Chase and T.
11:51This is not a Dallas Cowboys with CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens. But the stress that this still,
11:57this duo can still put on defenses is really going to help from a play calling perspective, for sure.
12:03I mean, you know, I went through this in the open. You know, Steph Diggs, other than the year he
12:08played in Houston, just eight games in 24 with Nico Collins. And even you could debate it because
12:14Collins was in his second or third season at that point. He's never not been a number one,
12:20with the exception of that year. The other thing, too, is he really hasn't even run with a true number
12:25two since Thielen, except for the Collins situation. And again, he only played eight games. And you
12:32pointed it out as well. Terry hasn't had a legitimate number two at any point. But how would
12:39you view, you know, this is overly simplistic because they're going to be on the field, they're
12:45going to be moved around in the David Blau offense, and there will be more than two receivers that end
12:50up being contributors. But simplistic, you know, sort of description, how would you view who's number
12:57one and who's number two? Yeah, I think Terry McLaurin is still number one, but I don't know
13:04that it's number two, as in, you know, I'm going to number one anytime he's singled up, and I'm not
13:11going to look number two unless I need to. It's not that type of thing at all. We also have
13:15to
13:15remember, you know, Steph Diggs last year was coming off of an ACL injury. So, you know, who knows
13:21how far, how much further he could be, but it's definitely better to be further removed from an
13:27ACL return than it is to be closer to that. So, yeah, I think that there are a number of
13:36issues
13:36that Steph Diggs had when he was in Buffalo, for example, and what he was looking for out of that
13:42offense and his relationship with the quarterback and some things, you know, just over time, over
13:47years spent together get a little bit more complicated, and certainly Steph Diggs is more
13:52of a unique player, but what, like, WR1s that have made a good amount of money aren't in this NFL,
13:59like, there's a lot of guys that fall into that category, but certainly I think just being
14:04inserted for a one-year prove-it type deal in D.C. after a successful season that got all
14:10the way to the Super Bowl, and I didn't mention this, that, but, you know, he was the number
14:14one EPA per target in the NFL among all wide receivers, plus .68 EPA per target. He averaged
14:209.9 yards per target. That was number six in the NFL. His success rate when targeted was 66%. That
14:26was number two in the NFL. Like, he was a massive contributor to an offense that helped elevate a
14:33year two quarterback and got them to the Super Bowl. So, I definitely think that Commanders fans
14:40have every right to be extremely excited about this development, especially given what the
14:47alternatives were, which were either do nothing or go after Brandon Ayuk, which, you know, that had
14:55disaster written all over it. If we want to talk about wide receivers who've gotten paid some money
14:59and then just kind of become a little bit of a head case, that's, you know, written all over Brandon
15:04NIU. That was some of my conversation with Warren Sharp, uh, yesterday on my podcast. He's really
15:11good. There was a lot more to it. If you want to listen, uh, to it, uh, it's available at
15:16thekevinsheanshow.com.
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