- 13 hours ago
Washington Commanders' Reporter Ben Standig from The Last Man Standig Podcast and Substack joins The Kevin Sheehan Show to dive into the Commanders’ preseason game vs the Dolphins and lay out what we can expect to see from the Commanders players and coaching gameplan approach.
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00:00All right, let's talk about tonight.
00:02Who's going to play and who isn't?
00:04Do you have any idea?
00:06No, I mean, they've kept it quiet.
00:09I mean, my assumption would be the 20-odd players who didn't practice on Tuesday
00:15ahead of the joint practice are probably the ones,
00:19and that's all the names you would think of, you know, the veteran names.
00:23So I'm going to guess most of them know.
00:26I mean, in terms of, like, the quarterback, you know, they, to a degree,
00:30combine the playing time and the joint practice and the game.
00:34Jaden Daniels and Marcus Marriott have played a lot in that practice.
00:38So I think, you know, that's a way of probably saying, hey,
00:41they put in their work and they won't be here.
00:43The only thought would be it's the only home preseason game.
00:47Do you throw the fans a bone and just tell Jaden, you know,
00:52all you're doing is handing off the bill three times
00:55if we're calling it a day, but, or, you know, whoever's back there.
00:59But, yeah, other than that, I would not imagine we're going to see
01:02too many of those people.
01:03Now, I think we would see, say, Sonny Stiles, right?
01:05I mean, because he's a rookie and, you know, the first steps,
01:08and it'll be other players.
01:10Like, I would imagine, like, say, like a Johnny Newton.
01:12I can kind of imagine Brandon Coleman and Chris Paul being out there, right?
01:16I mean, to get some work together or whatever.
01:19But in general, I wouldn't imagine we're going to have
01:21too many of the starters out there.
01:24Do you think they should be out there?
01:30You know, this is such a fascinating topic.
01:33It's a topic every year, but I'm asking it more so
01:36because you've got two new coordinators.
01:39You've got a lot of new players on one side of the ball.
01:42But you've got two coordinators who have never done it before,
01:45and they're going to do it, you know, for 60 minutes tonight.
01:47I'm not saying because the starters aren't out there,
01:50they're not going to call plays.
01:51Of course they are.
01:52But wouldn't it be nice to get into, you know,
01:55a little bit of rhythm with the players that are going to be with you
01:59on September 13th in Philadelphia?
02:02I mean, 100%.
02:04It sounds perfectly reasonable and logical.
02:07And then, oh, by the way, sometimes players get hurt.
02:10Oh, yeah, right.
02:10Good point.
02:11We're not going to do that.
02:12So, I mean, yes, logically, of course.
02:14I mean, it makes all the sense in the world.
02:16I mean, I hope that whatever they're doing in practice in this regard
02:19is helping along that way as well.
02:21I do think there is a difference between practice mode and game mode.
02:25In practice mode, you know, you can flub the whole signal call
02:29and it doesn't matter per se, right?
02:31In the game mode, you're getting a penalty or, you know,
02:33you're going to cause confusion or, you know, cost your team in some way.
02:37So, I mean, I'm with you.
02:39I do think this is important for the two new coordinators to, you know,
02:43get a feel on game day.
02:44How is it actually going to function?
02:46It would be better if the main guys were out there.
02:49But, like I said, I just don't, you know, just based on the way it goes.
02:53Now, I will just say this.
02:55Let's say they do that.
02:56They're very conservative.
02:57I do think then in the next game, they need to be out there a little bit.
03:01I mean, you know, again, I don't know what some teams do that.
03:05Some teams put their guys out there and other teams are like,
03:07meh, we're good.
03:07We'll see you in September.
03:10I don't know what exactly is the right way.
03:12But for this group, after the way last year went, it does feel like, hey,
03:16why don't we get out there and be competitive?
03:19Like, you know, Dan Quinn has said he wants a competitive camp.
03:23Well, preseason essentially is part of the camp, right?
03:25So, be competitive.
03:27Get your guys out there.
03:28And, you know, I'm not saying they need to be out there for too long.
03:32But get out there a little bit.
03:33I think that would be helpful because you know they're not going to play in the
03:35third one.
03:36So, you know, if they sit tonight, okay.
03:38But then got to play somewhere would be my view.
03:42All right.
03:43Ben on his sub stack this morning wrote about the players to watch, jobs,
03:50roles, things to prove tonight.
03:52I would urge all of you to subscribe to Ben's sub stack.
03:57You can get a link to it at his X account at Ben Standing.
04:02It's totally worth it.
04:04Is the 20% discount still available or not?
04:08It is not.
04:09If you email me on the side and say, you know, Kevin Sheehan sent me,
04:16I'll see what I can do for you.
04:18There you go.
04:18Okay.
04:19Well, just go to his X account and send him a DM.
04:23Is that okay?
04:23Because I don't want to give out your email address.
04:26My email address is on the X account bio.
04:29So, you can find it there.
04:30All right.
04:30Very good.
04:31So, what are you going to be watching for tonight?
04:37Yeah.
04:37I mean, I do think the, you know, the, whoever is in there, the execution,
04:41you know, their false starts on the offense,
04:43there'll appear to be any kind of confusion, you know,
04:44some of the basic nuts and bolts type deals.
04:47I mean, look, I think if Sonny Stiles does play, let's see it.
04:49I mean,
04:50and I didn't include him in the story that I just wrote, but like,
04:52let's see, you know, him get out there.
04:54And, you know, again,
04:55if there's a lot of the other two guys are not around, then, um, you know,
04:59he'll, he'll be the, you know, one of the main guys for sure.
05:03So, you know, see how he, um, how he works.
05:06And obviously,
05:06I don't know what Miami's deal is if Devin H and he is out there at all,
05:10maybe he won't be, uh, you know,
05:12he's obviously one of the more electric running backs in the league.
05:15So that would be a test for linebackers in general,
05:17in terms of some guys I mentioned, uh, in my story,
05:21it is kind of wild.
05:22It shows that how much, how much other,
05:25how many other players they brought in that are interesting that we,
05:28I mean, you,
05:28you were better field probably than I do because you take calls and people,
05:32you know,
05:32you all the time about who they're thinking about.
05:35I've always,
05:36almost nobody asked me about Johnny Newton.
05:38This guy was a sec.
05:39He was a 36 player than picking the draft three years ago,
05:42two years ago.
05:42And he has not been able to, you know,
05:45get a high rotation spot.
05:47It's not like he's been bad.
05:48It's just,
05:49they haven't been,
05:50you know,
05:50he just hasn't elevated up there.
05:52Uh,
05:53I did talk to him the other day after the,
05:55after the practice.
05:56And I,
05:56I,
05:56you know,
05:57I said,
05:58uh,
05:58tell me how it's going.
05:59And he said,
06:00Hey,
06:00I think this has been a great camp.
06:01I think I had a great OTA.
06:02I feel as good as I've ever been.
06:03And I don't take it as like,
06:05well,
06:05this is of course,
06:06what's he going to say.
06:07I don't think he's that kind of a guy.
06:08So I do think it's interesting to see.
06:10this will be,
06:10you know,
06:11again,
06:11if there's simply there's no pain and there's no Ken law.
06:13And I don't think Tim settled is going to play because,
06:16he missed the joint practice with a calf strain.
06:19I was told.
06:20So,
06:21yeah,
06:21I think seeing a guy like Johnny Newton perform would be,
06:23would,
06:24will be interesting on the offensive side.
06:26You know,
06:26I'm really curious to see a guy like Katron Allen,
06:29the six round running back,
06:30because.
06:31Again,
06:32if I say he's had a quiet camp,
06:33running backs are always a bit tricky anyway.
06:35And it's more,
06:36if it is going to be a running back,
06:37it's going to be somebody like bill.
06:39Who's like,
06:39you know,
06:40quick and shifty.
06:41But if you're a power guy running between the tackles and there's no
06:43tackling,
06:44I mean,
06:45it's kind of hard to,
06:46to demonstrate exactly what you have.
06:48This is obviously a full blown football game.
06:50So let's see what he can do,
06:52because if he's able to show that he can contribute that,
06:55you know,
06:55he's short yardage situations or between the tackles and so on,
06:59then,
06:59you know,
06:59maybe now all of a sudden we're like,
07:01okay,
07:01there's a,
07:01there's a piece of the running back pie for bill,
07:04a piece where we shot white.
07:05And now this kid's going to get in there.
07:07If not,
07:07you know,
07:08that then maybe it's Jeremy McNichols,
07:10if they keep four or what have you.
07:11So I think those guys,
07:12and then,
07:13um,
07:14look,
07:16it's one thing to make your kicks in practice.
07:18Do you do it when the game is on?
07:20And I'm assuming if they,
07:21hopefully they get a couple,
07:22you know,
07:23a few opportunities to kick field goal.
07:25This is like the one time you're like,
07:26okay,
07:26maybe it's okay to stall in the red zone.
07:28If we're talking about,
07:29uh,
07:30Cali,
07:31man,
07:31us or Sam Hartman and let the kickers,
07:33uh,
07:34get some shots.
07:35So just drew Stevens able to go out there and,
07:37and,
07:37you know,
07:37make the kicks.
07:38And if he can,
07:39especially if there's anything from distance,
07:40you know,
07:41I think that would go a long way towards him,
07:43you know,
07:44you know,
07:45further widening the gap with Jake Moody,
07:48if not,
07:48you know,
07:49making it getting harder to beat him.
07:51Although again,
07:51they both went six or six in the last practice of Moody bounce back,
07:54but Stevens has looked the more impressive so far.
07:57Yeah.
07:58You've said that the ball kind of comes off his foot differently than it does
08:02with Jake Moody's.
08:04I made the point to you the other day,
08:05Dustin Hopkins,
08:07the way the ball came off his foot,
08:08they always told us was really,
08:10really impressive.
08:12Explosive.
08:12The ball got up quickly.
08:14They would say,
08:15where is Dustin Hopkins kicking?
08:17Is he still in the league?
08:18He's got to be right somewhere.
08:20Um,
08:21is it Cleveland?
08:22I,
08:23I was,
08:23that was going to be my guess,
08:24but,
08:24uh,
08:25if you guys move around so much,
08:27uh,
08:28looks like he is not on a team at this moment.
08:32No,
08:32he's not on a team right now.
08:36He's not on a team right now.
08:38Yeah.
08:38Where did he kick last year?
08:39He clicked,
08:40it kicked in Cleveland in 2023 and was released last summer by the Browns and hasn't kicked
08:46since.
08:46He didn't.
08:47Yeah.
08:47Okay.
08:47Yeah.
08:48He didn't kick last year in my head.
08:49It always feels like guys like him and Graham.
08:51And now we're making 55 yarders every game.
08:53And we're like,
08:53Hey,
08:54Washington can't find a kicker.
08:55But,
08:57yeah.
08:57you know,
08:58still kicking right with the giants or is he somewhere?
09:03No,
09:03I think you're right.
09:04I mean,
09:04last,
09:04last I had heard,
09:05I mean,
09:06he was,
09:06he'd been liked out for them,
09:07but typically,
09:08uh,
09:09as long as he's been healthy.
09:11Cause he's been injured.
09:11Yeah.
09:12A hundred,
09:13a hundred percent.
09:14Um,
09:15yeah.
09:15Well,
09:16yeah.
09:16I mean,
09:16like I said,
09:17I mean,
09:17it to,
09:18to see Stevens get out there and,
09:20and,
09:20and,
09:20you know,
09:21make the kicks,
09:21you know,
09:21for fun,
09:22make some from distance.
09:24I just think it goes a long way.
09:26And,
09:26uh,
09:26you know,
09:26whatever we're going to see on TV.
09:28And it's obviously if we're looking at it from behind him,
09:30you can't quite see what I'm talking about,
09:32but in terms of the speed,
09:34but you know,
09:35the angle of the kick at a minimum,
09:37if it sort of goes,
09:38I mean,
09:39up,
09:39but straight versus like an arc,
09:41I think that's more,
09:42that's kind of what I'm talking about.
09:44It just,
09:44it just flies through the air.
09:46And that's why he's able to have more distance where Moody is more of a
09:49traditional,
09:50you know,
09:51arc of it,
09:52which is fine,
09:52but then that loses some steam at the end.
09:55All right.
09:56Um,
09:56I wanted to finish up with this,
09:58uh,
09:58and that is Colson Yankoff.
10:00You've talked about him.
10:02You've written about him.
10:03Uh,
10:03uh,
10:04there've been a lot of people who have spent some time out there over the
10:07last week to 10 days that keep bringing his name up.
10:12Denton said to me yesterday,
10:14um,
10:14on the show,
10:15I said,
10:16give me the player that,
10:17you know,
10:17has impressed you from sort of back of the pack Yankoff.
10:21What is it that everybody likes about Yankoff?
10:26Well,
10:26at a base level,
10:28like I said,
10:28he really has just been catching kind of everything that's getting thrown his
10:31way.
10:32So that stands out of course.
10:34And,
10:35you know,
10:37I don't know how much people can capture this watching him,
10:39but you know,
10:40his level of athleticism is,
10:42you know,
10:43pretty,
10:43pretty impressive.
10:44Uh,
10:45you know,
10:45not,
10:45not only because of the fact that he played quarterback,
10:48running back and receiver in college,
10:50and now he's a tight end.
10:51So to be able to do all those things is something,
10:54but also he's,
10:54you know,
10:56he's,
10:56you know,
10:56six,
10:57four to 25,
10:58but,
10:58but,
10:59but it's still one of the faster guys on the team.
11:02Uh,
11:03you know,
11:03and so can you put the,
11:05can you figure out a way to put that athleticism on the field?
11:07Now,
11:08the issue to a degree is that because he's only two 25,
11:11you know,
11:12blocking is not going to be his strength.
11:14He is pretty good at special teams and that's,
11:16you know,
11:16maybe his entree into onto the roster.
11:18And then can you,
11:20can you do more from there to a degree?
11:22We're probably over talking him over hyping him because like,
11:27I don't know if,
11:27you know,
11:27how,
11:28even if he makes the team,
11:29how much is he really going to play?
11:30Assuming that Chica Conco,
11:31John Bates and Ben Sennett are good to go.
11:34But I do,
11:35I'm just always intrigued by this type of project.
11:38The guy who's like,
11:39you know,
11:39his position is more or less athlete.
11:41How do you figure out how to use them?
11:42And,
11:43you know,
11:43it's looking like he's a guy that,
11:44Hey,
11:45you can actually get the ball to down the field.
11:47You can,
11:48you know,
11:49throw it to him when he's reliable.
11:50And obviously those are,
11:52you know,
11:52fun things to see.
11:55I mean,
11:55do you have any sort of clue as to how they would use him if they did use him?
12:01Because the athleticism,
12:03the athlete,
12:04he's not a pure tight end.
12:06He's probably more of a receiver than he would,
12:09than he is a tight end,
12:10but we haven't included him in our receiver conversations.
12:14So let's just say that they,
12:16they,
12:16they have to keep them on the roster and they see a way for him to contribute.
12:21How would it be?
12:23Yeah.
12:24So when I talked to him the other day at,
12:26we're talking about a Wes Welker and about the fact that like,
12:28I know some people said to me,
12:29wait,
12:30why would you have a former receiver coach to tight ends?
12:32And obviously they were in a little bit of a pickle because of what happened
12:35with the previous tight end coach.
12:36But from a receiving standpoint,
12:39a lot of the routes that you're running at the tight end,
12:41if you're running,
12:42if you're not in line,
12:43if you're from the slot is exactly what Wes Welker was doing with the Patriots.
12:47And Yankoff talked about how Welker has been a real wealth of knowledge for him.
12:51And so that's kind of what I would imagine.
12:53Just a guy who would be somewhere in the slot more or less,
12:56you know,
12:57and it's like,
12:58I don't want to,
12:59I'm not comparing him to Travis Kelsey,
13:01the player.
13:01Don't get me wrong.
13:02But when you watch Travis Kelsey,
13:03he's not really playing a traditional tight end.
13:05He is more lining up as a slot receiver often and going in that route.
13:09So I think it would be like that again,
13:11you know,
13:12especially in the world now where Stefan Diggs exists.
13:14So like they have two receivers that they can have out there at all times.
13:17I think all the other potential experiments,
13:21you know,
13:21take a little bit of a backseat and he would be one of those,
13:24but that's how I would think they would look to use him.
13:27And especially,
13:28you know,
13:28if Chica Conkle missed time for whatever the reason,
13:31then,
13:31you know,
13:32then that's where maybe Yankoff gets a larger role.
13:35And they really show what they can do with them.
13:38All right.
13:40Enjoy tonight as much as you can.
13:42Fingers crossed.
13:43Nobody gets hurt.
13:45And it would be nice,
13:46I think,
13:46to see Jaden in the game with David Blau calling the plays,
13:51just to see how that works.
13:53I will talk to you later.
13:56Of course,
13:56man.
13:56See you.
13:58That was,
13:59of course,
14:00our Washington football commanders insider,
14:04Ben,
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