- 2 months ago
Washington Commanders' Reporter Ben Standig from The Last Man Standig Podcast and Substack joins The Kevin Sheehan Show to preview the Commanders vs Lions preseason matchup, discussing whether the starters should play and analyzing the health of the offensive line and key roster battles
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00:00All right, so let's get to what you think we're going to see tomorrow.
00:06Who's going to play, who isn't?
00:10Well, let me just start with the defense.
00:12I think defense is a little bit easier.
00:13I feel like the back seven, we should probably see almost all those guys.
00:17I mean, you know, even Frankie Louvre, right?
00:19He's the green dot guy.
00:20You got to actually do it, right?
00:21We could go through the process,
00:23even if we just to make sure all the mechanics are right.
00:25So I would think the back seven guys play.
00:28It's also areas where they don't have a ton of injuries.
00:31You know, Trey Amos aside, it's a largely healthy area.
00:34The defensive front gets a little more interesting.
00:36I can't imagine we're going to see Owey or Chayton
00:38since they weren't out of practice the last few days.
00:42Tim Settle has still been out, so I can't imagine he will play.
00:44So that kind of brings to, I don't want to say risk,
00:47but you play Deron Payne and Javon Kinlaw now,
00:51knowing that you're a bit thinner at defensive tackle.
00:53I think Payne's looked good enough in camp that maybe I don't think you need to,
00:57but that would be my only wonder really there is do those guys play.
01:00Didn't he get banged up the other day?
01:02He did, and I guess maybe that does rule it out.
01:05We don't know to the degree.
01:07You know, all these injuries,
01:09I just think that the training staff is probably being very conservative
01:12with some of their choices, which I'm not saying is wrong.
01:15So, yes, I mean, to that end, you're right.
01:16If he's got an injury and it's something that I think is notable enough,
01:20then maybe he is just flat out.
01:22And that, you know, that does not help the linebackers, right?
01:26You know, they want the blockers to take, the tackles to take on blockers.
01:30And now if you're saying no Payne, no settle, Newton, you know,
01:35maybe not as big of a loss right now, but like still that.
01:38So that could be interesting.
01:39But anyway, I think that, I think generally everybody would probably play on defense.
01:43But again, except for the guys that we know are hurting, right?
01:45Payne is somewhere on that list.
01:47But the offensive side, I think, is where it obviously gets more interesting.
01:51I know Dan Quinn said the other day that with Jaden Daniels playing,
01:55it would come down to who else is available.
01:56And it was like kind of weird because I'm like, wait a minute,
01:59Nick Allegretti, you've already ruled out.
02:01And I don't necessarily know at that moment what else,
02:05who else we're talking about.
02:06But I did hear Logan Paulson on the Take Command podcast say that he thinks
02:12that that person may be, in fact, Rashad White
02:15because the fact that you, I don't think he's going to play,
02:19because, you know, you want that running back who's able to pass block.
02:22That's been the whole, you know,
02:24that's one reason why Jeremy McNichols made the team last year
02:26and why he's been around.
02:27But now no Rashad White, no McNichols.
02:32And watching practice yesterday,
02:34Bill, who's looked really good at catching the ball out of the backfield,
02:37there was a play where he caught a ball in the flat,
02:38turned up the sideline, and seemed to pull up a little bit after the run
02:43and kind of just hobbled back a little bit to the sideline.
02:46Now, he seemed in great spirits after practice.
02:48I spoke with him there, and there was no mention of that.
02:51But, you know, if there's even just a hint of anything,
02:53maybe he doesn't play either.
02:54So could that be the tipping point for Jaden Daniels,
02:57that all of a sudden you're looking at a running back room of
02:59Katron Allen, Robert Henry, and the guy I just brought,
03:04you know, signed over here, Craig Reynolds?
03:07You know, that might be a reason to sit Jaden.
03:09At the moment, I'm going to lean toward he plays,
03:11because I think they do at some point need to get these guys out there.
03:14You need David Blau to be able to go through the process.
03:17I mean, maybe it's three plays.
03:19Maybe it's two.
03:20You know, I don't know how many plays it is.
03:21Maybe they tell Jaden, for God's sake,
03:24if you run for any reason other than you're getting blitzed,
03:27we're going to, you know, punish you.
03:29But other than that, I could see it happening,
03:32unless you want to tell me that the running back situation spooks them enough
03:35that they're like, nah, we can't risk the free blitzer coming in,
03:37and we're not going to do it.
03:40By the way, I think that's an interesting piece of information about Rashad White.
03:44I just think that they're counting on him to be a big part of this season,
03:49especially early in the season.
03:51Real quickly, because I did not read from this
03:53and didn't see this earlier in the show,
03:56but the Lions are probably going to play some select starters,
04:00according to Dan Campbell, but Jared Goff is not going to play.
04:03Josh Dobbs is going to start the game.
04:06Apparently, they've had a bunch of padded practices recently,
04:09and they are fine with that.
04:12Now, I've referenced the question that you asked Dan Quinn yesterday,
04:16multiple times, yesterday and today,
04:19because I don't know where I've stood in multiple spots this year.
04:25Play him this week.
04:27Play him, eh, don't play him if it's just going to be a series.
04:30When you asked Quinn to kind of describe the benefit of a series
04:36versus the risk of being out there for a series,
04:39it just hammered home to me, like, a series is not a dress rehearsal.
04:44You know, two series, really, unless you've got a 14-play and a 17-play drive.
04:49You know, you're either going to play them for, you know,
04:54call it 15, 20-plus snaps, or maybe you shouldn't at all, you know,
04:59especially if you're not going to game plan for it,
05:01especially if you don't know who you're playing.
05:04I thought that was an interesting question.
05:06He didn't really give you specific, you know,
05:09it's kind of a lot of his answers are that way,
05:11but he talked about, you know, customizing, you know,
05:15for players and situations.
05:17And I think that the more I think about it,
05:20if you're not going to play them for a quarter-plus, don't play them.
05:25Yeah, I think that's just generally where I'm at.
05:28Like, you know, we always hear, you know, for every game or a real game,
05:31you know, the offensive coordinator scripts the first 15 plays, whatever.
05:34Okay, could you commit to that, so to speak, right?
05:37Let David Blau call the first 15 plays and say, let's go do this.
05:42Again, you've got to tell Jaden you're not running.
05:44Whatever's going to happen, you've got to throw the ball away.
05:47And maybe there's something to do with that.
05:48I think the biggest thing that Quinn was saying was that there's like,
05:51okay, one, you want to go through the ritual of the game day.
05:55And I talked to other former players about this as well,
05:58that there is something to be said for getting ready for the season
06:01in the parts that we don't see.
06:03What time do you need to arrive?
06:05What time do you need to start getting dressed, get taped up?
06:07When do you do your warm-ups?
06:09So go through that process.
06:10But then secondly, it's the basics, like getting hit and tackling
06:13and hitting somebody.
06:14You know, practice can only simulate so much.
06:17It does not simulate that because there's no tackling.
06:20So, you know, you want Sonny Stiles.
06:24The one series last year was three handoffs
06:27and a scramble for 14 yards for a touchdown for him.
06:31That was it.
06:32Did that really?
06:33And then the other part of this, let me just mention this.
06:35I don't want to lose this thought.
06:36Once they get done with their series or two, there are 22 days before the next game.
06:43Like the opener.
06:44Like you've almost got an off-season before you're going to play football.
06:48Does it really – can you really harken back to more than three weeks ago
06:52when you played a series as something that was beneficial?
06:57I don't know.
06:58It seems illogical to me.
07:00No, I completely agree.
07:01I mean, I think there's sort of two set of rules.
07:03There's for the quarterback and then there's everybody else, like per usual.
07:06And I'm with you.
07:07I'm saying, like, if you're not going to do one series, like what's that doing?
07:13I forget last year, that touchdown run you just mentioned,
07:15I still don't know how he didn't get decapitated running up the middle.
07:18They backed off.
07:19The Bengals backed off.
07:20Very lucky.
07:21Yeah, so lucky that the defenders decided –
07:23in fact, they thought he was wearing a no-contact jersey or something.
07:28So, no, I'm with you.
07:28I think that's only because of the David Blau part because he's so new to this.
07:33Do you want him to get – be out there and be able to go through the process for him?
07:38And, look, if Daniel doesn't play, what are they looking at?
07:41A seventh-round rookie and Sam Hartman, a guy that's never thrown a pass in the NFL.
07:46So, that's a tougher place to be for Blau.
07:48But, yeah, I'm with you.
07:49If one series, I just don't – what's that doing for anybody?
07:52And even if it's two – look, if it's, you know, two series
07:55and you get a total of 15 plays, you know, sure, that's plenty, you know,
08:00relatively speaking.
08:01But, yeah, one series, just everybody say he did it,
08:04I don't think really moves the needle.
08:06But, again, for everybody else, I do think, like, there's – you know,
08:09whether it's the home out linemen or the defensive back, getting out there
08:12and, you know, doing the football things, hitting, getting hit,
08:15I think is important.
08:16When you're right, 22 days out, it's still like, okay, well, you're going to remember this.
08:20But, you know, there is something to be said for that.
08:21It maybe, you know, helps shape your mind as you're going through regular practices.
08:24Oh, okay, you know, I felt this.
08:26I need that.
08:27Whatever.
08:27Look, if it doesn't work out where you can have the mix of players that you want
08:33on the field against Detroit, there are no rules that say you can't play them
08:37against the Ravens in the final preseason game.
08:40That's still 16 days before the season opener.
08:44I do realize there is a joint practice two days prior to that,
08:47and that would be a determining factor.
08:50But if you wanted a true dress rehearsal environment, you know, there aren't rules
08:57prohibiting you from putting your starters out for 15-plus plays in that preseason game
09:03against the Ravens, which is much closer to the regular season opener than the Detroit game,
09:08and you might have Allegretti available.
09:10You might have Owe and some of the others defensively to put out there.
09:15Well, and to your point with Allegretti on offense, right, so if Jaden plays or doesn't play this week
09:20and then doesn't go against the Ravens, he will not have taken a live snap with Nick Allegretti,
09:25his new center, until week one.
09:28I mean, again, I get practices and joints, but, I mean, in terms of an actual game,
09:32that won't have happened, so that's not ideal, let alone just all the other aspects of it.
09:39Plus, even just for Allegretti, independent of Jaden Daniels, you know, having him out there,
09:43if he's going to be the guy that's directing traffic, if the large part of why they value him
09:49is the football IQ, well, don't you need to get out there and do that?
09:54Like, it is not just, that role is not just for himself, it is for the entire line,
10:00so when is that happening?
10:02Again, this is why they practice, this is why they have a joint practice,
10:05but a game is a game, you can't completely simulate it otherwise.
10:08So, yeah, I mean, I think to your point makes sense, the conservative nature of how teams run this,
10:14the way that you guys have run it the last, you know, couple years,
10:17that's where it's just hard to imagine that that would happen.
10:22But, yeah, I mean, I've always wondered this, in a sport where tackling is such a big deal,
10:28it is like the basis of the sport, and you go all this time and not tackle,
10:33I know you're hitting the taxing dummy, and I know they've all been doing it,
10:36but it's just so weird to me that to get ready for a sport in which the main thing is
10:41getting hit,
10:41you don't get hit.
10:42So, at some point, you've got to get hit.
10:45Yep.
10:46All right, let's just kind of talk big picture as to where we are at this point.
10:51Well, actually, one other question about tomorrow.
10:54If Jaden does play, who's the second quarterback in?
10:57And if he doesn't play, who starts a quarterback?
11:01Well, you know, I'm going to guess Hartman would start only because that's kind of the order they went in
11:09the other day.
11:10And he's got, independent of whether he's got the arm strength, which he doesn't,
11:15and, you know, does he have a real chance to make the roster, which I don't think he does,
11:20you know, he at least is probably, he's more versed in the system, right?
11:23So, in terms of just sort of, okay, let's at least execute the play and then we worry about the
11:27result,
11:28I think he's probably a better fit for that.
11:30But then I can see Kelly McManus being the guy that's playing most of the game
11:34since he is more likely to make the roster, not to mention, you know,
11:40just to have a potential future and, you know, and all that.
11:44So, look, I think, we talked about this the other day.
11:46I think this is a huge problem.
11:48I know people don't care.
11:49It's a minutiae detail.
11:50But when you brought Sam Hartman in, it was like, what is the point of doing this
11:56when there's no chance he's making the team based on how they used him last year?
12:00And now they're in a situation where, because of the injury to Mariota,
12:04they don't have a viable quarterback out there to use if Jaden Daniels doesn't play,
12:09or even if he plays a series, I mean, you know, then what?
12:12And at least Jeff Friscoll, Josh Johnson, those guys have been in the NFL,
12:15they've started games, they know how to do it.
12:17That's something to be said for that.
12:18I know people dismiss that, but that's a huge deal compared to what they have otherwise.
12:24All right.
12:25Give me a player that's going to make the team that most people don't think is going to make the
12:29team right now.
12:33Oh, boy.
12:38Well, I mean, I guess, like, this is maybe not much of a hot take of Johnny Newton got hurt,
12:42but I think Ricky Barber, I think, was maybe a little bit, had a better shot to make the team
12:46than people might have thought prior to the Newton injury.
12:50You know, he only played two games last year as a UDFA, but he had a sack in that stretch.
12:54And, you know, I think he's had a pretty solid camp.
12:57I mean, prior to the injury, I think Newton,
13:01I talked to Newton the other day before the injury,
13:02and he was telling me he had a really good camp.
13:04Cool.
13:05I'm not denying it.
13:05And, you know, they say nice things, but I hadn't noticed the impact a ton in camp
13:11and in the game.
13:13You know, I think there was a lot of, like, I don't know what he was.
13:16It's just his best game, whereas Barber, I think, stood out a bit more.
13:19So I think that's a guy who, again, maybe it's not that shocking.
13:22It was Newton out, but the guy we don't talk about.
13:25And, you know, again, until Tim Settle gets back, that's a thin room.
13:29So if Barber can play, maybe even play some nose tackle, I think he could end up.
13:33Can he play some nose tackle?
13:35Um, he did a little bit the other day.
13:38He's just not a big guy.
13:39No, he's not.
13:40But then again, Johnny Newton isn't either, necessarily.
13:43Well, and that's been, I think, the problem being proved before the injury
13:46is just that, you know, Newton hasn't shown an ability to play three downs.
13:51Again, Barber, you know, just hasn't played enough for me to be able to say that.
13:55And let's be real.
13:56But when I'm at practice, I'm not often keeping eyes on him.
13:59But I do think there's been some good things there.
14:02And I think with him, with Newton out, I think he's a guy that could, again,
14:05not only play, but in the rotation, or not only make the team, but in the rotation,
14:09actually, you know, be involved more than you would think.
14:12Is Kwon Martin still your, you know, gut on a player that might not be on the opening day roster
14:20that maybe some fans would be surprised by?
14:24I have to hold back on that one a bit more because I think Will Harris is now looking more
14:29like the guy
14:30that I would question.
14:32You know, the issue with Kwon Martin was just like, okay, look, he's got way more upside and potential.
14:39He's a strong athlete than some of these other guys.
14:42It's just last year, you know, between the benching, you know, just listening to Dan Quinn talk about it
14:47hasn't been overly enthusiastic, it hasn't felt like, but, you know, actions speak louder than words.
14:52And whereas Kwon Martin, at least, has been consistently running with the twos,
14:58Will Harris was like, look, you know, not everybody can play with the top two groups
15:04when you have a lot of safeties, but he's been playing more, a lot with the threes.
15:07And even though he's been rotating up to the twos to a degree,
15:10they're starting him in practice as often with the threes.
15:13He's older than Kwon Martin.
15:15He's bigger than Kwon Martin.
15:17He's got more experience than Kwon Martin.
15:19So, you know, there is value to him.
15:21But if you're only going to keep five, I just think Percy Butler and Tyler Owens are making this team
15:26because the special teams, there's nothing else.
15:28And that leaves one of these other two guys.
15:30And just based on usage, I think Harris is the one that I would look to now
15:33as more problematic to stay.
15:37I heard for the first time, as it related to the center position
15:40and the discussion about the Allegretti, you know, second injury,
15:44maybe at least a tinge of concern in Quinn's voice.
15:49Did you hear the same thing?
15:50And what do you think they have as sort of a backup plan to Allegretti not being 100%
15:57or not getting enough reps for them to feel comfortable about the opener?
16:03Yeah, I mean, so Allegretti had testing.
16:06Testing came back fine.
16:07So Quinn was saying it's not a setback.
16:08But obviously, if you're having to go out of practice right after you came back,
16:13you know, you can't be feeling too great about that.
16:15And that is one of those positions where, again, we talk about most indispensable players.
16:20Nick Allegretti made my top 10 because who is coming in?
16:23I mean, Julian Good-Jones has been out there pretty much with the ones all summer.
16:27I don't know that that's making anybody feel particularly great.
16:30You know, if you want him as a depth piece, okay.
16:33But to be like, hey, this guy is going to be our starter, I think that's a bit much.
16:37Matt Goulbin, you know, I think there's a decent chance to be the backup,
16:41having been the sixth-round pick.
16:42But again, are we talking about him playing out there?
16:46That seems like a bit much.
16:48You've got, you know, a couple other, like, vet guys, Daniel Brunskill,
16:52who they brought in.
16:53He's been around the league a bunch.
16:55He's played a bunch of positions, including center.
16:57He's, you know, 32 or so.
16:58So he would give you some experience.
17:00But again, that's not like a plan to say, oh, he's the guy we're going with,
17:04you know, in any real capacity.
17:06So I think this is a problem.
17:08And again, this is, to me, not a Monday morning quarterback issue.
17:11Not because of Biotr.
17:13Fine.
17:13They moved on from him, so be it.
17:15But when you have Allegretti and you know he's the guy,
17:18to not have a higher-end backup, somebody who could actually compete with him,
17:22which is what they were claiming, but there was nobody really there to compete with him.
17:25And then, just as I said, just as a – get the equivalent of Allegretti,
17:29who last year was sort of that center-guard hybrid,
17:32who is replacing Allegretti coming off the bench.
17:34And they didn't really do that, as far as I'm concerned.
17:37And now they're in this pickle where, oh, wait, the one guy we have can't really play.
17:42Or, you know, he's been injured.
17:43He's not – he's been unavailable.
17:45Now what?
17:46And again, this could happen in week three.
17:48Week eight.
17:48It's not like this is – linemen get hurt.
17:51So this is, to me, a somewhat problematic situation that I don't know how they resolve
17:56unless they get lucky that somebody gets waived or they can pick up a guy
18:00in some other capacity that they think, okay, he can start.
18:03We're good now.
18:04Well, the good news is that the first game is against the Eagles
18:07and Jalen Carter and Jordan Davis aren't that good.
18:12And that is –
18:14By the way, this also connects with the fact that you've got Chris Paul
18:17on the other guard.
18:19And, look, we all agree Chris Paul has a surprisingly good year,
18:22but he's playing between Laramie Tunsil and Tyler Biotic.
18:25That's different than all of a sudden Brandon Coleman's on one side
18:28and I've got uncertainty at center.
18:30What does this do for Chris Paul?
18:31I don't think he has looked as sharp in practice necessarily
18:35as he would maybe like.
18:37You know, so I think now all of a sudden you're making that spot a little bit worse.
18:42That's mostly the Tunsil part, but not having the experience next to him,
18:45that is a tough place to be.
18:47So, yeah, I mean, they could be hurting at two positions to some degree
18:52if Allegretti's not in there.
18:54So, tell me real quickly about Brandon Coleman so far.
18:57Is there a confidence level in him that they're going to be okay there?
19:01I mean, it's not Tunsil, but it seems to me you're out there every day,
19:07but that as of now there's not a lot of alarm about it.
19:10They feel pretty good about Coleman at left tackle.
19:13Yeah, I mean, I think he's done a pretty solid job.
19:16When I've seen some of the jailbreaks happen in practice,
19:19it feels like they're more coming up the middle
19:20or from the other side of the line than over Coleman.
19:24And, you know, I think that was the thing.
19:25It's like, oh, the huge blow is losing Tunsil
19:27because there's no replacing that level of talent.
19:30But independent of that, Coleman showed some good things last year
19:33when he replaced Tunsil at the end of the year.
19:36He's got the crazy athleticism.
19:37It's just more of a matter of can he be available and, you know,
19:40be a bit of a – add a little bit of a meanstery kind of deal.
19:44I think he's done a good job of these things.
19:46So, yeah, despite the consternation about losing Tunsil,
19:51which is a huge deal, Coleman is not one of the parts I'm more worried about.
19:55It's what's inside to his right is where I'm getting more concerned.
19:59So, yeah, I think he looks pretty reasonable, all things considered.
20:03How far right?
20:06Like Connerly Jr., far right?
20:08How's he looked?
20:10You know, it's been a little, you know, Bambi on ice a little bit still.
20:14Like, you know, it's not always smooth.
20:16And he talked about this the other day.
20:18We had him in the press room.
20:20He was saying, you know, he hasn't played up to his standards.
20:22And I was like, well, what isn't up to your standards?
20:24And he went through a litany of things, including, like,
20:26his working with his hands.
20:29And that was something that got brought up later on, I want to say,
20:34by Quinn, like, the next day, that that's something he's got to work on.
20:37But, you know, I think it's a general work in progress.
20:40It would be less concerning if you had Tunsil and the stability at center.
20:45But since you don't, it's like, okay, can this kid be a guy you run behind,
20:49you know, lean on?
20:50And I don't know that we're there with him.
20:52Yeah, but mostly my concern is, like I said,
20:54the left guard and the center combination, just what does it look like?
20:59You know, if it's Allegretti and Chris Paul, okay,
21:01it can be a little easier.
21:02If it's Chris Paul and then somebody else, I think it's, you know,
21:06that's where I would be like, ooh, I don't know if I'm feeling pretty good
21:10about this right now.