- 7 weeks ago
Tashan Reed joins the show to preview the Commanders week one matchup with the Eagles.
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00:00Right now, though, we're going to talk football.
00:02Deshaun Reed covers the Commanders for the Washington Post.
00:05What's up, dude? How are you?
00:07What's going on, man? I'm doing good.
00:08Week one is finally here.
00:10We're going to get back to some real football.
00:11Dude, how good is it just to get through the slog of training camp preseason
00:16to finally have real football to discuss?
00:19How ready are you?
00:21I'm pumped, man.
00:22You know how it goes out there.
00:24When she gets to the second, third week of training camp,
00:26it's like, all right, I got enough practice.
00:31I think the players feel it, too.
00:33You know what I mean?
00:34I think it's something that kind of impacts everybody.
00:38Let's talk about where this team is, what you think their strengths are,
00:43what you consider weaknesses.
00:46Yeah, I think, you know, coming off the offseason, you know,
00:49the one position that I would say we all kind of viewed as a strength going
00:53in the training camp that's become a weakness is the offensive line.
00:56You know, that's the big one with losing learning to counsel to that torn
01:00triceps and Nick Allegretti missing most of camp while he's making that
01:04transition to center and sort of the uncertainty surrounding both his health
01:08and his ability to make that transition.
01:10I think that's the one that, you know, probably worries you the most when you
01:13look at the roster.
01:14With that being said, I do think that the rest of the offense around that,
01:19there's something to be excited about with, you know,
01:21Jayden being back healthy and, you know, making a transition to David Blau's
01:24system and the improved wide receiver courts, you know, adding Stefan Diggs to
01:28that group and then Cheo Conco at tight end.
01:31I think he has some more firepower than he did at this point, you know,
01:34going into the last season.
01:36And so there's still a world there where the offense, you know,
01:39is able to be productive and work around potentially some of the defensive
01:42teams on the O-line.
01:44I think the defense is the unit that I feel better about at this juncture,
01:48though, you know, with some of the investment that they've made this offseason,
01:51particularly improving that defensive front, you know, getting guys like
01:54Adafi Owe and Kayleon Chason and, you know, drafting Sonny Stiles.
01:59You know, I think that front seven is really strong.
02:02There are some question marks in the secondary, though, you know,
02:04with Trey Amos being on the injured reserve and he's going to miss at least
02:07the first four games of the season with that ankle sprain.
02:09And then, you know, also at safety, you know, with Jeremy Reese, you know,
02:13stepping into that full-time starting role and Quan Martin, you know,
02:17kind of working in behind him and to get some better play out of the safety,
02:21that free safety position in particular, you know,
02:24because they were given a bunch of explosive plays last year.
02:27And, you know, part of that is the pass rush and things like that.
02:29But, you know, those are some of the strengths and weaknesses that jump out
02:32to me when looking at the roster.
02:33So, Sean, what are the odds that we see something that makes us go,
02:37whoa, offensively in this season opener where we're, like,
02:43taken aback at perhaps something we didn't expect?
02:48I think they've been pretty open with, you know,
02:50some of the conceptual, you know, big picture, somatic things.
02:55You know, whether it's, you know, Jaden working on the center more
02:58or then huddling more often or running the ball more frequently.
03:01But we still don't really know much about what the offense is going to look like
03:06just because they kept it so vanilla both during practice and in a preseason game.
03:10And so, you know, I think this goes for the defense, too.
03:13Like, we don't really know what they're going to run.
03:14You know what I mean?
03:15Like, this is kind of a mystery.
03:17And I think from that standpoint, it's kind of all going to be a surprise, right?
03:20You know what I'm seeing?
03:21How they, you know, plan to, you know, unlock some of the new weapons that they added
03:25and maybe work around some of the issues on the O-line, especially going up against
03:29this Eagles defensive front.
03:31So, it's not just one thing in particular that I think is going to blow us away,
03:34but there's sort of this overall mystery around what the offense is actually going to look like
03:38because especially with the starting offense only playing three snaps against the Lions,
03:42we didn't really get a chance to see what that would be.
03:45Talking with Tashaun Reed here on the Rude Guest Hotline,
03:48you can give Tashaun a follow at T-A-S-H-A-N-R-E-E-E-D.
03:54Zabe asked me an interesting question that I'm going to ask you, Tashaun.
03:57Who do you think are the top target getters Sunday in Philadelphia?
04:02Give me your top three, not necessarily catches, but who gets targeted the most?
04:08I think, you know, Stephon Diggs.
04:11You know, I still think, you know, Terry McLaurin being that number one option,
04:14and, you know, he's probably going to get most of the attention, you know,
04:19from the defense still in the passing game.
04:21So, that may ultimately, you know, dictate how much he gets targeted.
04:24So, I wouldn't be surprised if Diggs had the most targets this week
04:27and then make McLaurin second.
04:30And then third, you know, I think it has to be Chica Conquo
04:33with him being the leader in that tight end group
04:35and, you know, them being expected to use some more 12 personnel,
04:39some more 13 personnel, getting some more tight ends out there.
04:42I'm not sure we'll see too many other receivers, you know,
04:44beyond McLaurin and Diggs getting a ton of targets out there.
04:47But I think that's most likely going to be the top three
04:50when it comes to target share.
04:52But I guess the surprise among that group is I do think that Diggs,
04:56with his ability to, you know, move inside to the slot, play outside,
04:59and, you know, McLaurin just being the top focus of this Eagles defense,
05:02I think he could end up being the leader when it comes to overall targets.
05:07How about the number of designed runs for Jaden Daniels?
05:12About the same?
05:13Less?
05:14A lot less?
05:16I think it's close.
05:17Yeah.
05:18I think it's going to be pretty low.
05:21You know, you can read between lines from everything that, you know,
05:25Jaden himself or Blau or Coquan have said this offseason,
05:28but protecting Jaden is paramount coming off of last year
05:31with him missing 10 games to all those injuries that he had.
05:34And, you know, it's not like they're not going to use his mobility.
05:38Of course, you have a guy that has that much athleticism and speed.
05:41There's benefits to him being able to extend plays.
05:44And if need be, you know, things break down.
05:46Everything isn't always going to go right on offense or how you dial it up.
05:49So if there are breakdowns, you can scramble and make something out of nothing.
05:53But they want it to be a feature of the offense, not, you know, the focus of it,
05:58you know, when it comes to using his legs.
06:00And it depends on the situation.
06:02Like if you get late in the season and it's a do or die moment and, you know,
06:05the traditional run game isn't going, you just need Jaden to do something,
06:09then, you know, you may see it a little bit more heavily one week
06:12where they really got to have it.
06:13But early on in the season, I'm really not expecting to see many designed runs.
06:18You know, I do think they want to run the ball more often overall,
06:21but they want the focus to be more on that traditional design run game
06:25with the running backs and using this by-committee approach
06:28and feeding those guys on a more consistent basis.
06:30I think that was something that last year, while the yards per carry average,
06:33you know, was pretty good, you know, throughout most of the season,
06:36the carries, the overall carries just weren't consistent, you know,
06:40week to week.
06:41It went up and down and went up and down.
06:42I think they want that to be more of a consistent presence in the offense this year.
06:45They just don't want it to be Daniels, you know, making up most of those carries.
06:48Year one, he rushed 148 times for 891 yards, six touchdowns.
06:54That comes out to about eight per game because he played all 17.
06:57Last year, 58 carries on seven games played.
07:01That's also just over eight per game.
07:04So, so far, the number per game, I don't have the breakout in terms of design stuff.
07:09I'm sure somebody probably tracked that.
07:11I'm not against a design run or two,
07:13but it better be in a high-leverage situation like goal line or fourth and one.
07:17We also saw last year with Jaden, like the Green Bay game,
07:21like there were times where he did not trust his line and was just taken off.
07:26And I think a huge part of his work with Blau,
07:30and you hear it in some of the comments,
07:31did you do an interview with Breer or somebody?
07:33I think I was reading something over the weekend where he's like,
07:36I'm a passer first.
07:37I know my legs are a weapon, but I'm a passer first.
07:40And I think that's, I think this offense, not always being in pistol and shotgun and then running some bootlegs
07:48from under center,
07:49I think they will use his legs in a manner that is not the QB draw, like the power right
07:57side run they had with him that they use so much.
08:00I think, I think the design QB runs will be dramatically decreased.
08:06And Tashaun, I agree with you.
08:07I think Diggs is probably the most targeted receiver in Philly this week.
08:11Not necessarily for the season, but for this week.
08:15Defensively, getting healthier, right?
08:18Quinn said that yesterday's walkthrough had perfect attendance.
08:22Everybody was part of it.
08:24Where do you think this defense is?
08:26Because we talked so much about implementing the new offense.
08:29It's a very new defense that has a zillion moving parts.
08:33Where do you think they are defensively?
08:35Yeah, I think that's a good point.
08:37And they're going to be, you know, very multiple on defense, switching between 3-4 and 4-3 fronts.
08:42And then from a coverage structure standpoint, you know, it shouldn't be a surprise with Deronty Jones coming from that
08:47bronze florist tree with the Vikings.
08:49But there's a lot of disguised coverages, right?
08:52It may look like man before it's snapping and turning his own.
08:54Or look like cover two, and then all of a sudden it's cover six, you know.
08:57So that's confusing for officers, but it also can be confusing for the defense if it's not communicated properly.
09:03Both from the coaching staff to the players and throughout the players who are on the field.
09:06And so the players have really credited Jones for his ability to teach them and make it, even though it's
09:13not simple, making it simple to learn and understand.
09:16And, you know, I think we saw earlier on in camp, before all the injuries started hitting the guys, it
09:22seemed like they were pretty much in sync to me.
09:25You know, it's not atypical for a defense to be ahead of the offense in training camp, but the gap
09:29is pretty wide.
09:29And then even in the joint practice against the Dolphins, and I know, you know, it's the Dolphins and they're
09:33probably going to be bad this year.
09:34The defense looks really good in that joint practice.
09:37You know, they've had some injuries since then, and I think the Amos one is still, you know, one that's
09:41going to hurt them in the secondary.
09:42But especially among the defensive front, you start to see them work on those pass rush games a little bit
09:47more, trusting one another, knowing if somebody gets outside wide, they have some help on the inside, things like that.
09:54So, you know, I think the defense should be primed and ready to roll right from the jump from week
10:00one.
10:00I wouldn't be surprised if they perform at a high level right from the get-go, both because of the
10:05personnel changes that we mentioned earlier, but also because of the job that Jones has done and stolen into this
10:10game.
10:11It's going to be, I think the, listen, obviously the Eagles defensively are a wagon, well-coached, Fangio, talent, all
10:21levels on the field.
10:23I mean, that kid, Jihad Campbell, hasn't really even played for them, and he looks like he could be a
10:27stud.
10:29With Philly's offense, how do you expect Hurts to perform in this new system going up against disguised coverages that
10:38Durante Jones is going to throw at him?
10:41Yeah, I think it's a big question mark.
10:43You know, Hurts, you know, taking a step back last season and, you know, them losing to A.J. Brown
10:48in the offseason, you know, who's been his number one option the last few years.
10:52It's really a big question mark of, you know, is this Eagles passing attack able to get back on track?
10:56I think even though Saquon Barkley didn't have quite the year that we used to see from him last year,
11:01I think we're pretty confident in him in that offensive line in the run game, but the pass game is
11:05a big question for them.
11:06And they have a first-time coordinator of their own in Sean Mannion coming over from the Packers.
11:11And so, you know, Hurts isn't, you know, exactly the fit that you think for that typical system that they
11:18ran over in Green Bay.
11:19And so, seeing how he's able to adjust to that and alter his play style, I think, is a big
11:24question mark.
11:25And so, it's something that, well, I think from a talent perspective, you look at the Eagles offensive roster and
11:31you're like, all right, that looks pretty good.
11:32But, as we all know, it's as much about fit and does the quarterback fit the offense as much as
11:37anything.
11:38And I think it's a pretty huge year for Hurts.
11:40You know, even, it sounds weird to say, with him being Super Bowl champion and coming off that a couple
11:44years ago.
11:45But, you know, how these markets are, you know, and Philly's a tough one.
11:48So, he's facing a lot of pressure this year.
11:50And I think it'll be a tough test.
11:52One of them is his commander's defense in week one.
11:55Even with, you know, some of the question marks in the secondary, I think the defensive front and his pass
11:59rush is going to be real.
12:00And so, they might be able to speed him up, you know, in a pass game and get some pressure
12:04on him and force him to use his legs, you know, a little bit more as well.
12:07So, you know, I think it'll be an interesting battle.
12:10It's definitely not an easy matchup by any means for the commanders.
12:13But the Eagles definitely have some questions on offense that we haven't seen, you know, how they're going to perform
12:18yet.
12:19Five number ones on the defensive side of the ball alone for Philly.
12:23Jordan Davis and Jalen Carter up front.
12:26And then you got Nolan Smith as their outside backer.
12:29You mentioned Jihad Campbell.
12:30He was a first-rounder this year.
12:32And also Quinian Mitchell at corner.
12:34And then Cooper Dejean is a second-rounder, but he kind of plays like a first-rounder.
12:38A lot of talent right there.
12:40Is Barkley still to be feared as a running back?
12:44Absolutely.
12:45Yeah, I don't really have any doubts about Saquon Barkley personally.
12:49I know I mentioned he had, you know, a little bit of a down season last year.
12:54But that was still, you know, almost 1,200 yards rushing.
12:57I mean, he was going to be a guaranteed down year.
13:00He almost broke the single-season rushing record.
13:02We knew that was coming, right?
13:04Yeah.
13:05Yeah, I don't have any doubts about him.
13:07Especially, like I said, with this Eagles offensive line.
13:10Mostly being, you know, pretty much healthy and ready to go.
13:12You know, they had some injury issues with Lane Johnson in particular last year.
13:15But, you know, he's going to be tough to handle.
13:18And I think that's, you know, a big question mark is, you know, the Commanders, they were one of the
13:23worst teams in the league.
13:24You know, in a lot of things on defense last year.
13:26But run defense in particular was a bad one.
13:29And we didn't really get to see, you know, the run defense in the preseason.
13:32Just because of how it played out situationally in that Lions game.
13:35But then getting those turnovers so quickly and things like that.
13:38But, you know, they're hoping that it's better.
13:40You know, with adding, you know, Leo Chanel and Sonny Stiles and Nick Cross, you know, in that strong safety
13:45role.
13:45And, you know, they're high on the interior duo, DeLon Payne and Javon Kimball.
13:51And he also had a Tim Settle and a nose tackle role.
13:53And so they put some money, you know, towards addressing that run defense.
13:57But this is really the first time that we're going to see it in action, you know, and seeing, you
14:00know, is it going to be an improved unit or are some of those issues going to persist?
14:04And there aren't too many tougher tests in the league than Saquon Barkley.
14:08No, I mean, he can go, dude.
14:10Yeah.
14:11If he has, you know, if he has a big day, it's not the end of the world.
14:13But, you know, I think it has set a little bit of a barometer of what to expect from the
14:17run defense.
14:18Yeah, for sure.
14:19Dude, I wanted to make sure we have a minute for you to tell folks about the new gig you've
14:24added.
14:25Yeah, yeah.
14:26So for, you know, I know it's been a confusing year for everything that we've had going on with the
14:30Washington Post.
14:30But I am, you know, back covering the team full time for the Washington Post.
14:35But in addition to my written content, I've also started a Commanders podcast.
14:39It's going to be called the Tashaun Reed Show, and it's going to go live every week on Substack.
14:44I'm actually going to have the first episode today at 1 p.m. Eastern on Substack.
14:48But, you know, for those that aren't able to make it, you know, for the live stream on video, it's
14:52also going to go out on streaming platforms afterwards.
14:55So Apple, Spotify, wherever you get your podcasts.
14:57But I'm going to have those every week, you know, providing news, analysis, game previews, and recaps to the Commanders.
15:03And, you know, throughout the year, going to work on some guests and some other fun things like that.
15:06So glad to get it going and, you know, have another way to connect with the fan base.
15:10I like it, man.
15:11How'd you come up with the name?
15:13Well, you know, my mom and my dad gave me a pretty good name.
15:17So I had a show on there.
15:21I understand if you're not.
15:23Do you pay attention to Vegas and the betting and all that?
15:28Oh, you know, I think you kind of have to with our job nowadays.
15:31It's kind of embedded into it.
15:32But I'm not myself personally.
15:33I don't really get too much insight to gamble.
15:36Are you surprised by this line at four and a half?
15:39Philly's favored by four and a half or five and a half, depending where you're shopping.
15:43You think that should feel a little higher?
15:48No, I think that makes sense.
15:49You know, while, you know, it's a home game for the Eagles, it makes sense that they're
15:52favored in the commanders coming off the season that they had, you know, you know, that all
15:57lines up.
15:57I think the question that a lot of people have is this Philly offense.
16:00Like I said earlier, I think their defense is a known commodity and we expect them to
16:05play at a high level.
16:06But we really, you know, there's some big questions about this Philly offense.
16:09And so they might win, you know what I mean?
16:11But it might be a low scoring tight affair because the offense can't get anything going against
16:15his commander's defense.
16:16And so that doesn't make sense to me.
16:18You know, I'm not expecting this to, you know, even if the Eagles win, it would kind of surprise
16:22me if it's something where the commanders just get run out of the building.
16:25Yeah, I agree with you.
16:27I think this will be a tight game.
16:28I think God help us if they get run out of the building.
16:32God help you guys on Monday.
16:34I won't be here to take the calls, but God help you guys.
16:36Yeah, dude.
16:37I think Zabe asked me this earlier.
16:40Sean, I'm curious what you say.
16:42Is there a, is there a number you think Quinn has to get to wins?
16:47What's his survival number is what I asked off air.
16:52Yeah.
16:53I don't know if there's a specific number.
16:54Like in my head, I was thinking around 500, you know, so somewhere in there, but I think
17:01it's also about like what it looks like.
17:03Yeah.
17:03It's always about luck.
17:05Yeah.
17:05Yeah.
17:06You can go seven and 10, but if you're getting beat by 30, those last four losses, you know
17:10what I mean?
17:11Like that can get you up out of there.
17:13So I think as much as it is about hovering around that 500 markets also, then remaining
17:18competitive and respectful throughout the season.
17:20Cause that was the thing really last year.
17:21And, you know, the injuries played a major part, especially losing Daniels, but they
17:25were just getting, you know, run out of the building.
17:28Like I said earlier, you know, some of those matchups, like it was over by halftime, you
17:31know, you can't look like that again.
17:33I don't think, you know, if he's going to come back for this fourth season, dude, I
17:37mean that stretch of games, Seattle, Dallas, when, when we arrived in Dallas, you could
17:43feel the ass kicking a Bruin Jesus.
17:46Like there are times, there are times when I'm down on a football field before a game
17:52and you know, if a team has juice or not, I remember the most ridiculously lack of juice
17:59game I ever worked.
18:00This is covering the skins late in the Gruden era.
18:03We went out to LA.
18:04They were playing the chargers at the soccer stadium at the stadium.
18:09Okay.
18:09There may be 10,000 people there.
18:12Half of them are rooting for the skins.
18:13No energy whatsoever.
18:15Chargers boat raced them until who was my guy, but Sean Breland had a pick six with like
18:21three minutes left in a 40 to nothing drubbing.
18:24And he went crazy when he scored and Gruden benched him the next week.
18:28Cause he was so pissed at how he handled it.
18:30Um, like there are times where you could feel it and gosh, I hope that's not the feeling
18:35when we get to the link on Sunday to Sean.
18:38Yeah.
18:39I mean, I do hope not in the week one, like if there's ever a time of year.
18:43For the team to be optimistic, like it's now, even with some of the injuries and losing
18:47tonsil and some guys like that, like this is when your confidence is usually at its peak,
18:52you know, going into the year.
18:53And so if they're already at that level, um, we have some serious issues, but you know,
18:59we haven't been in a locker room much.
19:00We only had one day of locker room availability, but that's not the feeling that you, that you've
19:04gotten so far as being around this team.
19:06This isn't a group.
19:06I've been around some, you know, I've used to cover the Raiders for five years.
19:08I've been around some teams that have been checked out and you can, you can feel it
19:11and you can tell, but that's not what this is.
19:13You know, I think the guys are still bought into what Dan Quinn is preaching, um, you know,
19:18and you know, we'll see that can obviously change throughout the season, but at least
19:21going into week one, you know, I don't think this is a team that's at that point yet.
19:25I agree with you.
19:26Uh, I do.
19:26I'm excited to watch some football, Sean.
19:30Thank you for the time, dude.
19:32Appreciate you guys having me.
19:33All right.
19:33Sean Reed, Washington post commanders reporter.
19:35Give him a follow at Tashaun Reed, T-A-S-H-A-N-R-E-E-D.