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There are plenty of newcomers for the Commanders in 2026. Grant & Danny debate which one brings the greatest impact during the 2026 campaign.
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00:00That's kmlawyers.com.
00:03Adafi Owe on the show just a few minutes ago got us to thinking, Danny,
00:07about the players that will make the biggest impact this year
00:10who are newcomers for the Commanders.
00:13So how does your list begin?
00:14It's boring, but it's Adafi Owe.
00:16I think he leads the team in sacks.
00:18And that's, to me, kind of the reason you overpaid.
00:21I mean, people hear that word and all of a sudden they clutch their pros
00:25and they go, what do you mean, what do you mean?
00:26Or they decide that it means it's a bad signing.
00:28They were desperate in an area.
00:30That's how commerce works, right?
00:33If I need grain and you've got excess and I've got none, I have to overpay for it, right?
00:38I mean, you're looking at a position that they were in dire need of an upgrade of
00:42and they have to pay great money for a good player, a guy with some upside
00:45that hasn't been a full-time starter pretty much anywhere he's been
00:48but is a plus situational pass rusher.
00:51You can't always strike gold and find a Dorrance Armstrong.
00:54Sometimes you have to pay premium for it, and they did.
00:56That's my answer on defense.
00:58On offense, again, I think it's probably pretty boring.
01:00Most recent signing, Stephon Diggs.
01:01I think he leads the team in catches and is second in yards,
01:04and that's going to mean he's the highest impact guy on that side of the ball.
01:07Those are my two.
01:08Good answers.
01:09Chalk answers, right?
01:10Because those are the guys that made the most money.
01:13So I'm going to give you kind of a robin to their Batman, if you will.
01:16I will go down the depth chart a little bit and or a little bit less money,
01:19but I think Caleb on chase on has had an outstanding training camp.
01:23I can't tell you how frequently I notice him in the backfield being disruptive,
01:28and most of the time, Danny, it's based on a free release in this Brian Flores scheme
01:34where Dorrance Jones has five or six guys at the line of scrimmage,
01:37and there's just too many to account for everybody for this offensive front.
01:40I love chase on as a fit.
01:42I think it was a really smart addition.
01:44They could have just stopped at O.A.
01:45We talk about this all the time.
01:46And you're allowed to just load up, and they did, doubling down at the edge position
01:52with another $10-plus million-a-year guy in Caleb on chase on in the show-me year
01:57coming off of the big breakout with the Patriots.
01:59So I would say he's my guy on defense.
02:01Nick Cross has had a quiet second half of training camp, but I'm still very high on him.
02:05He's clearly the top safety on the depth chart.
02:08He's going to be on the field every single snap when he's healthy.
02:11Who's next to him I think could change based on sub-packages and things.
02:14Right now, Jeremy Reeves looks like he could be projected to start at safety, believe it or not,
02:18the special teams ace who's been ascending over the years.
02:21But I would say minimally over cross I'd go chase on, not O.A. division.
02:27Offensively, you went with Stephon Diggs already.
02:29The guy you heard on the show last hour, Chigakonkwo, is a really easy answer.
02:33That feels chalky as well.
02:35I think he's going to be outstanding for them.
02:37The next name, though, I would give you is, even though I haven't really seen it necessarily
02:41in camp and 11-on-11 work, and Antonio Williams, I'll still throw him into the mix.
02:47One-on-ones, showing shiftiness, when he's out here routing people up, running around.
02:51You can see why they liked him as a third-round pick.
02:54And I'm not ready, even after adding Diggs, to say he's not going to help at all.
02:57That's certainly a really, really good one.
02:59The other name I thought you were actually going to go with is Rashad White.
03:02I think there's a role for him where he catches a lot of passes, is in on passing downs,
03:06and the guy that throws the passes is pretty important, so you're going to say that's a premium.
03:10That's a safety outlet, be a pass pro guy, someone that's a pro's pro,
03:14maybe not the sexiest name in the world, but Rashad White, I think, is going to have
03:17a lot of chances to do some things here for this offense especially.
03:20But, yeah, I don't hate any of the ones that you gave.
03:23Okonkwo would have been my answer if Diggs had signed with the Niners.
03:28All right, let's go to the phones.
03:29800-636-1067.
03:32You have heard from Chigakonkwo on the show today, one of the top newcomers on offense.
03:36You've also heard our interview with Adafi Owe, the guy they've spent the most money on
03:40of any player in the entirety of the Adam Peters era in free agency.
03:44The question, inspired by those guests, of the newcomers, draft, free agency,
03:49who's going to have the biggest season?
03:51Let's go to Sean in Falls Church to get us started on Grant and Danny.
03:55Falls Church is the home of the Jaguars.
03:57What's up, Sean?
03:57How are you?
03:59Cheers to that.
03:59Thanks, guys.
04:00I appreciate you taking my call.
04:02I am actually on offense looking at Rashad White.
04:06With the loss of Tunstall, I'm looking for that play-action pass, kind of run-stop,
04:13and dump-off kind of guy.
04:15I think that he's going to kind of be featured.
04:17And then when it comes to the defensive side of things, you can give me the pass rush,
04:24and I think that that's widely improved to speed and youth.
04:27But I think that Chenault on the linebacker core and obviously Styles, it allows Frankie
04:33Lulu to do what he was actually brought into the team to do.
04:38So I think Chenault and Styles on the defensive side will allow for the defense to be a little
04:43bit more versatile.
04:45Appreciate you, buddy.
04:46What about Styles?
04:47Now that was mentioned him as an impact performer, taking over for Bobby Wagner, listen, that's
04:51a Hall of Famer who, if he had to take three steps and tackle you, is as good as anybody
04:55in the sport, as evidenced by the number of tackles.
04:57But man, it was hard to watch him run side to side.
05:00Well, enter a guy that can run side to side better than anybody in the history of the game
05:04at that size.
05:06Yeah, I think he's, by the end of the year, going to be a monster player.
05:09I'm wondering when the transition's going to happen.
05:12Like, if you told me right now by week three, we're going to feel him constantly and he's
05:17going to be the frontrunner for defensive player of the year, that wouldn't really surprise
05:20me.
05:21But simultaneously, if you told me by the seventh or eighth week of the season, he's still
05:25like not on the field for every single snap and spelling Leo Chanel and, you know,
05:29they're mixing him in on certain packages and he makes a player to a game.
05:33I don't think that would be crazy either based on what I've seen at training camp.
05:36I've actually been really surprised because I thought there was a real good chance Luvu
05:40could be the odd man out.
05:42And so far, Luvu's like the number one of the three, so to speak.
05:45He's the mic, doesn't really come off the field.
05:47Green dot with the number ones almost every single down.
05:50Then it's the mixing and matching between Sonny, who's I think ahead of Chanel in this
05:56regard, and Leo, who they signed in free agency before they knew they'd be able to draft
06:00Styles.
06:02But I'm just basing this on what we've seen.
06:04Sometimes being out here every day and like having the extra information of these practices
06:08can be misleading too, Danny.
06:10I just, they're not in the same way that like I'm basing my expectations for receivers on
06:17what team they're running with, what kind of routes they're getting in 11 on 11s, what
06:21kind of looks they're getting.
06:22It's not like Styles is a guy that's on the field every single snap and it's still primarily
06:29like running with the twos and some work with the ones.
06:32So I think he's a little bit behind, not that he's had a tough camp or anything.
06:36I think he's going to be awesome.
06:37I just think this is all part of the ramp up process.
06:39Interesting.
06:39Let's go to John, who's in La Plata on Grant and Danny.
06:42What's up, John?
06:42How are you?
06:45So I misheard the question initially.
06:47I initially had Brandon Coleman.
06:49I think with the changes, I think he's really going to pop.
06:51So I think they had some plans to kind of let Coleman mature and learn on the Tumsville
06:57because he got to the NFC Championship game with them.
07:00But to answer your question, I'm going to have to go with Chig and Nick Cross.
07:05I think Zach Ertz was Jaden's security blanket.
07:10And I think Chig's going to really pop in the offense.
07:13And Nick Cross is, especially with Revo, if Revo's starting over safety, I think he will get a lot of
07:21the picks.
07:22And with his athleticism, he will be able to cover a lot of ground.
07:28And definitely sure of secondary.
07:30Appreciate you, buddy.
07:31In terms of a Conquo GP, listen, very few people have that ability that Ertz had,
07:38especially at the end of his career, where he's getting open in a phone booth.
07:41Not because he's quick, just it's that veteran savvy, it's setting you up with eye fakes and hip swivel
07:46and all those kind of fancy things.
07:48Basically playing power forward in basketball, boxing you out, settling into soft spots and zones.
07:52That's preternatural.
07:53That's a high-level veteran who, that was his entire game, though.
07:58There's no explosiveness.
07:59There's no catch and run.
08:00There's no, I can run past you.
08:02And that's what a Conquo offers.
08:04The excitement of his level of athleticism, where if you get him with a head of steam,
08:09if you get him on the run, crossing the field, or beating a safety or a linebacker one-on-one.
08:16So what you don't have in veteran savvy, you have in straight-up athleticism.
08:19And then again, this is kind of a theme today, it's been a theme throughout training camp,
08:23up to David Blau to utilize that skill set, whereas an old OC doesn't really have a skill set
08:29to utilize with Ertz.
08:30It's just, hey man, find a way to get open in here.
08:32And we'll hit you on third in Ertz.
08:35So Ertz plays the same position as a Conquo, and that's kind of where my comparison between
08:41the two stops.
08:42I think Chig, in a lot of ways, is the antithesis of Ertz.
08:46And here's what I mean by that.
08:48Ertz was, to your point, that third down and five, I'll get you six guy.
08:53And he was going to set up defenders, and he was your prototypical kind of consummate.
08:58I've been in the league forever.
08:59I can read everything out, and just find the right hole, tight end.
09:05A Conquo, to me, is a receiver who's elite after the catch, which, by the way, Zach Ertz
09:10was, again, antithetical to that.
09:13Like, after the catch, where he caught the ball is where he was falling.
09:16Not Chig Aconquo.
09:19That's when the movie begins.
09:20Like, you hit play after the catch with Aconquo.
09:23I think the guy that's going to actually take on that Ertz role, if you want to talk
09:27about newcomers and impact, is Stephon Diggs.
09:30He's going to be the winner quickly on third down.
09:34He's the guy that the young quarterback, Drake May, is going to lock in on and just
09:38wait, staring him down like Cousins used to stare down Jordan Reed on a third and
09:42seven, knowing he's got a choice route, and he's going to toast somebody like
09:45yesterday's breakfast.
09:47That's Diggs, to me.
09:48That's not Aconquo.
09:49Now, as you know, I think Aconquo's going to have a big season.
09:52I'm counting on over 600, maybe even 700 yards from him.
09:55But I think it's mostly on stuff across the middle, seam balls, pushing vertically
10:00down the field with his speed on linebackers or safeties with his size, or out of the
10:05backfield or around the line of scrimmage and then making plays after the catch.
10:08This is a guy who's got a Debo Samuel-like ability.
10:11But that Ertz role, to me, Danny, that actually goes more to the Diggs addition on
10:16third down and short yardage.
10:17Interesting.
10:18Yeah.
10:18I mean, that short area quickness, and obviously some savvy, but the route-running
10:22technician that Diggs is, makes him a great option in that regard.
10:25That's why I do ultimately think he leads the team in catches, because it's going to
10:28be that third and four, you know, where do you go?
10:31That's probably Stephon Diggs, because there's a great chance his matchup is better than
10:34anybody else's if he's run out of the slot or a two-receiver set.
10:38It's not crazy.
10:39I mean, I'm sticking with Terry as the catch leader.
10:42I just think they're paying him so much money.
10:43They've had an off-season to build things in his image, and Blau's talked about wanting
10:47to get him 10 targets per game, 175 or so over the course of the season.
10:52So I go into the year with him as my heavy favorite there, but let's revisit this in
10:57five or six weeks and see how they're using Diggs.
11:00We're talking training camp.
11:01I'm out here in Ashburn.
11:02Danny's in D.C.
11:03Brought to you by Paul Henry's Window Installation, our training camp coverage.
11:07PaulHenrysWindows.com, your clear home improvement choice.
11:11On the phones, we're discussing the commander in year one with the team that will have the
11:15biggest impact who has added this off-season.
11:18Let's go to Evan in Bethesda on the fan.
11:20What's up, Evan?
11:21How are you?
11:23What's up, fellas?
11:24Hey, buddy.
11:24Thank you for the show.
11:25Great show as always.
11:27I think I agree with the linebacker core and that additional two people added.
11:33We've got Chanal and we've got, obviously, Tony Stiles gives flexibility to Lovu for playing
11:39a role that he can finally play without thinking about other stuff.
11:42But I'm going to throw you Drew Stephens on the offensive side of the ball as someone who,
11:48to me, has been the most exciting in training camp watching him, except for today, I know,
11:52make almost every kick.
11:54And I'm hopeful that we don't have to think about that for the rest of the year.
11:59It would be a godsend if they didn't have to worry about kicker.
12:03If they only had one circuit-to-circuit, Danny, this year, I know you're kind of projecting
12:07that they're going to be doing the kicking carousel thing, and it's very possible if
12:11you start with a rookie that you end up making a bunch of phone calls, working guys out all
12:16year long.
12:17Stephens, before today, was 34 for 36 out here over the last week plus.
12:22So with today's kicks, he's now 37 of 42, which is still a very strong showing.
12:30Moody is the problem, right?
12:31He was the front-runner.
12:32He was the incumbent.
12:33He was the guy that you would have thought was going to be their kicker.
12:36And he missed four straight today, two for six.
12:38So he's 30 for 41 out here at practices without much of a rush and with nothing really at stake.
12:45I know he's kicking for his job in some way in a mano-a-mano competition.
12:48Let's face it, Danny, if that's getting to you, we got bigger problems with him as a kicker
12:54mentally.
12:55So yeah, I think Stephens will be the guy, barring something surprising happening.
12:58And with his leg, what if now they're able to get to the 40-yard line and they're comfortable
13:04bringing him out to kick from 57, 58 indoors?
13:06That adds a ton.
13:08Maybe you're not going for as many fourth and fours, fourth and fives.
13:11Maybe now, Danny, with a good return and they were the best at return yardage and field position
13:16after returns last year in the league with Debo and Luke McCaffrey.
13:20I mean, you're one completion to McLaurin in the middle of the field away.
13:23First down conversion to digs away from being in field goal range.
13:25That's where Stephens could become a big weapon.
13:27That is a major deal.
13:29And again, it's not just, okay, now we can get a field goal.
13:32It's the security that now you can get a field goal, if that makes any sense.
13:35We talk about this all the time.
13:37It's, I mean, to use a pitching analogy, if a guy's got a great changeup, it makes his
13:42fastball play better, right?
13:43The idea that if we don't get this, that's okay.
13:46We've got a field goal in our back pocket as opposed to, okay, we have to, we have to,
13:49we have to.
13:50It just, it takes the pressure off of things.
13:52Each element of a team helps the other.
13:54And having a guy with a big leg, I've always admitted, it's not the thing I prioritize
13:58the most, but it's a nice luxury to have.
14:00And that would be a nice luxury if it does indeed turn out that he wins the job and is
14:04actually good at this.
14:07He's Danny.
14:07I'm Grant.
14:08You're listening to the fan.
14:09The question, if you're just jumping in your car, of the new commanders.
14:12We've talked to Adafi Owe on the show today and Chigakonkwo, who are headliners in this
14:17category.
14:18Who do you think helps them the most in 2026 in their debut campaign with the team?
14:22We can continue to discuss that next plug.
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