- 7 weeks ago
The Commanders 53-man roster is locked and loaded. Some fans believe that Washington has what it takes to make a run, and some fans believe that they are lacking depth. What grade would you give the Commanders roster after seeing their 53-man roster.
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00:00Larry Mead Tunsell and Johnny Newton on the IR.
00:04Corresponding moves that everybody knew about.
00:08Fabian Moreau was added to the 53-man roster as a fourth corner.
00:13And then Shai Tuttle, the defensive tackle, re-signed.
00:18Both had been released the previous day.
00:20No big deal there.
00:21What was shocking is when they went through, somewhat shocking, I think,
00:24I could say that as a diehard Skins fan,
00:26is there were no waiver wire requests put in by the commanders yesterday.
00:33So we all assumed that they would pick through everybody's trash
00:36and find maybe a couple offensive line, maybe a corner or something.
00:39Nope.
00:40They didn't put in any requests.
00:42They're happy with what they got.
00:43I heard somebody mention yesterday, the Dolphins might have had like 7, 8 or 9.
00:47They made a bunch of requests.
00:50They're not happy with their roster at all.
00:52Well, I mean, there's a reason that they're amongst the lowest season win total teams in the league
00:56along with Arizona and Cleveland.
00:58Right.
00:58Seemed like a lot of teams.
00:59Yeah, 4.5 to 5.5.
01:00Not a lot of expectations there.
01:01A lot of teams, maybe one or two, you know, waiver requests,
01:04depending upon where you are and sort of the order is determining whether or not you get it.
01:08But the commanders, I tell you, we're going to get into the press conference.
01:12I don't want to get into it too much right now.
01:13But they seem fairly confident in what they have.
01:16At least they're saying they're confident.
01:18I'm not sure their body language is in line with what they're saying.
01:21But, you know, we can get into that.
01:23But I do want to mention the practice squad signings, and I have to lead off.
01:27Man, they did it again.
01:28They brought back – oops, they did it again.
01:30They brought back Sam Hartman.
01:31God bless him.
01:32It's good to be Sam Hartman, buddy.
01:34If you're in a Sam Hartman business, man, what a business to be in.
01:38Be a good vibes guy.
01:40Be Jaden's boy.
01:41You know, you can execute the offense.
01:43I mean, your arm's a little light, but you run around a little bit, and it's good enough.
01:47Seems like a lot of these teams want four quarterbacks in the room.
01:50I mean, the Steelers kept four in the active roster.
01:52I can't remember.
01:53I saw another team had four on the active roster.
01:55Yeah.
01:56The Browns, or do they stash one of their –
01:58No, Dylan Gabriel went to the IR.
02:00Okay.
02:00I can't remember which team it was, but it surprised me.
02:03There was another team out there that had four quarterbacks active roster.
02:06I mean, if you have someone that you really believe in, and they did talk about –
02:11Cali – how do you say his name?
02:12I keep –
02:13Cali McManus.
02:13Cali McManus.
02:15The Baklava bomber.
02:16It's a good name.
02:17They really like his live arm.
02:19They like the way he can move around and create a little space in the pocket.
02:23You know, the offense.
02:25He's got a lot – you know, a learning curve, but they like what they got there.
02:27What are they saying about Mariota and his injury?
02:29Well, here's the thing.
02:30I want to get to the – I want to get to that in a second, but since you asked,
02:35a bunch of guys did return to practice yesterday, including Marcus Mariota.
02:40So, Mariota returned to practice, Ben Sinnott returned to practice, Jordan McGee returned
02:45to practice, Deron Payne returned to practice, and yes, the projected starter at center, Nick
02:50Allegretti returned to practice yesterday.
02:53There you go.
02:53So, assuming he can hang in there and the calf doesn't get re-aggravated, he's going to be
03:00the guy.
03:00They did mention in the presser that, you know, he's been in the league a long time.
03:04I think they said something like 3,000 NFL snaps, so they know what they're getting.
03:08Not a ton of them have been at center, but this guy's played football before, so they
03:13feel pretty confident in Nick.
03:15That's for sure.
03:16Some people have had qualms about the backups.
03:18They also expressed their confidence in Matt Goulbin, their sixth-round pick.
03:23Some were – I remember Mitch Tischler sort of specifically asked him, well, if he's
03:28going to kind of be your number two guy, why did you give so many snaps to Julian Good-Jones,
03:32who they also re-signed to the practice squad.
03:34Yep, he's back.
03:36And Julian Good-Jones, by most accounts, just doesn't seem ready for this, but I guess he
03:41knows the offense.
03:42They could play him in a pinch if they had to.
03:45They stashed him on the practice squad, but they echoed that they really believe in Goulbin,
03:50they like what they saw on tape, and what they saw on tape is matched so far what they've
03:53seen with the skins.
03:55The other guys that they signed to the practice squad, let me see here, wide receiver Jaden Bradley,
04:02who, of course, had the great catch there in week two, and it was repeatedly making plays.
04:06Dan Quinn talked about his competitiveness throughout the camp.
04:10It gives him a size, option, potential, and I think people believe he has a spot in this
04:16league eventually.
04:19Byron Cowart, the veteran defensive tackle that they brought in, takes it made some plays and
04:24was kind of, in some people's eyes, surprisingly released.
04:26He's re-signed immediately, first opportunity to the practice squad.
04:30Cornerback Fred Davis re-signed.
04:32Of course, we mentioned Julian Good-Jones, Sam Hartman, Robert Henry Jr., the running back
04:37who had a big, was it week one?
04:39I think it was week one.
04:41Week one in the preseason, then kind of tailed off a little bit there.
04:44His week two wasn't nearly as good, but he fought his way back.
04:48Outside linebacker DJ Johnson re-signed.
04:51And Allie Cahill, he's kind of the undersized linebacker, re-signed him.
04:57Defensive tackle Jeffrey Mbaugh, running back Craig Reynolds, who was a late addition to
05:06camp, who's been a veteran, been around the league six or seven years, who actually showed
05:09he could definitely help you if he had to play.
05:12They re-signed him.
05:13And corner Darius Rush also re-signed Trent Scott.
05:20So, there's some indication that Essa Pohl, the offensive lineman, was going to be added
05:28to the practice squad.
05:28I'm not sure that he's been officially named yet.
05:32So, I think he has, but I'm not 100% sure.
05:36And then there was some talk that this corner, Reddy Stewart, was going to be signed, but
05:39he eventually signed with the Cowboys.
05:42So, right now they have 12 players that we know of on the practice squad.
05:47Of course, they mentioned in the presser that they basically consider it, you know, a roster
05:52of 70.
05:53You have your active 53 and you have your other guys.
05:55And, you know, we've seen this over the last couple of years.
05:57And it's the way teams do it, not just the commanders.
05:59There is kind of a rotation.
06:01Every week, you know, a guy or two will get called up from the practice squad.
06:04Somebody will get sent back down, you know, released and then re-signed.
06:07It kind of happens throughout the season.
06:10The roster is always very fluid.
06:13That's pretty cool that Jed Bradley made the practice squad.
06:14That's pretty cool.
06:15Yeah, I think so, for sure.
06:17Let me see.
06:18What else?
06:19So, they did have their press conference yesterday.
06:21I know Valdez has some audio.
06:23We'll play him maybe shortly.
06:25What was up with AP with the readers?
06:27Did he have the readers on?
06:28I've never seen him with the readers on.
06:30He's getting up there.
06:30Welcome to old age, buddy.
06:32How old is Adam Peters?
06:33I think he's in his 40s or something.
06:3547?
06:35Is that what you said?
06:36I think that's right.
06:37Yeah.
06:37So, they talked about, you know, again, you know, with these injured guys, and it was
06:42kind of a surprise to some people that Trey Amos was put on IR, and, you know, because
06:49he hasn't played, what, since about November of last year, really, and was on the practice
06:55field for about two hours before he walked off again.
06:57And so, I think people that really follow the team weren't really shocked.
07:01They did allude to the idea that, potentially, they could have held him off and maybe bring
07:07him back in week two or three or something, but with what they know with his injury and
07:12what exactly he's dealing with, they feel like, when he's eligible to be pulled in four
07:18weeks, that he will be ready to go.
07:21I hope that's the case, because they definitely need him in that secondary.
07:25I mentioned, before we play Nicky's question, I mentioned Allegretti.
07:30This is a theme that they kept talking about, that while we got nervous in these practice,
07:39you know, the inter-squad scrimmage, and then these last two preseason games, they didn't
07:42have a lot of guys.
07:43Remember, the injuries were mounting, and not having Nick was one of them, but they did
07:48mention that he's played 3,000-some-odd snaps in the league.
07:53They say he's played good football before, so they have a lot of confidence in him, and
07:57I think they're really excited, and they've kind of always projected that he will be back.
08:00A guy that I'm worried that they haven't really mentioned, other than, I guess they're going
08:06to re-evaluate, and they say he's getting closer, but not quite ready, is Adafi Owe.
08:11I think the idea that he will be ready for week one is looking slimmer and slimmer.
08:17I suppose there is a chance if, you know, he progresses to the point where they let him
08:22practice next week, but he's not going to practice this week.
08:25I mean, you could be down your top three pass rushers in week one, potentially, if Owe
08:29misses.
08:30We know Armstrong is going to miss, and it looks like Clayvon Chason should play, but he's
08:35That's the one they're more optimistic on, but you never know.
08:38We've heard that before.
08:38They feel like Chason is going to be ready sooner rather than later, and as Cake's sort
08:44of alluding to, that maybe here in a couple days they can get him going, but it is possible
08:50that we could be missing your top three pass rushers.
08:54All right, Valdez, I know you have Nicky's question to the guys.
08:57Again, they held their press cuts.
08:59I don't know.
08:59It was 30 minutes or 40 minutes or so, kind of the State of the Union, how they came about
09:03this weekend, DQ talking about sort of how pissed he was about the way the preseason
09:09ended, not who they are, not what they preach, but that you had to put it behind them.
09:15He thought that maybe some guys are just trying too hard to make a place that he's seen that
09:19happen before.
09:20That could be the instance of what's happening, but he could talk for hours about how pissed
09:24off he was, but they had to be excited about the roster and all the respect they had for
09:29the guys that they had to release.
09:31But here's an example of a question or two that they fielded yesterday.
09:35Going back to February, just kind of went into the thinking of making the move at center,
09:39knowing you have a number of premium positions that you're trying to fill, and we know of
09:44one guy you've pursued, but what was sort of the plan and the thinking that you asked?
09:50Yeah, I mean, that's something we've already covered a little bit, I think, Nicky, in terms
09:55of, I don't want to go back and talk about Tyler and all that, but certainly.
10:00We feel very confident in Nick, and we have, and that was, you know, that's where we went
10:05into this offseason, feeling that Nick could be our starter and still do feel that way.
10:10You know, and who we went for and who we did or didn't get, you know, I don't think we
10:15want
10:15to get into rewriting history.
10:17We were talking about six months ago, but, you know, those are the guys that we're really
10:22excited to see go play here on a couple Sundays.
10:25That's the general sense I got from the press conference, was that they just believe in
10:31their guys, and I think you can see it by all the guys that keep re-signing to the practice
10:35squad.
10:36They just believe in these guys.
10:37These are the guys that they put their chips in.
10:40They got all their chips on Allegretti.
10:42They got all their chips on Goulbin.
10:45You know, we're expecting them to go out there and sign some veteran or sign some guy that
10:49maybe was a pro bowler a couple years ago or has some potential, and they're not really
10:53doing that.
10:54All the fans wanted them to.
10:55That's what the fans are.
10:56The fans are kind of panicking, and at least publicly, their faces, oh, we got Nick, and
11:02we've seen him play good for us in this league.
11:04He's been in this league for a while, and we have faith in him, and we believe in him,
11:07and we believe in Matt, and Julian's done some good things for us.
11:11And so there is definitely a disconnect between what the fans are feeling and sort of what
11:18the commanders are doing about it.
11:20If the story didn't come out that they were pursuing Linderbaum heavily and free agency,
11:25do you think people would be as scared or they would be as trusting?
11:29Not as scared.
11:30Maybe.
11:31That's a good point.
11:32Not as scared because that is a bad signal that you wanted to upgrade the position.
11:36And instead, you went, what I interpret as a downgrade because this was a backup last
11:41year.
11:41Well, do you think they still think it's an upgrade?
11:43It's an upgrade over...
11:45Allegretti, an upgrade over Biotic?
11:47Yes.
11:47No, because Biotic started over him.
11:49Yeah, but they think it's an upgrade because...
11:51But they let Biotic go.
11:53Yeah.
11:54I understand that.
11:55So they obviously felt like Allegretti was a better player.
11:58I think they think...
11:59I don't agree.
11:59Then why didn't he start last year?
12:01Maybe they saw something on film where they felt like whatever Blau wanted to do, this
12:07was a better guy, better fit for what they wanted to do.
12:09They went through the season, they evaluated it, and they think that Biotic is a better
12:13fit.
12:14Or rather, Allegretti is a better fit.
12:16Maybe at a certain price.
12:19But I think that on the field, they were starting one guy over the other.
12:24So I tend to think that that's who they think is better.
12:27That could have been a Kingsbury thing.
12:28Maybe it could have been a continuity thing.
12:29There could be other reasons.
12:31You can't just swap out, necessarily, centers.
12:33Like that, Allegretti was making a switch.
12:34He's primarily a guard.
12:35They're projecting that Allegretti will be better.
12:38I think they're projecting.
12:40I don't think they made this move, and they're quietly acknowledging, yeah, we're playing
12:44a weaker center than we had last year.
12:46Of course they're not going to acknowledge that.
12:48No, no, privately.
12:49I don't think they're acknowledging it subtly.
12:52I think they think Allegretti is every bit as good, if not better, than Biotic.
12:58Publicly, they went after somebody because they wanted to upgrade the position.
13:03The best in the game.
13:03That's fine.
13:04They wanted to upgrade the position.
13:05Well, they had an opportunity to get someone.
13:08I know, but the other way to look at it is, you're looking at it in a very black and
13:12white
13:13way.
13:13The other way to look at it is, hey, there's an opportunity for an elite center who's
13:17out there.
13:17We just released ours because we weren't thrilled with him.
13:20So there's an opportunity there to add an elite center.
13:22Oh, we don't want to break the bank for him.
13:24So, okay, we got Allegretti here.
13:26We really like him.
13:27We're not going to draft anybody in the second round, third round, fourth round.
13:30No, we'll take a flyer on a sixth rounder, and we really like Allegretti.
13:33We're not going to sign another free agent.
13:34We're not going to go pick up off somebody's scrap heaps.
13:37We're going to go with a guy that we believe they say is a leader in the locker rooms, great
13:40with communications.
13:41Those are the things they said that Biotic wasn't great at.
13:44Another way to interpret that is they settled on him.
13:47I mean, that's your interpretation.
13:50Yeah.
13:50There might be something about Biotic pretty reasonable interpretation off the field that
13:54we just don't know about.
13:56It's also reasonable that some people, time is insinuated that they didn't like the tape,
14:00that when it was all said and done, that the tape on Biotic wasn't great.
14:04That's why they released him so fast.
14:06They released him in late February.
14:08They were just like, we don't want Biotic.
14:09We don't want to be in this Biotic business.
14:10Whatever they saw on the field.
14:12They didn't want Biotic.
14:12They didn't want him.
14:13They want Allegretti.
14:14So I think that speaks to itself.
14:16He wasn't their first choice.
14:18Well, everybody would choose Linderbaum over all those guys.
14:21They just wouldn't pay almost $30 million a season for him.
14:24Ultimately, he ended up being their first choice.
14:25They said, we would rather have Allegretti at whatever this value over Linderbaum.
14:30Actually, he was their first choice.
14:32No, their first choice was Linderbaum.
14:34Well, no, but it's all said and done.
14:35We choose Allegretti at this value over that one.
14:40It wasn't their first choice.
14:41They went after somebody.
14:42Well, this is the choice they went with.
14:44They could have.
14:45Exactly.
14:46But they could have.
14:47They could have broke the bank.
14:48It's not like Biotic.
14:48Biotic wasn't that expensive.
14:50They could have kept Biotic.
14:51They made like $8 million against the cap.
14:52He was not expensive.
14:53They decided they didn't want him.
14:55It wasn't the salary cap.
14:56It wasn't money.
14:57It wasn't money.
14:58It's just too flawed.
15:00Yeah.
15:01All right.
15:01Coming up next, Matt Valdez thinks you, yes, you are a loser if you're too excited
15:07for the upcoming NFL season.
15:09We'll discuss next on The Fan.