- 1 week ago
The Commanders and Ravens have been linked together all week long, and Baltimore has gotten the best of Washington for the most part. Cordell Woodland stopped by The Sports Junkies this morning to preview tonight’s preseason clash between the two teams, and break down their joint practice from earlier this week.
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00:00He covers the Ravens and the Orioles for 105-7, the fan in Baltimore.
00:04He was at the joint practice on Wednesday,
00:07which apparently did not go well for the Washington offense.
00:10But Cordell, tell us kind of the vibe of this new regime Ravens team
00:15with the new head coach, because Harbaugh had been there for so long.
00:18What's it been like so far in training camp and the preseason?
00:23Yeah, I mean, if you ask the players, they'll tell you it's been fresh.
00:28It's been kind of a big boost of energy, I would say, throughout the building.
00:35You know, John obviously has had his success.
00:38He's won a Super Bowl.
00:39He's been sustainable.
00:40He's been in Baltimore for, what, about 20 years?
00:44And I think it's just ran its course.
00:46So I think there is a level of respect for John
00:50while also wanting to see what else is out there.
00:54Jesse Minner comes in.
00:56He's younger.
00:56You know, he's kind of the new guy on the block, the new hot toy.
01:01And he comes over with Declan Doyle, who's a 29-year-old play caller.
01:05So it's a lot of, like, fresh ideas right now.
01:08You saw a couple of cool different drills that we haven't seen to this point
01:13in training camp this year.
01:15And when you talk to the players, the number one thing they say about this staff
01:18is the communication is through the roof.
01:20They talk about how, you know, they know exactly what's being asked of them.
01:26They know their roles.
01:27And I think it's just something to, you know, a guy like Todd Munkin, who's in his 60s,
01:33talking to Zay and Lamar and kind of letting him know when he's not happy compared to a 29-year
01:40-old
01:40talking to Zay and Lamar and letting him know when he's not happy.
01:43They may have the same message, but it may come across differently.
01:49And I think that's been cool for these guys to this point.
01:53So definitely a lot of questions about this coaching staff because there are guys like
01:57Declan Doyle who is in a new role for the first time and younger.
02:00But so far, it seems like it's not bothering the players at all.
02:04Yes, so Cordell, the commanders are kind of in the same boat with the young offensive coordinator,
02:08you know, getting his first shot at the gig and David Blau.
02:11What did you see from Blau's offense during the joint practices that maybe looks different
02:16from what the commanders have done in the past?
02:17I know you follow the Ravens, obviously, more than the commanders, but what sort of wrinkles
02:21did you see from Blau that he was trying to go through the paces there in that practice
02:25at Owings Mills?
02:26Yeah, I mean, like you said, I cover the Ravens, but I'm from D.C.
02:31I've been a commander's guy my entire life, so I've always kind of kept my eye on what they're doing.
02:38And it's funny because I think the commanders are doing a little bit of what the Ravens are
02:42doing offensively.
02:43Jaden's under center a lot more this year.
02:46Lamar's under center way more this year than he has been to this point in his career.
02:51So that's an adjustment that both sides are trying to make.
02:54But I think specifically with the commanders right now, I just think, and unfortunately,
03:00the way that Wednesday's practice went, especially in the past game in 11-on-11,
03:05we weren't able to see a lot because they couldn't get into their offense.
03:09I mean, they just couldn't hold up at the line of scrimmage in the majority of those
03:12pass plays.
03:13So it was really tough to see what they want to do.
03:17But definitely a lot more under center.
03:19Definitely some bootleg action.
03:21You're going to get some play action, but all of that depends on how much they can actually
03:25run the football.
03:27Guys like Chig, you got to see him get moved around a bit.
03:30He's playing inside and outside, so definitely gives you more versatility at the tight end
03:35position than what Zach Ertz gave them the last couple of years.
03:39Same with Diggs.
03:40He's playing inside and outside.
03:42Saw Terry move around a little bit more, and I know that's always been a huge talking
03:45point for him.
03:47So I think, again, it's just so tough to analyze what it actually looked like, at least
03:52in the past game, because they couldn't really get into a lot of that stuff.
03:55Now, the 5% to 10% of the time that Jaden did get time to make something happen, they
04:01did.
04:01He was able to find somebody.
04:03They did some good things in one-on-ones and seven-on-sevens, but with them missing three
04:09starting offensive linemen, and one of those guys at least isn't coming back, you don't
04:14have your starting running back out there either.
04:16It was just kind of tough to really analyze what they're trying to do offensively, because
04:23whatever they were trying to do, honestly, it wasn't working.
04:25Right.
04:26Yeah, we did hear reports that in the seven-on-sevens, obviously, it looked a lot different.
04:30Jaden looked very, very sharp.
04:32What can you gather from that, if anything?
04:36Yeah, I mean, like I said, when he can get time to get the ball out, it was working.
04:40So, ironically enough, when the O-line wasn't on the field, you got some offensive highlights.
04:46Right.
04:46I definitely saw him connect with Chig for a touchdown.
04:49At one point, I saw him connect with Stephon Diggs.
04:52At one point, Terry almost had one in the one-on-ones against Nate Wiggins, but he was
04:57pushed out of bounds in the back of the end zone, so he wasn't able to get that second
05:01foot down, at least in one-on-ones.
05:03I mean, Antonio Williams, and I've been telling everybody, one-on-ones is a wide receiver
05:09drill, especially if they're going to run any type of route across the middle.
05:13And I watched Antonio Williams beat Kyle Hamilton off the line of scrimmage on a fade route.
05:18I haven't seen a single person to this point in camp beat Kyle Hamilton in one-on-ones.
05:24He's found a way to make it look like he has the advantage in that drill.
05:28He's just so good.
05:29And Antonio Williams beats him off the line.
05:32He wins on the fade route.
05:33He gets a dime of a pass.
05:34And then he comes back and does it again against the number one corner, Nate Wiggins.
05:38So, I mean, you definitely got to see some good things from some of the skill guys, but
05:43unfortunately, we weren't able to get some of those same highlights when it was 11-on-11.
05:49Yeah.
05:49Cordell, how excited is Jesse Minner and Declan Doyle about the receivers that the Ravens drafted?
05:56Surratt and Jacoby Lane drafted him in the third, fourth round.
05:59Of course, you got a legit number one in Zay, but a lot of the offense is going to go
06:05through
06:05Derrick Henry, but what about those receivers?
06:07And the entire receiver room in general?
06:11Well, yeah.
06:11To be honest with you, for me, coming into this year, the receivers, pass catchers in
06:16general, we can throw tight ends in there as well with the losses of Likely and Kohler.
06:20It's really just Andrews.
06:22And they drafted two rookies there as well with Josh Cuavers and Matt Hibner.
06:28So, yeah, I think my concern was that it is kind of a Zay and Prey situation with this
06:35pass catcher.
06:35Like, you said it, I mean, Zay's a stud.
06:38You know what you have in him.
06:39But beyond that, Mark's not the same Mark he was a couple of years ago.
06:43He's kind of going the wrong direction athletically.
06:47Rashad Bateman, he has crazy talent.
06:50The dude can run routes.
06:52He looks great in practice, but he's coming off a 19-catch season in 13 games.
06:56That's not very reliable.
06:58And then you've got the two mid-round draft picks that you mentioned.
07:01They've got Tez Walker who has seven career catches to this point in his career.
07:06Now, four of them are touchdowns.
07:08So, you just don't really know what you have.
07:10But with the rookies, Lane has been kind of the darling of camp.
07:13I mean, that dude has made some spectacular plays.
07:17He has had moments to where he'll give you a Randy Moss highlight.
07:21He's had some Beckham catches, some one-handed, falling-out-of-the-bounds type of catches.
07:26He has definitely filled up the highlight reel, no doubt.
07:30But he has questions.
07:32You know, can he do it in a real game is number one.
07:35And do it consistently on a weekly basis.
07:38But I think he struggles a little bit with press man coverage.
07:41And I think the commanders exposed that a little bit in one-on-ones.
07:44I want to say he went 0-for-3 in that.
07:47And a lot of that was due to them just not letting him get out of his gate.
07:51So, that's a little bit of his struggle.
07:53But his stride is so long, and he can climb the ladder.
07:55If he gets an opportunity, he can go up and get it.
07:58And he did do that in 7-on-7s for a touchdown.
08:02Surratt, I was very high on Surratt coming out.
08:04You go through his college career, it's nothing but production.
08:08And touchdowns have been his thing since he was a true freshman.
08:12But he struggled in camp, to be honest with you.
08:14He struggled on Wednesday.
08:16It just looks like the game speed is an adjustment for him right now.
08:21Getting open is also an adjustment.
08:24And sometimes even just simply catching the ball, which was not a problem for him in college.
08:30But you go back to that Eagles preseason game, he looked great, except for the one fumble he had.
08:35But other than that, he looked fantastic.
08:37But you didn't hear from him in that Vikings preseason game.
08:40So, it's been a mixed bag for him.
08:42But between those two, I would say Jacoby Lane is the closest to being a guy that can contribute right
08:47away in this offense.
08:49Were you able to notice at all, I understand you're a Ravens guy, so you're really, you know, mostly kind
08:56of looking at the Ravens, how they're handling things.
08:58I understand that.
08:59Were you able to catch any glimpse and get any sort of, I don't know, thoughts and feelings about Sonny
09:05Stiles?
09:05Beyond how sort of dreamy he looks and how athletic and smooth he looks out there.
09:11Right, right.
09:12I mean, well, that's the first thing that jumps off to you when you do see him.
09:15It's like, man, that looks like a safety as a linebacker, the way he's able to move around.
09:19Right.
09:20And I think, hopefully, and this is the fan coming out a little bit, I'm kind of hoping that they
09:26utilize him as kind of that ultimate chess piece on that side of the ball.
09:30Similar to how the Ravens have utilized Kyle Hamilton.
09:32Like, Hamilton at any point can be the best nickel in the league.
09:35He could be the best deep third safety, the best blitzing safety.
09:38He literally has worn every hat there is to wear on that side.
09:43And I think with Sonny, you draft him that high, his athletic numbers are off the chart.
09:47The more he can do.
09:49And you watch his college film, he does really well when he's lined up outside.
09:53He does really well on delayed blitzes.
09:55He does really well when he's in that second to third level.
09:58But if you're just going to put him in as a Mike, I think you're kind of going to struggle
10:03a little bit, especially as a rookie.
10:04And that's what I saw Wednesday.
10:06As quick and athletic as Sonny is, it looks like he's still thinking, which isn't a problem.
10:13Again, he's a rookie.
10:14And playing Mike linebacker is very tough in this league, especially against that Ravens offense where you've got to worry
10:20about Lamar escaping the pocket.
10:21You've got to worry about these crossing routes in this offensive scheme with those guys.
10:26So I just think it seems like the computer is still going 100 miles per hour in his mind right
10:33now when I watched him.
10:34He still gets caught up in the flood a little bit in the run game.
10:38That happened on Wednesday.
10:40But he also had some good moments.
10:42I mean, the dude was a part of a couple of the game tackles.
10:45He had a couple of good coverage routes against Justice Hill in team session.
10:49So I can't sit here and say he made any splash plays on Wednesday.
10:54But without a doubt, you know, I try to watch and see how comfortable he looks in the middle of
10:59the field.
10:59And it just looks like, to me, he's still thinking a little bit right now.
11:03Joined by Cordell Woodland, 105.7 The Fans Ravens and Orioles beat reporter.
11:08He was at the joint practice between the Ravens and the Commanders.
11:11So Derrick Henry entering his 32-year-old season in Baltimore.
11:16He's played 34 games for the Ravens, 632 carries, over 3,500 rushing yards, 32 touchdowns.
11:24Like, does Minter have, like, at 32, does Minter have any sort of designs on, hey, we need to scale
11:32him back a little bit?
11:33Or is it still full steam ahead with Derrick Henry?
11:36He's going to get 300 carries in 2026.
11:39Well, what's your prediction there?
11:41Yeah, I mean, I haven't gotten the sense that that's what Minter is planning to do.
11:46He hasn't been asked that.
11:47Now, in the past, when John was here, John would say some of those things.
11:50But then you get to the games, and you can't help but give 22 the ball.
11:54And to be honest with you, he would want it no other way.
11:57Like, if you start talking that retirement talk to Derrick Henry, you start talking about him slowing down or decreasing
12:03his workload, he wants nothing to do with that.
12:07This dude has become kind of like the LeBron James of football players in the sense of how he can
12:13take care of his body, the longevity that he shows, the consistency he shows.
12:17So, Derrick Henry, like you said, I mean, I want to say he was second in the league in carries
12:22last year.
12:23Definitely top three, finished second in the league in rushing.
12:25And that's with one of the worst offensive lines in the league last year.
12:29The old line derailed the Ravens' season last year.
12:33And Derrick Henry and Zay Flowers were the two guys that still had monster years despite that.
12:38So, I'm not expecting Derrick Henry to slow down this year.
12:41And right now, I have more concerns about this Ravens passing game specifically because of the offensive line again this
12:48year and my question marks from some of the pass catchers.
12:51So, that makes me believe they're going to lean on Derrick Henry a lot.
12:55And in this offense, they want to be balanced.
12:57They want to lead with the run game to open up some of that back-to-the-defense play action
13:03from under center that they're trying to get Lamar into this year.
13:06So, Derrick Henry is definitely still going to be the straw that stirs the drink for this offense.
13:11And per usual, I expect him to get better the more carries he gets and the deeper into the season
13:17we go.
13:18Yeah, Cordell, if he has a standard Derrick Henry year, like he's had in the last five or six, he's
13:24going to pass like four or five guys in the all-time rushing list.
13:27He's going to be in the top five all-time if he has a pretty good year.
13:31Yeah, I mean, that's where we are.
13:33I want to say he's 10th on the list right now.
13:36Yeah, he's 10th on the list right now.
13:38And, I mean, the thing with Derrick is, and I'll be honest, years ago before he even got drafted, I
13:46wanted nothing to do with him coming out of Alabama because I thought Saban and those guys ran him into
13:51the ground.
13:51And then he goes to Tennessee.
13:53He's getting the most carries in the league every year.
13:56And most of those years, Tennessee wasn't even doing anything.
13:59And you just wonder, like everybody else, like, when does this end?
14:04But I've just come around to the fact that it's never going to end until he decides it.
14:09Yeah, until he says he's done.
14:12I think this is the Derrick Henry we're going to see.
14:14Now, at some point, he's got to slow down.
14:17But even his slowing down could still be at an elite pace.
14:21So, I do think he's going to continue to climb those rushing number charts.
14:25And I expect for him to be a top four to five rusher in the league, probably the top three,
14:31if he could keep this going for the next two to three years.
14:33I see no reason why he can't do that.
14:36Cornell, last question for me.
14:38What is kind of the general consensus as to what's going to happen with Lamar and his contract and that
14:43sort of thing beyond this year?
14:45Yeah, I mean, I'd be lying if I said that you couldn't find anybody in Baltimore that has some level
14:52of panic because Lamar means everything to that organization, to the fans, to the community in Baltimore.
14:59I mean, they don't want to lose Lamar.
15:02And every time I've spoken to Lamar, it's always been he wants to be a Raven.
15:07I firmly believe he wants to be in Baltimore.
15:10I don't think he's gone anywhere.
15:12I just think this is the way these contracts go, especially for quarterbacks and especially for quarterbacks like Lamar, who
15:18doesn't have an agent.
15:20And there ain't many of those guys.
15:21So, you don't really get to see situations like this.
15:26And the last time Lamar got a contract extension, he won MVP that year.
15:30So, the Ravens know what they're getting with Lamar.
15:33They know they go as far as Lamar takes them.
15:36Next year, because he has a no-trade clause and a no-franchise tag clause, next year is his last
15:42true year of his contract.
15:44And if you're the Ravens, you absolutely don't want to go into next season with that hanging over your head.
15:50They'd love to get a deal done before then.
15:53But that's not going to happen now.
15:54Lamar's not going to negotiate during the season.
15:57Maybe something comes out before week one.
15:59I'd be surprised.
16:01In my mind, I think Lamar is waiting for some of these younger quarterbacks, maybe like Jaden, Caleb, Drake, all
16:08of those types of guys to maybe get their extension before he signs.
16:12Because the last time he did, 10 minutes later, a new quarterback got a new deal and passed him.
16:18So, I think he wants to take his time this time.
16:21But I firmly believe he's going to be a Raven for the foreseeable future.
16:24So, Cordell, great stuff.
16:26That's Cordell Woodland from 105.7 The Fan.
16:28Enjoyed talking to you.
16:29Thank you, buddy.
16:30Thanks, man.
16:30Have a good weekend, buddy.
16:31Thanks for having me.
16:32Yep, sir.
16:33Coming up next, we're going to shift gears.
16:35What chain restaurant might make the perfect 19th hole?
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