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Ben Standig joins Tobi and Danny to highlight who he thinks will play for the Commanders against the Lions.
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00:00And be sure to let them know that we sent you.
00:01That's kmlawyers.com.
00:04I want to jump now to the Rude Guest Hotline.
00:06Rude, the most reliable heating and air conditioning products in the DMV.
00:10Mr. Substack himself, our guy Ben Stanek.
00:12Kind of enough to join us here on a Friday.
00:13Ben, good afternoon, buddy.
00:14How are you?
00:16Danny, I'm doing great.
00:17The Friday part always makes life better.
00:21Thanks for having me.
00:22Indeed, sir.
00:22All right, so give me kind of a 30,000-foot view preview this game tomorrow.
00:27Kind of what's on the line, who's in, who's out,
00:29and any more you want to take with your notebook?
00:31Yeah, for sure.
00:32I mean, Dan Quinn told us there'll be a fair amount of starters
00:35or have whatever phrasing he used.
00:38I think defensively that'll probably be the case.
00:40I can see the back seven, other than Trey Amos is out,
00:44kind of like all the main players going.
00:46You know, Frankie Lubu is the green dot guy,
00:48but you actually have to do it in a game, right,
00:51and go with Durante Jones and go through that,
00:54so you'd think he would play.
00:55The defensive line is maybe where it gets trickier.
00:57You didn't have Owe or Chason at the end of the week in practice with injuries,
01:01so they're probably out.
01:03Deron Payne was out yesterday with some sort of minor injury.
01:05I can imagine him being out.
01:07And, you know, you already lost Johnny Newton.
01:10Tim Settle's already out,
01:11so it could be a little thin up there relative to what you're hoping for
01:14to be there in week one.
01:17The offensive side is obviously where it gets a little more interesting
01:20because, you know, with Jayden Daniels, Dan Quinn saying,
01:24we'll see who else is out there with him to make that call.
01:27He'd already ruled out Nick Allegretti.
01:30So I heard Logan Paulson make this point that maybe the,
01:33if there really is a shooter drop,
01:35it's perhaps what running backs do they have available for pass protection?
01:39And you know Rashad White's out, Jeremy McNichols is out.
01:42So that would leave essentially Bill, who's pass blocking I think has improved,
01:47but that was one of the weaknesses last year.
01:50Two rookies and then Craig Reynolds who just showed up.
01:52And I don't know if Bill's going to play.
01:54It looks like, and this is not being an alarmist,
01:57but it looks like he pulled up a little bit at the end of a play in practice yesterday,
02:02but he seemed in good spirits afterwards, so maybe no biggie.
02:04But that may be the wonder is who,
02:08how many guys have to be missing for them to say,
02:10yeah, we're not going to let Jayden get out there.
02:12I kind of think they want him to get out there.
02:14You got to go through the, you know,
02:15you got to play football at some point to get better at football.
02:18But obviously a lot of risk there.
02:20We all get that.
02:22With the offense, let's assume that Jayden does play.
02:24What are some of the things that you're looking for in live action against another defense?
02:30Well, I mean, you know, at a very like basic level,
02:32like getting in and out of the huddle, you know,
02:35do they look at, do they have any confusion with the play calls,
02:37being under center.
02:38And I've been watching all these things in practice.
02:41The plays in and out is a little harder to tell in practice what's going on.
02:45But, like, you know, let's see that happen with the real game going in,
02:48crowd noise and things like that.
02:52Beyond that, you know, with Jayden specifically, you know,
02:54does it look like he has got a good feeling for where the ball needs to go?
02:59I think the answer to that will be yes,
03:01based on everything we've seen in practice and just knowing the skill set.
03:03But, again, it is new.
03:05Is everybody on the same page going up against another team, et cetera?
03:10And I think, you know, with the receivers,
03:12forget the fact that there's all these battles down the line.
03:14If, in fact, everybody plays,
03:17to see Jayden with McLaurin and Diggs for the first time in this way,
03:21I think it could be a lot of fun.
03:23Diggs has been something of a revelation, I would say, in camp.
03:26Just watching him, he's just so smooth and quick.
03:29At least you're like, oh, whoa,
03:30that's like a professional wide receiver right there.
03:32They haven't had one of those opposite 17 ever.
03:37So it's really interesting to see.
03:40And, you know, obviously there's questions on the line,
03:42but that'll be the case, you know, no matter who's a quarterback.
03:45So in terms of the offensive line and kind of the work in progress,
03:49everybody's rankings outside, those don't matter, of course,
03:51but it's just kind of a talking point in a way of kind of getting into it.
03:56Just give me kind of your feel about how impressive they've been,
03:59unimpressive they've been, the story from the joint practice with Miami,
04:03what you're hoping to see tomorrow in terms of run, push, everything.
04:06Where are we at with the O-line?
04:09I mean, obviously we start with, you know, no Laramie Tunsil,
04:12independent of everything else, massive loss.
04:14You know, other than the quarterback,
04:16I think that's probably the most indispensable guy on the team.
04:19So we start with that.
04:20I think Brandon Coleman has been fine.
04:22I think Brandon Coleman will be fine.
04:23I think Brandon Coleman has potential to be more than fine,
04:26but I don't think he's going to be some sort of, like, liability out there.
04:30I think the issues start becoming, though, to the right of him,
04:32specifically the center position and the left guard position.
04:37Center, obviously, Allegretti, you know, he's not going to play this week.
04:41If we assume that the starters don't play next week,
04:43that means he and Jay Daniels will, you know, again,
04:46not counting a practice,
04:47and I'm not even really going to count a joint practice,
04:49if they do against the Ravens,
04:51they won't have had a live snap together going into the season, right?
04:54So that's not ideal, to say the least.
04:58And then also not ideal is what are the options without him
05:02or without Allegretti, if that happens.
05:04I mean, whether he plays week one or not,
05:06he could get hurt in week three or week eight or whatever.
05:08So that, to me, is concerning.
05:10And then with Chris Paul, look, he definitely made big strides last year,
05:14especially as a pass blocker.
05:15There's no argument.
05:16But he also played last year with Larry Tunsil to his left
05:18and an established center and Tyler Biatch to his right.
05:21And now you're looking at Brandon Coleman, who's, you know, again,
05:25I think he'll be fine, but that's different than, like,
05:28you have a guy that can, like, be your big brother over there,
05:30the way Tunsil was.
05:31And then at center, you know, even if Allegretti is there, like, you know,
05:36he's still relatively new to him.
05:38I mean, at least in terms of playing a lot in the NFL.
05:40I know he's played it in his career, and the coaches and Adam Peters
05:43talked about how his smarts is going to be a real key for the line, no doubt.
05:47But, you know, for Chris Paul, that's, like, a huge difference in who's around him.
05:51So I think those two things concern me.
05:53Does Josh Connerly need to improve some more?
05:55Yeah, I think that's pretty fair to say.
05:56He talked openly about he's got to do better with his hands and some of his sets.
06:00But, okay, you know, I think that's a work in progress.
06:03Sam Cosby, you know, is one of the better guards in the league
06:05now that he's back healthy.
06:07But that left guard, center spot, and the depth,
06:09I think are real legit concerns at this point.
06:12So you wrote about Bill recently.
06:14What do you make of that running back room?
06:16How do you think that they're going to look,
06:17and how do they divvy some of that share up?
06:21I mean, look, I think Bill's had a really good summer.
06:24I mean, you know, I think I heard you guys talking earlier about, you know,
06:28they haven't been able to run much.
06:30And that's probably fair, like, between the tackles.
06:32But Bill's been able to break a few things outside.
06:34He's been a real interesting play as a receiver guy,
06:38just catching passes out of the flat.
06:40You know, he did give you that explosive ability.
06:42So I think if they're comfortable with his pass blocking,
06:45I think he could be the clear majority guy out of the backfield.
06:49Now, again, maybe that's 60-40.
06:51But, I mean, I don't, you know, if we're going to compare a split of 50-50.
06:55Rashad White certainly will have a role as the passing down back.
06:58And, you know, from there we'll see.
07:01Kay Tron Allen showed he can be the power guy in this last game.
07:06But, you know, still a rookie.
07:08I don't know how much of a threat he'll be in the passing game.
07:10And maybe it's just a spot, short yardage stuff here and there.
07:15Jeremy McNichols, we've got to see where he's at with his injury.
07:18You know, let alone are they going to keep a fourth running back.
07:21So that's to be determined.
07:23So I think, you know, the Krosky merit and White part, I think, is reasonable.
07:31But, you know, they're going to need help, obviously, from the line.
07:35Because I don't think they're just like two bell cows.
07:36You're like, okay, just give them the ball and they'll be fine.
07:39They've got to get the line to do its job.
07:41And, obviously, that's going to be one of the questions.
07:42Last man standing on the old sub stack.
07:45Our buddy Ben Standick joins us.
07:47Covers the Local 53.
07:48Here on Grant and Danny Tobes in for GP.
07:50Bit of a hacky question, so forgive me in advance.
07:53But who's got the most on the line tomorrow?
07:55You know, whether it's a starting role, making the club, et cetera.
07:58Who's got something big, kind of a prove-it day in this best-dress rehearsal?
08:04Yeah, I mean, I know that Detroit, like, Jared Goff's not playing.
08:08But, like, they're going to have starters.
08:09So, I guess, like, depending on who the starters are, right, for Detroit, that could be a factor.
08:14I mentioned Chris Paul.
08:15I do think, like, let's see what that looks like in the middle.
08:19You know, they don't have a ton of other options.
08:21But you do have Andrew Wiley, who's played guard.
08:23So, I'm not saying that Chris Paul is on the Virginia bench.
08:25I'm just saying let's see him have a good game, you know, without the tonsil scenarios we just discussed a
08:31minute ago.
08:32I think the receiver room is still fascinating.
08:34Because once you get past the top two guys and McLaurin and Diggs and let's just, you know, throw it,
08:39put Antonio Williams as sort of a separate category as a rookie.
08:42Everybody else, I think, is still kind of up in the air for roles and spots.
08:46You know, are they going to keep seven even if they do?
08:49You know, who's out?
08:50Van Jefferson, Luke McCaffrey, Traylon Burks.
08:53You know, I think that's going to be huge.
08:55The problem, of course, is whether Jaden Daniels plays one or two series, he's not going to play the next
09:00umpteen, and those will be played by two dudes that have never thrown a pass in the NFL and may
09:03never.
09:04So, that's going to be harder to evaluate the receiver room, I would say, for sure.
09:10And then I think in the secondary, you know, the backup safety spots, I think there's still a little bit
09:15of question there.
09:16I feel like Will Harris is falling back a bit.
09:18Well, we'll see.
09:19And then at corner, without Trey Amos, you know, can Mikey Sanders still and Meek Robertson, despite limited size, if
09:25they play?
09:26Robertson's certainly playing.
09:28Will they show enough to be viable threats on the perimeter, or are they just going to be viewed as
09:33slot guys?
09:33And if that's the case, which I don't think it will be, but in terms of, like, playing it a
09:37fair amount, you've got to get Trey Amos back soon.
09:40Rasul Buggles is interesting, and we'll see if they keep a fifth guy.
09:43So, I think those are some of the names to keep an eye on.
09:45You mentioned the safety spot.
09:47I want to ask you a little bit more about that.
09:48Will Harris does seem like he's running more with the two.
09:50Seems like Revo's going to be starting safety alongside Nick Cross.
09:54What do you make of that decision?
09:55I mean, Revo's had a long career.
09:57He's played sparingly in, you know, in spurts on defense, but has never really taken the full complement for an
10:02extended period of time.
10:03What do you make of them going with him, it seems like?
10:06And Will Harris kind of taking a step back?
10:08Where does Tyler Owens fit?
10:09And those sorts of things with that safety room.
10:11Yeah.
10:12Again, I think I heard you talk about this before, and we're on the same page.
10:15Like, it's been fun to watch, like, the last few weeks.
10:18It's like, okay, what's going to happen?
10:19Is Quan Martin any trouble?
10:20What's up with Will Harris?
10:21Oh, look, Jeremy Rees is coming up on the outside.
10:24Oh, wait, Jeremy Rees is playing more with the first team.
10:27Oh, wait, Jeremy Rees isn't even playing in the preseason game.
10:29I guess he's starting.
10:31Oh, wait, Jeremy Rees is starting?
10:33The guy who nobody wanted to play at safety for all these years?
10:36Who I thought always should have been playing a bit more, and I'm not saying it's the wrong answer,
10:41but it is kind of wild that all of a sudden the guy who nobody was going to even –
10:45wasn't even making the team, let alone playing defense, or, you know, that guy's starting,
10:50and we're just kind of rolling with that.
10:52Okay.
10:52So, I think that is definitely a legit question.
10:57Who would challenge him, though?
10:59I mean, like, I've always kind of thought Quan Martin was better off playing closer to the line of scrimmage
11:04as, like, the Nickelback.
11:05That's when he came out of college, it seemed like he was better at.
11:07But they've been using him a lot at free safety, and so I guess he's the challenge still for Jeremy
11:13Rees,
11:14or if Jeremy Rees, you know, has any hiccups starting the year, but I don't know that that's ideal either.
11:20I think Tyler Owens, to me, is the most interesting for sure.
11:22I mean, he's the freakish athlete.
11:24He's huge, incredibly fast for his size, and this is year three.
11:29It feels like they're starting to hope that he can be some sort of a defensive weapon as a matchup
11:35player or what have you,
11:36and if that happens, I think then we could get – the secondary could get really interesting.
11:40But until then, yeah, it's Jeremy Rees and the slowest ascension from guy always getting cut to starter in NFL
11:47history, I think.
11:48It really is remarkable.
11:50Ben, Sonny Stiles, week one of the preseason, you know, did read and react linebacker things.
11:55I understand it's not a regular season game, and you're not really going to be able to take the car
11:59to the garage
12:00and put it on the racetrack, but if that's all that ever is, it'll be disappointing to me.
12:04Are we going to see more Stiles, more Unleashed Stiles?
12:06Just kind of walk me through what you've seen from him so far, and what do you expect tomorrow?
12:11Yeah, you know, again, last week he played without any of the main pieces on the defensive line.
12:18Johnny Newton was out there, but that was about it.
12:20And obviously you want those guys up front to take on the blockers, giving the linebackers lanes.
12:26It felt like Stiles was maybe overrunning some plays, and then the offensive linemen were getting in
12:31or some blockers getting in and kind of taking them out.
12:34And Dan Quinn said this week he wants to see Stiles used more as a blitzer.
12:40So I think to your point, if that holds, we should see a more aggressive version of him.
12:46You know, I think that the other part is because they're not showing everything, you know,
12:54I'm sure there's more that we'll see with his game than what we have seen so far.
12:59I think he'll be fine.
13:01I'm not too worried about anything.
13:03You know, the question is, is that going to be, is he going to hit the potential this year?
13:09You know, I guess that's going to be the question.
13:11I can't sit here and say definitively yes.
13:14You know, they may have said Frankie Lubu was the Green Dot guy no matter what.
13:18So maybe that's the case.
13:19But, like, we kind of never had a situation where Stiles was truly vying for it in camp.
13:23And I'm not saying that's a knock on where he is at, but it's a choice that they made
13:27that I don't think most of us were assuming was going to be made when they drafted him.
13:30So if that's a sign that he still has to progress a little bit in that sort of communication
13:34part, so be it.
13:36But, yeah, things to do.
13:38But I've been generally pleased with what I've seen.
13:41And hopefully, you know, he'll take a step forward once the game's turned real.
13:45Is there anyone you're watching that could take Johnny Newton's spot, seeing if he's going
13:48to miss most of the season with that pec injury?
13:51Is there anybody at defensive tackle that you're watching that, I mean, Cowart looked good in
13:55the first game.
13:56Is there anybody else you're watching tomorrow to see if they're going to maybe make their
14:00way onto the 53?
14:02I mean, two of the guys I've picked up off the street in the last few days and Ricky Barber,
14:06who played two games last year, like one of those guys.
14:11I think Ricky Barber is the one interesting to me.
14:15It does seem like, you know, they kept him around last year.
14:18He had a sack in the two games he played.
14:23And, you know, it seemed like, from what I saw, and I'm just talking to some people,
14:28that Barber was the one that maybe sort of stood out a little bit in that game even more
14:32than Newton before the injury.
14:34So I guess there's hope there.
14:36Now, is he big enough to play nose tackle?
14:39Not saying Newton was either, but is he big enough to do that?
14:41I don't know.
14:42He's about 290.
14:43I think they wanted to, I think they did try him in there a little bit.
14:46So if he could do that, that would be huge because beyond Tim Settle, I mean,
14:50Shai Tuttle's been a guy for that, but, you know, they could use a little bit more there.
14:55Otherwise, you know, he could be, he could slot behind Payne and Kinlaw, some type of a,
15:00of a backup, the other two guys, Moe Hurst and you mentioned Coward, like they've been
15:05in the league, but, you know, there's a reason why they were still able to be picked up midway
15:10through August.
15:10So I'm not going to go too crazy on that, but somebody there needs to step up because,
15:15you know, losing Newton at a minimum, you know, takes away from, from some of their depth
15:19for sure.
15:20Ben Standing with us here on G&D.
15:21Is there anybody who we're not considering who might be in a bit of roster trouble?
15:30Um, well, obviously like one of the receivers that we discussed is going to be in some trouble
15:34now.
15:35I've largely been saying, I think the three draft picks, meaning Williams, Lane and McCaffrey
15:40should be fine.
15:40And I think that's probably still the case, but the more we've gone through camp, if we
15:46just look at him as a receiver, I think Luke McCaffrey, we've seen some of the same slide
15:50back we've seen on the past.
15:51Like creating separation is not always his strength.
15:54Luke, now he does a lot for them opposite kick return.
15:56It was very good last year, uh, as a, just a general special teams player in general,
16:01he, he helps there.
16:03I don't know that he would be in trouble, but if we're saying like they ultimately want
16:06to keep the better receiver, you know, I could see them going Van Jefferson over, over Luke.
16:11So maybe, uh, maybe there beyond that.
16:15And we talked about Will Harris.
16:17I don't know if there's anybody else that's like super obvious.
16:20I guess we'll have to see what happens with Jeremy McNichols in terms of if he is hurt
16:25and he's not able to go week one, you know, do they put him on IR?
16:28Do they release him knowing they'll bring him back?
16:30What do they do with that?
16:32That could be, uh, that could be one to watch as well.
16:34So Nikki put out an extensive list of all the injuries this team is dealing with currently
16:39in training camp.
16:40It seems like most of these, aside from the guys we already know that are going on IR,
16:43like Johnny Newton, Laramie Tunsil, it seems like most of these guys are expected to be
16:47back for the season.
16:48But is there anybody that you're looking at and saying maybe not so fast, like that there
16:52might be a little more concern with what they're dealing with?
16:56Um, well, I guess just Trey Amos.
16:58I mean, on the surface, like he, he sprained his ankle, uh, in practice covering Terry McLaurin
17:04coming down on the play, except that it's the same leg in which he, uh, suffered a broken
17:09leg last year.
17:10And, uh, then he was on the pup list to start camp because he was dealing with like soft
17:14tissue soreness.
17:15Now this he's been out.
17:16So, you know, maybe the sprained ankle is just, you know, is not related to anything else.
17:22But when you combine everything else and he was out for so long, you do wonder at least
17:26a little bit what's going on here.
17:28There's no reason to be an alarmist because they haven't said that we should be essentially.
17:33But if you're asking me to somebody, I do wonder about that situation just because he's
17:39basically missed, you know, all of camp.
17:41Ben, we're going to ask these questions on the phone here after, uh, we let you go.
17:46Who are you more bullish on, on the Washington roster than everyone else seems to be?
17:50Like, who do you think's in line for a breakout?
17:52Who do you think's in line for a better season than maybe some of the prognosticators, the
17:56blowhards, the blowviators like yours truly are counting on?
18:00Um, yeah, I mean, in terms of like making the roster, I've been bullish on Van Jefferson
18:05all this time.
18:07It's possible he doesn't, I mean, he's 30.
18:09And, uh, you know, I feel like Stefan Diggs kind of repeats a lot of the things that he
18:14does, but he has just been an incredibly smooth operator.
18:17Dan Quinn has gushed about him repeatedly.
18:18I just don't know where there's room, but I, you know, I would say I'm more bullish
18:22on him than, than, than some others.
18:25But I just mean for the season, not just for making the team.
18:27Like who's going to have a better season than people like me think?
18:30Yeah.
18:30Yeah.
18:31Yeah.
18:34Um, well, again, this is relatively small, but I think Ben said it is, is poised to
18:38have, I mean, look, he can't have a less year.
18:40No offense to Ben.
18:42Uh, but I, I just think to me, he, he was the poster child of whatever disconnect existed
18:50between Adam Peters and Cliff Kingsbury.
18:52Like Cliff Kingsbury's offense does not have a H back type guy.
18:57And Adam Peters, when they drafted him, it was like, Hey, this guy reminds me about George
19:02Kittle, Kyle Juszczyk combination.
19:05But Ben Sennett is a hell of an athlete.
19:07I think he can block maybe a little bit better than people think.
19:09I think he can make plays in the mid range.
19:12And, you know, the, them using 12 and 13 personnel as much as they do, you know, I think he's
19:19got a shot to be a factor.
19:20Now, once they added digs though, you know, I don't, I think the second or third tight end,
19:25they, they may see their, uh, opportunities go down a little bit, but I think Ben Sennett
19:30is somebody that could have a, um, a pretty, a pretty decent year, uh, all things considered.
19:37So, uh, and I guess, I don't know if this is like a take, but like, I think because Rashad
19:41White is here, there's been maybe a little bit of questioning of, of, of Bill, where
19:46is this going to go?
19:47Like I said, I just, I've been fooled in training camp before, as we all have, he got bigger.
19:53We we've seen that he's, I always thought he was a, I thought he was a good pass catcher
19:58last year, but he looks to be improved on that regard.
20:00Same with the, the pass blocking.
20:02And I think that to an extent, his, his potential to be more than just a 50 50 split can
20:11raise
20:12the ceiling of the offense in ways that I don't know that others can, because they just
20:16haven't had the huge, big plays out of the backfield or in guys that can do that while
20:21being available for any down.
20:23And if that's, if that's reasonable, if he can avoid the fumbles and all that, I think
20:27Bill could be positioned for a big year.
20:29And then, yeah, again, big is all relative, not saying go drafts in the first round of
20:33fantasy, but I mean, uh, you know, uh, a pretty good year.
20:37And again, I think that could raise the ceiling of what this offense can do.
20:40Well, Ben, you're going to make me rack my brain.
20:42Could you stole my answer?
20:43I was going to say Bill.
20:44So I appreciate you taking my points for me and appreciate you hopping on with us.
20:48Awesome.
20:48I'm sorry about that.
20:50Toby.
20:50I appreciate it.
20:51How dare you?
20:52Thank you, Ben.
20:53Have a good weekend.
20:54See you, buddy.
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